Independent Reading Blog Prompt 13

If I had to comment on the actions made by the characters of the book, I would probably give advice to the drill sergeant, Himmelstoss. He was too hard on the soldiers during training camp, which eventually led to his brutal beat down. I would tell Himmelstoss to be stern and continue rigorous training, but not to take advantage to the point of cruelty. For instance, his punishment to the soldiers who wet there beds was unusually mean and only caused pain for them. They could not help the fact that they urinated while sleeping, but the drill sergeant made them sleep underneath each other, which made them sleep on the floor and catch sicknesses. It was unnecessary to demean the people who were risking their lives to protect their country. Basic training is meant to help keep themselves safe and give skills to fight for the nation, not to break uncontrollable habits such as this. Himmelstoss should've learned of the harm he was causing, but instead he had to face the painful retaliation of his students. They all decided to join in jumping him while walking back from the bar. This was the unfortunate result of his cruel ways, which is why I would tell him to just lighten up a bit and do his job as an instructor and not a tyrant.