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I was a coward. I went to the war.

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On occasions the war was like a Ping-Pong ball. You could put fancy spin on it, you could make it dance.

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He wanted to heat up the truth, to make it burn so hot that you would feel exactly what he felt.

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That's what fiction is for. It's for getting at the truth when the truth isn't sufficient for the truth.

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A few names were known in full, some in part, some not at all. No one cared. Except in clearly unreasonable cases, a soldier was generally called by t...more

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In battle, in a war, a soldier sees only a tiny fragment of what is available to be seen. The soldier is not a photographic machine. He is not a camer...more

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I suppose if we gain anything from this unsought experience it will be an appreciation for honesty- frankness on the part of our politicians, our frie...more

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In the next days it took little provocation for us to flick the flint of our Zippo lighters. Thatched roofs take the flame quickly, and on bad days th...more

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I would wish this book could take the form of a plea for everlasting peace, a plea from one who knows... Or it would be fine to confirm the odd belief...more

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Stories can save us.

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Stories are for joining the past to the future.

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I detested their blind, thoughtless, automatic acquiescence to it all, their simpleminded patriotism, their prideful ignorance, their love-it-or-leave...more

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In any war story, but especially a true one, it's difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen. What seems to happen becomes its own...more

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To generalize about war is like generalizing about peace. Almost everything is true. Almost nothing is true. At its core, perhaps, war is just another...more

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They would repair the leaks in their eyes.