Course To The Voluntary Men Like Brubaker example essay topic

In the novel The Bridges At Toko-Ri by James Michener, the main character Harry Brubaker is a voluntary man. This novel is set during the Korean War, which took place in the early 1950's. Harry Brubaker is a lawyer from Colorado who is called back into service, as a pilot against his will. Despite the fact that he doesn't want to be there, however, Brubaker does his job to the best of his ability. Admiral Tarrant, the Commander of Task Force 77, in the novel, defines the voluntary man. He says "But some men don't veer away.

They hammer on in, even though the weight of the war has fallen unfairly on them. I always think of such men as the voluntary men" (57). These words describe men who step up to the plate to perform difficult tasks even though they would rather not. Throughout the novel, Brubaker encounters several of these men. The CAG is the first Voluntary man Brubaker comes across.

The objective of the task force is to destroy the bridges at Toko-Ri. They are a dangerous target that represents the last straw for the communist. In order to accomplish his task CAG his task, CAG must fly a photo recon mission. Brubaker is his cover. While Brubaker watches amazed, CAG flies low through the deadly valley twice to get the pictures they need. Later, Brubaker tells Tarrant, "I saw a man so brave, Admiral, he went in so low that he simply had to get knocked down" (101).

In this way, Brubaker identifies CAG as a voluntary man. He also witnesses a small SNJ spotter plane being shot down as it marks enemy targets for the pilots. The pilot of this tiny outdated plane just keeps swooping down upon the targets releasing his smoke flares right up to the point where he is blown out of the sky. Brubaker says of this voluntary man, "Sometimes you look honor right in the face...

I have to go out tomorrow. If he could fly an SNJ, I can fly a jet" (101). These two men act as models of courage for Harry Brubaker. When is it finally time to fly over the bridges, Brubaker demonstrates that he is a voluntary man as well. The night before the mission, Brubaker is overcome with fear and dread. He thinks about going to the ship's doctor and telling him that he has lost his nerve to fly.

Even though he wants to live, he knows that he cannot save himself from the mission ahead. He recognizes that he has a job to do and must complete it to the best of his ability. Flying over the deadly bridges the next day, the American pilots destroy them with two passes. They then begin to bomb an ammo dump. This is when Brubaker truly goes above and beyond the call of duty. He uses his last bomb to destroy a supply depot so that he can deny the enemy even food and clothing.

At this point, his plane is hit by communist fire. Brubaker soars away, hoping to make it back to the carrier. Unfortunately, he is forced to crash land in a Korean field. Although rescue is attempted, Brubaker is gunned down by enemy soldiers who surrounded him as he tires to find cover in a foul-smelling ditch. At the moment of his death, however, Brubaker feels no resentment. Michener writes of him, "Harry Brubaker understood in some fragmentary way the purpose of his being in Korea" (123).

He was no longer angry or afraid. He had done his duty. After Admiral Tarrant learns of Brubaker's death, he says of him, "Why is America lucky enough to have such men?" (126). Tarrant is referring of course to the voluntary men like Brubaker who do the job to the best of their ability, ignoring fear and danger. Men like these make America the land of the free and the home of the brave.