What struck me as I began to study history was how nationalist fervor--inculcated from childhood on by pledges of allegiance, national anthems, flags waving and rhetoric blowing--permeated the educational systems of all countries, including our own. ...
A veteran, calm and assured, he pauses for a well-measured moment in the doorway of the office and then, boldly, clearly, with the subtly modulated British intonation which his public demands of him, speaks his opening line, 'Good morning!' And the t...
Many veterans feel guilty because they lived while others died. Some feel ashamed because they didn’t bring all their men home and wonder what they could have done differently to save them. When they get home they wonder if there’s something wron...
Combat and rape, the public and private forms of organized social violence, are primarily experiences of adolescent and early adult life. The United States Army enlists young men at seventeen; the average age of the Vietnam combat soldier was ninetee...
Nick, Surplus Store Owner: [showing D-Fens his selection of hiking boots] Let's see what we got. These here are the top of the line. Scientifically engineered and all that crap. Guaranteed by some Sierra Club asshole not to hurt a chipmunk IF you ste...
Willard: My mission is to make it up into Cambodia. There's a Green Beret Colonel up there who's gone insane. I'm supposed to kill him. Chef: What? Oh, that's typical! Shit! Fuckin' Vietnam mission! I'm short, and we gotta go up there so you can kill...
I look at him with the nostalgic affection men are said to feel for their wars, their fellow veterans. I think, I once threw things at this man. I threw a glass ashtray, a fairly cheap one which didn't break. I threw a shoe (his) and a handbag (mine)...
The argument that there are just wars often rests on the social system of the nation engaging in war. It is supposed that if a ‘liberal’ state is at war with a ‘totalitarian’ state, then the war is justified. The beneficent nature of a govern...
Trautman: I don't think you understand. I didn't come to rescue Rambo from you. I came here to rescue you from him. Teasle: Well, we all appreciate your concern Colonel, I will try to be extra careful! Trautman: I'm just amazed he allowed any of your...
King: Hey, Taylor. How in the fuck you get here anyway? Why, you look educated. Chris Taylor: I volunteered for it. King: You did what? Chris Taylor: I volunteered. I dropped out of college, and told them I wanted the infantry, combat, and Vietnam. C...
Walter Sobchak: Is this your homework, Larry? Is this your homework, Larry? The Dude: Look, man... Walter Sobchak: Dude, please? Is this your homework, Larry? The Dude: Just ask him about the car. Walter Sobchak: Is this yours, Larry? Is this your ho...
But I knew the way the people in the town thought about things. They always had some time left over from their life to bother about other people and what they did. They thought they had to get together to help other people out, like the time they got...
But I am scared. Everybody's scared." "You know what I mean, like scared scared. Like coward scared, like if you never went to begin with. But with everything you've done nobody's going to doubt you." Then she made a somewhat frantic speech about a w...
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 beliefs about war: it's horrible, but it's a crucible of men and events and, in the end, it makes more of ...
Da Nang Hooker: Hey, baby. You got girlfriend Vietnam? Private Joker: Not just this minute. Da Nang Hooker: Well, baby, me so horny. Me so HORNY. Me love you long time. You party? Private Joker: Yeah, we might party. How much? Da Nang Hooker: Fifteen...
