Alnlo$t

BeYond
Hurnan
ConcePtron
Conveyiuganadeqrrateideaafthesecond\AlorldWarisc}osetoirrrpos-
sible because,
--';:;.cirt--*:"a."alo*n
*::ltut
has said'
"\l&at wc
tlid to e*ch oth*,
il;**i
bcyonrl
human
conception''-
F or
"i- l,:f:
t}e sheer
numbers
defeat
;rttempts
to flesh them
out r'r'ith actual'
untqxle
human
bei'gs.
ilifi
and
woun#;;;;over
7-E
millia*
people''
m*re
o{
thcm
civilians
rfr'r"'J,,i*i"tt.
Cftt-
t" S *ifUon Jews
lvere beatcn'
shot' or
g*ssed to death
f'rj't'*
G*'**n''
Ot* million
people dicd of starvation
arrd
despair
in t# ;;-'f
i;$;;f'
*'-:
:o
*itt*"
'vo-unslnen
and
u,onren
worll*,it}*
*"d*
mustered
into arrtries,
navies'
:t'd
air forccs'
r r
nrilrion
in uu, t-i* s.,ri*t
uniol
*r.r
tl,* unitcd states'
ro millio,
i'
German,v,
6 millic,n
ir:
|apan,
*.i'*tff;n
i, Uottt
ltaty and Britain'
If the
bartle
of the
s";;*
constitut:r';;;;ariu.*uuss
20,mo
Britistr
sel-
tlicrs
were
kild';;
;;* dry,_tr.,;;lr;t.umber
of civilianf
were asphvx-
iated
u.,.1 t*rri;;
;;;tl'
;"-*t
u"*rbing
of Haurburg'
Scrcntv
t'ousand
4ied
at lliroshin"' li'o*
't
Nagasali'
and t*e same
at l)res-
den.
Amorrg
B;;irh
txrnrber
"r**r,
over
ii--ooo
were killed'
more
tlran
alt the
Britisr,
offi;.;;-kill"d
,"d
;;*d*a
in the First
Warld
War'
\lrherr tlre
c"r'irr;;r,rd-d-;i;
soviet
LJni.,,
thcy
clid so with 165
divisio,s,
,rd ;il;;r"lt
5"'1"'ii**
'r'ern'back
with
Eoo' The number
of Germ*r,r
ri,t l ;;;;J*.d'-i'
iirii"g'.a
***
el'ooo'
(rhl number
surviving
years of captivit)'to
return
ha're was 6'ooo')
Two
millir:n
lllen
wcrc engaged
in the
batrle
:i"K;;k,
in thc soviet
Llnion'
F-oug*t
in
t941,it
rernains
the
g*at-r,lrrJ
Uri f- in history'
Six thousand
tauks
f.ug't
each
"iir*
,ia
f*,, i;;;una
pU"es'
"Ai times"'
says Rchert
trckie,
.,the;;d
i;
ur*ir,"e1"irr,'rli;i{J
out th" suft"'
and
"aut of
the blacke,ecl
sky
fell
,rxi.kini,
t,rrrr;ng
airplanes'"
It was
like sollle-
thing
*r,p*,,'J"i'i':;i'igl'teneJ
peasants-scrcaming
i* terror
ran for thc
farests
rvith thcir
harrds
o"*'
tf'lit
ears'"
In suc'-circurrtstarrces'
only
:nrall
numbcrs
and a ferv actual
tramcs
can resume
human
significance'
like thc ***;;
*hrce*tht*
**,
carne
out a!i'e
r'r''e*, on May
z4'
1q.11,
the
gril;;rtrl* .*i;*r-"frnnd
blew up.
'Ihe
rest of the erew,
30s The Scrvnd ltbrld l{.ar
,
,4!8
men, disappeared. only Signalnran Briggs, &tirlshipman
Dundas,
and Seaman Tilbum sun'iyed.
I ----
No casicr than
jrygirlts itu magnitude
is specifu,ing the starting
point of the sccond l4rr:rld \[rar. sonie would
say'it b*grribrek i, r't;
with the l'reatv_r:f Versailles,
whcn Gerrnany *orr brrli"d.* the instiga-
tor of the First \Lbrld l,var ancl was shortly to be chargcd with
..r*p.ir-
tions," humiliating and uupayable.
(lerman
rc-armarnJnt
ald aggressive
'ational
sclf-fustification
seenr au inevitable
rcaction.
Otlreil nright
por.rt to
|apanesc
aggre$sion in-china begi**irrg in r93r. The *ol.l-
wide economic depression cf thc rg3os asristd th* #; to
fro,*,c,
of
Hitler's National Socialists, *'ho confrivcd
the re-militarization
of thc
Rhineland in rq36 and the arrnexatir-rn of Austria and parts of Czecho-
slovakia in rg38. [\'Icanw'hi]e,
]apan
was ffexirrg nationalist
muscles an<l
preparing
tc lead an anti-colonialist
effort **p.iliug
Britain, thc Nether-
lands, and the Uuitecl Statcs from their tradiiionallossessin-.,,
i* thc Far
East. [lp to this time, Britaiu, still horrifiecl by hein,assive losses in the
First \l''orld w*ar,- t{ed by nunrerou,
"=p*olients
of compromise snd
persuasion
to sstisfy Hitler's territori*l hunger, but rvhcn the Ge*ra's
dernanded Polsnd too and inraded it on sepLrnber r
,
r qiq, BriJain and
France finally drew the line, declan'ng lvar on Cermarry il,;;" da-r.s latcr.
F'nr several montks lf$9 happened, French *nd Cerman troofs-regarcl-
ing each other from behind their border fortifications
of the it{agirct
and Siegfrieel liues-. Brrt in fuIay r94o, the Cerrnans simply flankcd the
Maginot Line to the narth ancl-swept through llollanr], Belgium, Lux-
embourg, and fin*lly France. A Sritish Expeditionary
Foice *.*nt to assist
the Frcnch army uas forced back a,rd iled n.ro*, thc Chsnnel fror'
Dunkirk. Ieaving all its heavy equipme,t behind. British
fiolrgr"a,
tried to sat'age rvhat hop. it could from this debacle, bnt'it Ls nc,w
apparcnt that Germany eould do u.'hat it wanted on the Corrtinent
until
tlrcre was a change in intenrational
dynamics.
Although clearly dis-
tressed by these Etrropcan ct cnts, the Urrited States ha6 so far disjlaved
no great rvillingrress
to come to Britain's defense. Its neltrali
-v
puzzled
and angered rna*y Britorrs. As Philip \triarncr has said, at this fi*.
the British opirrior of the United Statcs was that at heart it was relly still a
patl at the British Empirc. Tlrc fact that it had been an in{cpcndent
country frr ovcr I;o tiears arrd lhat Americans inclrrdcd millions of parpl.
whosc anccstors had migrated from Enrrrpcan cauntries
such as ttaty,, Cer-
tnany, Yugoslavia, and o'en Russia. and thus lrad no feelings of Jfini5
torvard.s Britain, did not bre.ak into the consciousncss
of the av.frage Brit*rr.
. . . In faet ,rost Arneric*ns hardll'ga1 a thought to Britair.
Not to mentian the outright hostility. to Britain
among nuny lrish
Atnericans, as r+cll a.s thc opposition ta British
calonijis* nnUitu*t
among American liberals, Britain's problems
were nou, multiplied
by
L.
,4lmost Bcvand Human Conccption
309
Itall,'s declaring war on her and invading Egvpt. Soon Ceneral Rorn-
rncl's Afrika Corps lvas pre$sing against the British in North Africa.
On
|une:,2,
rg+r, Cermanv surprisingll, furned cashvard and invadcd
its erstwhile ally, the Soviet [Jrriorr, at first r+'ith dranratic success, plung-
ing hundrcds of rniles into unsuEpecting and unrcad.v Russian dcfcnses.
And if the war spread in tlut clirectir:n in rg4r, in earlv rg4f, it became
gcnuinely a u,orld war whcn
|apan
scizcd thc Philippines arrd Malal,a
and Burrru and adl.anced in the Pacific right up to Australia. Ccrmanv
had an tmdcrstanding rvith
|apan,
and when, reacting to the attack sn
Pearl Harbor, the United States declared war on
]apan,
Ccrmanv rc-
sprrrded by declari*gwar orr the Uniteel States. Tlris, togetlrcr *.ith its
inrasian of thc Sct'iet Union. proved a terriblc mistake, hnt it rcquircd
years for the obviously superior industrial capacity of the United States
to gct inta gcar and for America to nruster and train an army capable of
ioining
the British in recapturing the Continent and entering Gerrnany.
Ultirnatclv Anrcrican force.s orrfuurmbered llritislr, the reasorr Eisen-
hower rvas designated Suprerne AIIied Commander. Cctting Amcrican
tanks and planes to Iiurcp war; rrct etry, f*r U-lmats sank trans-Atlarrtic
vessels virtuall-v at will until radar, the convay s1'stcm, and exfencled air
protection shiftecl the *dvantage to tlrc Allies. For Germanv the turning
point of thc war lva$ prohahl-v thc battlc of Stalingrad, in l"ebruary t{-}13.
After that, Cerman forces lrer engaged in practicall--v full-time retreat.
To add to Gennanv's troutrles, the Allies inv*ded ltaly anellxgan a slow,
painful adrance north.
It was clear to the Allies that getting batk r:trtc the Contirrerrt r+'ould
'
be costly. \&}en they had raidcd thc Frcnctr coastal town of llieppc in
August tg42, they suffered
1o
perc-eut casualties arrd achieved nothing.
Although the Sovicts in,sisted thxf the Allics invade the Continsrt irr
1943, the United Statcs and Britain required a year morc to build thc
landing craft and to achier-e the absolute air superioritv required fcrr
invrsion. Despite the relative success of the landings in l{ormandy, cnn-
quering the still powerful and energetically officered Germarr arnry took
almost another
l'car,
during r+,hich tr-Iitlcr's
"secret
\f,'capons," thc V-r
and \r'-z self-propelled bouilrs and racliets, killed ruany civilians in Eng-
land and Belgirrm. In the final ycar of the linropean war tlre Allie*
overran u,hat earlier had been only the substance of terrible rumors, thc
cxtermination canrps in rvhich the Gernrarrs killed nrillicns of "sub-
human$"-|ervs, Poles, Slavs, gt'psies, and homosexuals.
ln the Far F,ast
fapanese
power h*d beerr eroeling evcr sirrce thc naval
battle of il{idway, in r9.,tr2, but it *as clcar that givcn thc suicielal
fapa-
rrese resistanc'e as islarrd after islancl was seized by the r\rrrericans, the
homc islands n'auld have to be invadcd. Tn provide bascs for the ulti
nrate infantry and marine battle on the
fapanese
homeland, the Philip
pines werc recaptured and
(Jkinawa
occrrpied. Incerrdiary bonrbirrgs *f
ciyilians prepared the way for invasion: mcre pe.ople (r8o,ooo)
n,ere
3ra
?Ee Se,cr:ri'd l-{'arrU l4'.2,.
t{i}led irr
"conventional"
attacks on
'fbk'rc
in Aprii ,?4s, than in hoth
the atomic bombings. A{ter tl're Ccrmail surrcndcr in t{a-v 1945, the
Aarericans began shifting traops and srrpplies io thc Pecifir:, but th*
atom bombs madc invasion rrnnecessary-" lVhen tlre
lapanese
surreir-
dercd in;lugust rg.+I, Ccn*ral'L{aeArthur exprc sed the understaltling
of billions *'hen tre desigrrated ttr* $':tt "a great tragecll'."
"{.
tragedy
generatcs fear and piti, and tlrere had bee* plentv of fear and pity for
the past sir yrars.
"llrc
nr*i* eities of
!apa:,
were iishes, and if y*ears af
lxrnrhing lrad iruni*lily stiffened ralher tilen s*flened the Gcrrnan will
tn resist, there lryas scarcely s Gcrman city *f an-V siec that was nr-if in
ruins, u,ith people starving in liales. {Although in ihc Third R*i*h irirc}',
the noraral aitendant of madcrn lyar. B'as t*r*, thcrc Er*rr accasiona-i
autcrops, After ttrc bom"bing *f llr*srk:n, srlmerlne painterl on the side-
*alk.
"J'lrank you. ricar Ftihrcr."i trlilli*ns t:f srrddeniy freed farcigr:
lvorkcrs, r,nslaycd fnr
-ycars
h,v the C*rtt:;tlts, r+'*rtdcred ;i,:rass [ur*pe.
rnAnv n$ thcm I*nting ancl rapir:g in reveltge. It waui<] b* decades bcfore
cirilizrd rxrnclifi*ns w*uld be 1:alf-restored, and la *:is day, ii vau lcak
lxrst
the fagades ol uew buiklirrgs in
-trl"*rsarv
to the itreas behir:d,
-vou
will
see r1,:!r ruils star:clirrg there
ir:st
as ifi rq-+5.
Ii *,as not until the Sec*nd llrorid 11,'ar that thc rclative civiiity oi the
Irirst was apparent.
fuIost t:i thc atrocity siories imprrting extraordi;x:r1'
cruelt--v to the Ccrmans thcn 1rt:rc rtr'ealed to ir*ve
j>eerr
cortcr:ctrtl b-v
Allied propagandisis. lr{r:t ;c ihe appallirrg narratives etrtanatirrg frour
this rvar, tclling of
japanese ba1'orretirrg tf lrursr:s and hospital patients in
Hong Kong and of ttreir irrcrplicabl-v cruel tre*trrrent of helpiess prisorr-
ers of rvar. In Britain turiav. there are stili thr:usands of form*l prisotrcrs
of the
laparrcse
who rvill refuse forever io bu1'an1'thing bcaring thc narnc
Sonv or Toyota. Unthinkabie in the First trVorld ll'ar v;ould have bccn
iire Cerrrvn Ehrcoizgruppett, spccial SS units accomPan,ving thc army as
it conquered Eastern Europc, x&cse dut-v it u,as i+ milrder ccmntissar$,
|eur,
intellectuals, and pcasants slack in ohcrliener. lJr-rkn*wn irr the
First !1,iorld \tr.ar was an instituiion like tlre
(icstai:c,
which tort*red
and killcd frcclv u,hilc tryir:g to repress civiliarr resistance irl Cermalr-
occgpicd countrirs- Ar:d althri:rgir the Spxrrish Civil \liar had made
famiiiar the iciea r-rf
"p;rrtis;uis"
arrel guerriiias, the haired of the Cerma*s
aglong orlin*rv
pe*pl*, ;:s well as anloilg ccnlrmed commtt*ists, clccs-
si,rpe{ large ri.rirrgs of irreguiar iorces a]l oi'cr Europc, bui cspccially in
t'rance, Russia, Yug*slavia. and Crcecc.
'T'hcsc
ll.ttc kcpt supplie.d hy
air-drops froxr Allied plancs and wcrc samctimcs lcd and ahstted b-v
Allied offi.*rs parachutcd at thc sarnc time. Partisan u*its, which aur-
bushed the Gcrrilans, bl*rv r:p railr+a1'' traefrs, rcads, bridges, alrd vi:]ri-
clcs, paid hcavilv far thcir patriotisnt :rnd darirrg: ir Yugoslavia alone
ovcr
Baoleoo
lvcre !:illecl antl u..,er
4oo,coo
u,ourrd*d" T?rose the Ger-
h.-
Alnost Beyond Human Conception
mans capfured-"bandits," they, called thein-nerc
unccremonitrusly
shot or hanged, their bodies left dangling to discourage otherc. \tr/ide-
sprcad was the Cernun practice of rounding up admittedly innocent
pmplc chosen at randorn-the local schoolteacher, the pharmacist, an
adopted child, tlre towrr drunk-as hostagcs against partisan attaek in
thc district, ten hostages to be shot for each Gerrrran soldier killed. It was
lrard to decide whcthcr thc world in general, increasingly,urrinhihitd
by
former scruples deriving from religiolr, had grown
morc cruel since the
F irst World lVar or whether the Germans, nourished on the adolescent
arrd
;xtlrr:logic,arl
irnS:eratives of National Socialism, had accomplished a
unique breakthrough into a nell' anti-ethics of pedantic viciousness.
lVhen the Ccrman surreidcr was finally consummated af Rheims, Cen-
eral Eisenhoner felt so revotrted hy the recently discloscd death camps
that hc rcfused cven to be present r+''hen the surrerrder was signcd by
General
lodl,
Iater hanged at l\'uremburg.
F'acsdwith eyents so unpreccdentcd and so inaccessible to nornral
models of humanr understanding, literature spcnt a lot of time standing
silCnt and aghast.
fournalism
was different. Bi,en'though it *.'as cithci
offiiIII,"* censored'or self-ccnsored (usually
both), it pcrformed its norrrr*l
task of rcgistcring the facts, and practiced by a correspondent like I\,Iar-
tlra Gellltorr it delilered a crediblc, uscful version of events. But a
vcrsion not onll'credible but ntorally and artistically significant mrne-
tiures seemed beyond the porver of literature to deliver. One irnpedi-
ment was suggested hy the prcts. It is demoralizing to be called on to
/n
fight the samc enemy hvice in the space of tweutl,-onc
1.ears, and what is
Y
there to say except what has bccn said the first time? Canadian prrct
J*
vtt
h,Iilton Acorn put it this way:
L**
t
''
'fhis
is wherc wc came in; this has happened before
Orrly thc Iast time there was cheering.
3rl
i
I
I
I
I
I
a
i
t
t
t
t
luriush
poet Keith Douglas, irr tris poem "flesert
F'lcrvers," rcfcrs to
ilsaac Rosenbcrg's "Break
of Day in the Trenches" from the First trtrorld
JHrar
and admif,, "Rosenberg
I only repeat what you wcre saf ing." Her-
ib*tt
Rcad's poem "To
a Conscript of r g4o" exhibits a sirnilar wearincss
,'f , .r-
iat this replay of a former disaster. The timc for idcalism, Read notes, is
;"
ilong
past. The soldiers of the Secorrd trVorld \l,ar
carr perform satisfac- li.t; "''
!
torily, he ohserves, only if they knorv in advance that no social gorxl will
I come from the war. .L
, Anothcr problcm for literature was the difficultl' of nraking moral ,
'
,
i
i sense otrt of circrtntrstances arrcl behavior so destructive of nor*nl moral
i assumptions. Barbara Fol
,v
has defirred tlre problenr
wlrile commcnting
r on the I lolocaust. It's not, she Hys, that its data are "unknowffble."
TII
t
i
j1: Tht S*vnd l'ljurkJ ll"at
impediment t$ rrndr:r$tanrling the Hr:ia.Elist is that
"its
frrll dimensians
are inaclressible to the ideoiogicai framervcrks th*t we haye inherited
fn-rr:r tirr liberal )ra."
Alrrcst eniirelv ai:seat fuour the Sec*;rd i{"or{d lVar il,sre those gung-
ho celebrations rrtterecl at the hegin*ing af ti:e f"irst \Var ht' Rupert
Brookc and tr\'-. iri. Itrcdgsor':. Ev thc tinrt i{itl*r l:ad inraded Poland and
the Allies krr**.n thc3.
pqr,rirl
Lur.'e tu figlrt, tlre *ld illusion tliat lrxr u,'as
anything hut criminal and rrlc$$:' rvas largel,v in iatters. As Rohcrt E.
Sheru,ood said, the Sec*ld l\,'orld ldrar tas
"the
first in Arlrerican his-
tory
[and
*f *ourse el'rn ril$re sc ilr l]ritis]r histor;] irr w]rich the general
disillusir:nmcnf prcccdcd thc firing ni ihc first shct." Cr *s one Briton
remerrbered tlre national stale af mind at ilre oirtbreak of the rvar,
"l\ie
l+'src all conscientious nbiectnrs. ancl ali i* lthe uar.l." Y.,'trrx E. i\,{"
Forstrrr rvas *skcd in r g4a u,I"rat hc irlt abor:t thc r+.ar, hc rcplicd,
"{
d*n't
rvant tr: lose it, I d*r:'t cxpert lJictr:ry
iwith * big 1!i, altd I crn't
foin
irr
;n-v tnlild-*-fie11'-1?orlcl stri#. *ncs in a iifetir*e one can srvallorr,lhat, bnt
**t tu,icc." &s a rnriir'* f*r s*.l*-ir"*m*lati*n amflirg thc Allics, patriatisrn
seerucd closc ia ubs*lcle.
"\'l,jho
tiie Leii dies for liirrg *nd Countrl'
anymnreT" askcd a {}a***i*rr *o}rli*r.
'".{hat
crap 11irnt out in fhe First
\4/orld trtrnr."
Consrquently, reg;rrdless c$ its tfuuger, fur tlrr.rse iurplimtecl in it the
Scconcl 1\'ar coulil sccm alm*st bo;ir*g. Cnc of thc hcst *nrJ r*ost rfprc-
sentative poerns frurrr the Secorrd l.Yar is Slun Lcrvis's "All
Day It l"las
Raine*," which catrfies the sense th*t rttrile r:ltin:ate significance nral.'
bc possiblc. at thc morncni thc rvar is a grcat cmptincss. ;!r sigh, not *
screanl of pain or a sliout of outrage, seenrs a tvpical sountl of this war.
{}nlikc thc loqnacity'nfiich is one of the crrltural atteldants of t}re First
1tr'ar. silence is the stigma of cxpericncc in tirc Srcond. lVriters as articu-
latc as \\.'allacc Stcvcns, 1'. S. Hliot, Roberi Fr*st, auqi Saurucl Beckttt
had littlc tc sav aboi:t thc irar. and fr{mund lf ilson.
fo}rrr
B*rryman,
and llehuore Sclruariz s*tretintes *cted as if it lvere r:at takin{ p}*ce.
The Allied troops iike-*ise tesrded to silence, *r *t lcast to a hrer.ig'
suggcsting sc\-crc discrchantmci.rt. Orc* thr war r4,a$ o1cr, $ar m*rsl *f
the pariicipants there r+,as liitle Lc be ssid either,
"1i"1:en
I rame back""
one soldier saicl.
"l
didn't reirJize haw silr*t t had been throtrgh those
four y*ars. ai-rri I . . . c*ntinu*cl sil**t. It *es funn-y." Soldiers n'h* werc
r+.ritcrs becrrrre *ilerit toa. &s Hlrl SLapiiu says. speaking af
lohn Ciardi
ancl other vo*ng rr,,rifers u,,h*'d bccn in coni.bat and haei plent;; to tcstify
about,
"lVc
all camc out erf ihr san-rc armv anil
ir:iacil
the same genera-
tioir *f silcrice."
This timc, Icss saiil the irett*r, as lahsr Fridncv writ*s in his pocril
"&{issinq,"
deplorinE thc ileath af his fric*d
"Smith":
L"-
,Tknost BeS,ond H*man Cbnc.eption
3r?
No roses at thc end
Of Smith, my friend.
8,"Jffilin::f,1:lcpns'i
That suggests thc exhaustinrr b-v modern war of elegiae language
ancl
imagcry- Gavin Etart implies as much bv avoiding
irraiili"r
It"giac
prrrcedures
irr his poem "lVhen
a Beau Co.* Irr." fhe a.Ju"iion
of a
pilot in his airplane has becotre so routinc
,.,.1 *rrniugfi
,l*t
..j\o-
Eay
sa,vs, 'Poor
lad-' "
The irony of sc.cond worrd iv;;r;
seems
effortless, iuevitahle, naftrral, as in Rand*ll
Jarrell's
..The
b;;;i, of the
Ball Turret Cttnnc-r"-representative
alsa in its brevity. i"hir-;;rvilling-
ness to embroider suggests a t'orlcl whcre scnsitir.e
ur.ru of langrragc
have
heel virtuall-v
forcetl into thc laconic m,de
!r
the
"*.*rr*"oi
propr-
ganda,
ad'ertising,
publicitv,
a*d natia*alistic
l1,ing.
Becattse
of both censorship and thc dcsire to win thc rvar on its oryn
contemporary
terms, it's not casy tq firrd people
r+,riting
interestinglr..rf
the rvar r+'hile it'.t going
on. Civerr the **nti*"ntali*
# ili;;trioric
wartime
iournalisrn and the cleceptivcncss
of olEci*l orriurionr,
rl4 gir..en
the false cottceptions of character and nrotivation nourishcj
Uy
gogr.-
wood arrd by wr,iting
aimed at Hollyr+'aod, onc turns rvith relief to the
Ietters and diaries of soldiers.
'l'hesc
acl*it a reacler to ,,rrr,.ihing
like
achmlitv, that is, the seildier's 1+?r. As trre historian Rogcr
I-
ipi1., tr*
said,
Becausc the.soldier's history of nar ctroes not readily suhmit to the orderlv
requirements
of histcry, and becausc, when unc*vcrcd,
it ofter .frrff.rrg;
thc orderl-v traditions hy.u''hich lrilitar-v history has shaped
"u,
u"a.rrtand-
irrg of r+"arfare' the soldicr'.r wilr has been ttrc gieat ,."r*i of militarl,|ist{,ry.
And within this special, .sccrct histary of *ar. the darkcst.orn*,
Lf;;iH;
had to do with war's esscntial. dcfini*g feature---combat,
*,hat itJ* nU to
have lived thrgug! it, ancl tn havc lfted with oue's own comhat historv for
thc rest of ole's life.
There is lto rnore illuminating
testiurou,v- abaut the soldier's
nar in the
selsctions fhaf follow
than that of tinitcd Srates il,{arine
Eug"rr. B.
-Sledge, whose rnenroir, with the otd Breed at
peleliu
o,nd ok;nino,
rr*r
becor*e a classic of modesty, honesty, and simpliciqv, *or* ;l*; tha'
itlrv amCIunt of literary
sophisticutian. And fr*m tlie Axis side there is
9q,t
Saicr's memorable
aicount of his soldier's r+'ar in {he Forgotten
soldier. Americ'an Privatc First cras* ir{itc}rcll
shrrp". oho rougi.,t ,tr.
Cerrtrans r+'ith thc infarrtry in F rance and Cermany, gets
t1e sildier,s
nar right when he tells his mother,
,l.l
li!
{ .li - ::.
-.'''-r
i-
The fund l4rorW War
314
If you cogld only se m kids killed at eighteen, nineteut and twenty fiS],t-
ing in a cm'rntryihat
means nothing to us' Eghtingleca$e it means either
Ufr * be ldlld" not because
you're rnakilg tlre world safe for dcmocraty
or
destroying
Nazism-
The death of his fricnd Nal, killed near him and left by th-e si$ of the
**
i.*th
*yo rna mouth oper," has shorn hirn
"what a hopeless and
il*el"s* #k
"y
this rper is.; That pereptrtrn $cems to arise onb from
"*"-;;,
and orprience
irr the library, film theater, debating society,
or-*lo*r**
will not $ecrn to suffice'
446
fr,andal?
.farrdl
as a {fight-e'$srtr*lfer i*sfe*d. Aiter the war lie taugltt at SsraU L*wr*stc
a*d at fir I4"*r:** s Cc,ff*gc of th* i,t:;i.r:rss'*.r:y','Yorf,t f*rorbra.
El*N:'i: ;'Lrg, l'-aacx
It, i* a* rfrrl e*g1t r":f the hutm*nt,
,
A
Pt
pp-r* Iaps the rrrater fu*.tu: * {i3:1
I
Of {lon,er$, anrJ t}rr drur:k se:gi:*rrt s}ratipg
\fu']:istles G PawdisoJ*_sha]] I say'that ma*
*'wtlf*ffmcrt l:*v* saici: * vs*l{ tr: man?
The otiier nturderers troi:p in yxwnir:g;
Ttrret *f ihem pla1, Pitch, cne sleeps, and arie
Lic* cr;*nting nr issi*ns,'trics there *w*ating
'l"ill
ev*n his heart heats: iln*; []:i*; **c
{} murricrcrs! . , Still, this is }t..r'it's dont:
-fhis
is a x,ar. . . . But sinc* thes* play, befare ihe,v die,
Like puppies rr ith their prrppy; sinc,:, a rnar].
I diC as tirase h*ve dcne. but did r:at dic--*
I will ccuie:rl t]re people as I rtr:
And give up these to thern: Bchcld the crxr!
I ha*;e slffered, rn a dream, bet:atue of hinr,
-L{irrry"
tfuirrgs; fur ihis l:lsi sayi{-,ur, ttlar,
I have lied as I lie uov.,. But ta,hat is ly'irrg?
l{cn
-vr"sh
thcir hantls. in blc*d, as hcsi i}rr.v can:
! find no fa*lt in this
irist
rna:--,.
'$f
-r'
/
w
'l'{-rx
T}l:-q':'}l {}F'=rr! r': Bat,r, Tt-lnne'r tr.:n+ren
Frc'rn rtly rll*ther's s}*ep i leli i:rit-, tlle St*ie,
end I hurrched in its
-*e111;
till ,:i:, u.'*t iu: ksff.
Six mii*s frarn
-*arth,
Ic*scd {ri:m its drcam *f lif*,
I nal:e to bhck ftak;:l:ri tht ::ight$tart fighi*rr.
l4rherr I died *r*r. wirshed -rtt* i:ut *i th* t:-rrrei x,itir r irr:se.
!-
losscr
4.V
Losses
It was not r3ying: everl,body dietl.
It was not dving: we had diecl before
[n t]re nrutine c-r:rshes-and our ficlds
Called up the papers, wrcte trorne to sur folks,
And the rates trosc, all bccause of us.
lVc died on thc wrong page of the alrrauac,
Scattered on mourltains fifty rtiles a$:ey;
Didng orr haystacks, fighting with a fricnd,
1[,e blazed up on the lines ]vc ne]r sau,.
\.\re clied like aunts or pets or f*reigners.
(\trhen rr,c lcft high school nothing else lrad disd
For us to figure we had died like.)
In our new planes, rvitlr our $elv crewsl wc bombed
The r*nges hy the ele$ert nr tlre shore,
Fired at to*,ed targcts, r*.aitcd for our scores-
,{nd turncd into replacements and *'olee up
Onc morning, 6rrer England, operational.
lt r+asn't different: but if we dird
It rvas fot an accident brrt s rnistakc
(But
an easv one for an-lrlne to make).
We rcad our mail and connted up our missions-
In homtrcrs namcd for girls, ive burned
l'he citics we lrad learned about in school-
Till our lives wore out; our hdies lay among
The people rve had killed ancl never $een.
\tterr r*.c Iastettr long enough thcy garc us medals;
Wherr rve died thc-v said,
"Our
casualties lvere low."
'l'hey
said, "Herc are thc maps"; we burned the cities.
It *r'as not dying-no, not ever dying;
Ilut the night I died I dretrned that I llas dsd,
And the cities said to me:
"\Mhy
arc yuu dying?
lVe *re satisfied, if you are; but why did I diel"