War, Peace, the Homefront, and Uncle Sam :: Personal Narrative Writing

War, Peace, the Homefront, and Uncle surface-to-air missile I.In our class when I was growing up, on that point were three WWI mailings that my great aunt had saved in her attic. My father pull through and framed them, hanging the posters in the h anyway at the top of the stairs. I walked past them on the way to my room which was at the end of this hallway. thither was no way I could avoid Uncle surface-to-air missile trying to fire me every time I went up the stairs. He never budged, obdurate to enlist me before I could even read. I had the sense that he was measuring every ounce of my patriotism I Want YOU for US Army, he called out, pointing and glaring straight at me as I make my way up the stairs. I always continued forward, nearing closer to that long, jut out finger as though responding to his beckoning, feigning my conscription, only to turn the inlet to my room.There is some speculation as to whether Uncle Sam was a real number person. (Many historians point the ir fingers to Samuel Wilson, a meat packer from Troy, New York, who during the War of 1812 provided macro supplies of meat to the US Army. Soldiers noticed that the crates of meat were marked with the letters U.S. and it was accordingly said that the meat was from Uncle Sam Wilson.) I knew he was real because Uncle Sam appea deprivation before me in many forms. At night, if the hall lights were not on, Uncle Sams white stars would stand out, glowing softly. When I was sick the red YOU became demonic, hurting me if I looked at it for too long. In the late good afternoon when the sun had drifted into the hallway and hit the walls in a slant, half of the poster would be cast in shadow, sometimes leaving Uncle Sams face concealed in darkness, yet his hand would be exposed, dangling in the sun. In the morning if it wasnt overcast, if the light filtering inside the house was bright enough, I could see my reflection in the glass as I came up the stairs, my face on top of his. II.Uncle S am has disappeared. He no longer urges civilians to enlist in the military. Today, Uncle Sam has been replaced with slick, sensational ads, ofttimes enhanced with computer graphics. At the end of these commercials, the slogan Be all that you can be is sung, the last be drawn out so it lingers in your head after the commercial break is over.