"APO 96225"

                I found this poem to be one of the most intriguing works in the entire unit, for it addresses the fact that the experience of traumatic or excessively gruesome events can often alienate someone from their family, friends, and peers. When one experiences something very violent, evil, or graphic in their lives, the memory and recollection of this horrific event is a permanent entity which will never abandon that individual. Unfortunately, such events can sometimes be so unpleasant that they forever alter the attitude and persona exhibited by the victim of such haunting thoughts. As a direct result of the corruption such victims face, they are unable to relate to the loved ones which they could once share freely. While the loved ones cannot help the fact that they simply cannot comprehend the pain which the individual experienced or the horror of the haunting memories, attempting to express such sadness to loved ones can become so futile that victims simply give up altogether. As a result, these people quickly become isolate and alienated due solely to the fact that they experienced something so dreadful in their lives.

                In Larry Rottman’s “APO 96225,” Rottman describes a son who tries desperately to avoid discussion of the horrors of war with his mother by instead writing letters about the climate, scenery, etc. While the mother urged the son to feel free to express his genuine feelings towards the war in which he was participating, the son displayed great reservation when it came to relaying the true events of his day to his mother. The son was clearly worried that, by sharing the deepest and darkest aspects of his life to his mother, he would drive the loving affection of his mother off and be left even more emotionally alone than he already felt physically. However, the mother insisted that she could bear the horrific news, so the son finally replied, “Today I killed a man. Yesterday, I helped drop napalm on women and children” (Rottman, 846). Despite the mother’s plea for her child to relate to her and provide her with genuine details of his life, when he shared this, she truly was unable to bear the horror of the matter and immediately withdrew from him. In fact, the mother was so emotionally disturbed that she could not even reply to the son. “APO 96225” ultimately simply proves that, at times, the horror which one experiences in life not only leaves them permanently scarred, but also alienates them forever from the rest of society, who wishes so strongly to dwell purely in the presence of happy experiences.