War is Courage

War is nasty

He shot it twice in the flank
Nobody said much
He shot off chunks of meat below the ribs
The whole platoon stood there watching
The animal fell hard
He shot it in the throat

War is terror

You got to listen to your enemy
The mountains are absolutely dead-flat silent
They don't talk
They still hear it
They lose it
The guys can't cope
Certain stories you don't ever tell

War is discovery

There's a definite moral here
Henry Dobbins asked what the moral was
I don't see not moral
There it is man

War makes you dead

The men laughed
Strunk made that high happy moaning sound
He came up grinning
Right then, Ted Lavender was shot in the head
The cheekbone was gone
The guy's dead