What does the poem, "The Uniform" by Marvin Bell, mean?

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Auddits

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I have to read out a poem and I think I'd sound a lot better if I understood what it means.
(read it here: http://www.poetryoutloud.org/poems/poem.html?id=175943 )

I think it's about a man reminiscing about his days in the army from looking at his uniform, remembering old memories.
But, the last part of the poem throws me off.

"For earplugs, some used cigarette filters or toilet paper.
I don’t hear well now, for a man of my age,
and the doctor says my ears were damaged and asks
if I was in the Army, and of course I was but then
a wounded eardrum wasn’t much in the scheme."

Can anyone explain?
 
Loneliness, fear, despair,Bell's father, his identity as a Jew, his experiences in the military, as well as his relationships with his wives and children, HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT HOW HE WRITES AND WHAT HE SAYS research the poetry writer it always helps .Also he explains because lack of items when fighting you use what ever you can for earplugs , and it was not the ear plugs that were important after all . GOOD luck
 
I think it means times were hard some people had to use other stuff for earplugs because times were hard and then also the last part i think means all he had from the army was a wounded eardrum compared to some people who may have lost there lives or gotten seriously injured :) hope i helped xX
 
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