Cowards, Comrades, and Killer Angels: The Soldier in Literature
Abstract
Sajer's harsh indictment rings true. Generals, in recounting the big picture, often give short shrift to the horror of war at the soldier's level. Historians are equally culpable, recording only the objective events-dates, places, and orders of battle-not the confused, constricted view from the foxhole or tank hatch. This is not to say that big-picture accounts are unimportant. Understanding war at the operational level is critical. But studying military history and the memoirs of senior generals is not enough. Leaders must also understand the human dimension of war at the lowest level. One valuable source of insight is often overlooked-the experiences of soldiers at war as recounted in fiction and personal accounts. As Colonel Henry Gole, US Army Ret., said in a recent article in Military Review, fictional accounts of battle helped one green soldier weather his first war: "My experience as a young infantry soldier in Korea convinced me that having read The Red Badge of Courage, All Quiet on the Western Front, From Here to Eternity, and The Naked and the Dead prepared me better for war than any history I had read to that date." Exactly what lessons are to be learned from these books? Even a brief review of the literature of war immediately uncovers two dominant themes: First, in combat all soldiers are afraid; second, this fear, coupled with shared hardships, drives soldiers into a close relationship with one another. A third theme, less obvious, more sinister, and more pervasive than expected, is that of a certain zest for war and destruction which, when carried to extremes, is best represented by a type of soldier Michael Shaara called the "killer angel." I did not use any special method in selecting the fiction and soldier memoirs that will be used to illustrate these themes. Most are from recent wars, and generally represent both sides of the fighting.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1990
- Accession Number
- ADA515378
Entities
People
- Peter S. Kindsvatter
Organizations
- United States Army War College