I agree with the title of the article : those disturbing ( to our
social conscience ? ) graphic portraits of wounded vets were meant to be
stared at. I recall when in grade school staring at a ghastly picture
in some book on the Great War. The wounded vet had no face. It was blown
off in that insane trench warfare at Verdun. Now that battle site is a
macabre mortuary , a mountain of bones of German and French soldiers.
Many survivors were reduced to madness for the remainder of their sad
lives. " The Madness of Verdun " - nearly a million corpses left to rot
there. The hellish stench of the place for decades.
During the Vietnam War I browsed an anti -war book that was meant to be read : " Johnny Got His Gun " by Dalton Trumbo. The Great War wounded soldier, Johnny , is literally a freakish stump of a man-no arms, no legs, no face. But he still has a soul that thinks. And what he THINKS will not be the stuff of any Memorial Day speeches today. Just read the last few pages for " inspiration ".
Do not our Memorial Days really just honor WAR ?
During the Vietnam War I browsed an anti -war book that was meant to be read : " Johnny Got His Gun " by Dalton Trumbo. The Great War wounded soldier, Johnny , is literally a freakish stump of a man-no arms, no legs, no face. But he still has a soul that thinks. And what he THINKS will not be the stuff of any Memorial Day speeches today. Just read the last few pages for " inspiration ".
Do not our Memorial Days really just honor WAR ?
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Ron