ORDINARY COURAGE by Joseph Martin Plumb Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

ORDINARY COURAGE by Joseph Martin Plumb - Essay Example He wanted to be featured not really as a war time hero but more as an epitome of an ideal soldier upholding the virtues of loyalty, bravery and patriotism. To top it all, he was one of those brought to the harshness of the battlefields at a very young age of 14. (Jones, G., 2009). â€Å"Joseph Plumb Martin was raised by his maternal grandparents in their farm in Connecticut. At the age of 14, he was already in action during the Battles of Lexington and Concord. He managed to get into these battlefields despite the objection from his grandfather. He started his military career when he joined the Continental Regiment that lasted for eight long years (1776-1783)† (Jones, 2009). Peer influence was one of the main reasons why JP Martin joined first the militia, then later enlisted as a private soldier of the Continental Regiment of the Revolutionary army which supported Gen. Washington. â€Å"All of his peers joined the army, forcing him to join too. He was close and loyal to his peers† (Jones, 2009). The other reason why J. P. Martin joined the army was because he got inspired by ‘rage militaire’, a propaganda advocating passion for arms and patriotic fervor (Jones, 2009) and (Glossary). Part of the attractive recruitment package then was the promise to provide continuous ration of food, medicine and clothing and of course, a monthly salary worth $ 6.75 dollars. Like a fever, this enticement swept across the country. (Jones, 2009). JP Martin’s story comes far differently from the rest. Its distinctiveness comes from the â€Å"perspective of a common soldier† (Jones, 2009). During that period, it was not a traditional practi ce for an ordinary person to write about history. Most war write-ups were written from the peripheral standpoint which makes them somewhat superficial as compared to the accounts made by someone like JP Martin who participated in the actual battlefield. One of the major