Anthony Swofford
Anthony Swofford
Anthony Swoffordis an American writer and former U.S. Marine, best known for his 2003 book Jarhead, based heavily on his accounts of various situations encountered in the Persian Gulf War. This memoir was the basis of the 2005 film of the same name, directed by Sam Mendes. The title refers to a nickname for the Marines, which itself is derived from the traditional high and tight haircuts favored by the Marines, giving them a "jar-like" appearance...
book depends fallen feels join joining letters love metal people somebody thinking war whether
War is always seductive, ... 'Full Metal Jacket' didn't make me want to join the Marines. I already had fallen in love with the idea of combat. I think whether somebody feels that about our movie is subjective. It depends on the viewer. I got letters from people who said 'I was thinking about joining up and I read your book and now I can't wait' and I got letters from people who said 'I was thinking about joining up and I read your book and now I'm going to go to college.'
changed confirmed corps history kid learned marine retain
I think I learned something more about that history of mine, ... There's a, you know, young kid who had been changed by the Marine Corps but could also retain some of his humanity, some of his personality, and that was confirmed for me.
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We were Marine snipers trained to kill someone from 1,000 yards away, and I could have done it all day if they'd wanted me to. And I definitely wanted to. I was really good at it.
writing long stories
Right now in American writing there is no genre as exciting as memoir - the writer can do anything, as long as it works. It's like the 1920s up in this joint. So, I'd say, experiment with how you tell the story. In the best memoir it's not the what, it's how the writer tells the what - meaning and effect through form.
young be-young
It occured to me that we will never be young again.
pants littles action
My combat action has commenced... I've pissed my pants, but only a little.
hurt disappointment people
If while alive you hurt or disappoint people you love, there's no use continuing such behavior when you're dead.
loneliness boredom despair
My despair is less despair than boredom and loneliness.
responsibility past thinking
I think the combatant is always burdened with returning and making his way through his past. And that we as citizens have a responsibility to those guys upon return. We have to make some kind of an attempt to understand what their life is like.
war different
Every war is different. Every war is the same.
war use weapons
It dosnt matter how many mr. and mrs. johnsons are anti war- the actuall killers who know how to use the weapons are not.
war believe son
A story: A man fires a rifle for many years, and he goes to war. And afterward he turns the rifle in at the armory, and he believes he’s finished with the rifle. But no matter what else he might do with his hands, love a woman, build a house, change his son’s diaper; his hands remember the rifle.
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We watched 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Full Metal Jacket' before we went to war. It was pornography for us. They opened up this historical and psychological narrative. This is what men do when they go to war, we thought. It's a received image of war through film.
define exciting point rest singular situation warfare
It's a young man's education. It's character-driven. It's warfare through this singular point of view, a confusing, scary, sometimes exciting situation that will define him for the rest of his life.