Pro Patria Mori: Soldiers Experience Through Literature and Art

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A boy, barely eighteen, crouches low against the mud of the trench. All around him spirals the stink of rot, the smell of various bodily fluids: the stench of death. He hears the whistle of the five-nines overhead and remains always alert for the gas warnings to sound. He gnaws on a chunk of half-moldy bread. Though he takes a moment to pick off a blood-stained corner of the bread, the young soldier tries to simply ignore the bite marks from the rats that had desperately tried to steal the few rations he was granted. Half a century later, another boy, not much different than the first, pushes his way through the densely tangled undergrowth. He has an M-16 rifle strapped to his back and has been tasked with carrying many additional pounds of grenades, rations, and ammo. His whole group has been rather quiet over the course of the past few miles, ever since Danny got shot. None of them even saw it coming one moment they were laughing and joking, next there came a quick shot out of the brush ahead and Danny fell with a hole blown right through his skull. Neither soldier, the one fighting in the trenches of World War I, nor the one trudging through the jungles of Vietnam, was much different than any other young boy, barely started on life. Not very different, that is, until they shipped off to war. In the cases of both World War I and the Vietnam War, there was a drastic shift in the ways in which warfare was conducted. World War I marked the beginning of industrialized warfare, an increase in the ability to kill men more effectively with new technology, including gas, machine guns, trench warfare, barbed wire, tanks, submarines, and planes. War was becoming little more than organized slaughter using the latest innovations and inventions. About fifty years later, as the United States entered Vietnam, new milestones were reached both at home and on the war front. For the first time, the government faced a media storm as the propaganda machines failed, revealing uncensored details of combat to the American public. In Vietnam, soldiers faced jungle warfare on unfamiliar terrain, pitted against soldiers who had trained for the fight their entire lives. They employed the latest forms of chemical warfare, most notably the Rainbow Herbicides (including the infamous Agent Orange), which would physically cause the soldiers and their descendants harm for years to come. They faced the guilt of destroying villages, killing children, all while drowning in the ambiguity of a seemingly pointless war. Despite these painful truths of warfare, an idealized, nationalistic belief has always remained, perpetuated by those people removed from the war. From the people at home during World War I urging the young boys to do their duty in fighting the good fight for God and country to President Lyndon B. Johnsons honest belief that the war from the American side was a fight for people everywhere not just in Vietnam to enjoy freedom from political oppression and economic want (Dallek 366), a noticeable disconnect has emerged between these idealistic perceptions and the realities felt by the soldiers. With such a large mental and experiential gap separating the soldiers from the civilians, literature and artwork emerged as outlet for expressing the horrors and implications of war that they had experienced firsthand. The creative works produced by soldiers of World War I provide documentation of the destruction of a generation, while those to emerge from the Vietnam War mirror this same impact, proving the universality of the unique experience of a soldier; even those who survived the war did not come home unscathed. Furthermore, the lessons taken from those works can be extrapolated and applied to the present day, holding particular relevance as soldiers face the similar horrors and consequences in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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World War I As the First World War broke out in 1914, the world faced the first instance of industrialized total war in history, forcing nations to mobilize their entire population and production capacities to fuel the war machine. Following the industrial revolution, new types of weapons and equipment were mass-produced in factories and shipped out to the fronts, equipping troops with items such as machine guns, tanks, mustard and chlorine gas, barbed wire, planes, and submarines. One of the most noticeable results of this industrialization was the emerging prevalence of a new land battle technique: trench warfare. After the failure of the Schlieffen Plan a German strategy intended to prevent war on two fronts it rapidly became evident that the war would not be the quick victory it was initially assumed to be. Instead, by the end of 1914 the offensive approach had been abandoned in favor of a defensive line of trenches that stretched along the Western Front from the North Sea to the Swiss border... [The war] quickly developed into a war of attrition, ruining any hope of a quick war that would be over by Christmas (BBC, World War One). In addition to increased pressures on the political stage, the war took deep tolls on common soldiers, physically and psychologically. As the war progressed, it became increasingly evident that there was a sharp divide between the torturous, nearly indescribable experiences of the soldiers on the line and the nationalistic drive of the political leaders and those who remained on the homefront; the unique quality of the average soldiers experience is conveyed most clearly through literary and artistic works produced by soldiers during and after the war, many of which highlighted the horrors and ambiguity of war and the destruction of a generation. Within the group of war poets, two writers based poems around the same quote from Horace: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori, or, It is sweet and proper to die for ones country; in using this quote, they represented the two major competing ideologies of the time. Although both Wilfred Owens Dulce Et Decorum Est and Owen Seamans Pro Patria incorporate the same allusion, their intents could not be more different; Owen employs the reference ironically, calling it the Old Lie and condemning works such as Seamans that perpetuate the myth of self-sacrifice. Owens Dulce Et Decorum Est was directed toward Jessie Pope in particular. Pope was a poet during the same period who wrote nationalist poems encouraging Englands youth to enlist in the army. She treated war as a triviality, and in her famous poem Whos for the Game? she asks, Whos for the game, the biggest thats played Wholl give his country a hand? (Pope, l. 1; 6). Like many other poets of her time, Pope uses abstract, general language in her writing to express a carefree, jovial tone while telling boys to enlist to embrace the idealized image of soldiers happily serving their homeland. Owen achieves the exact opposite in Dulce Et Decorum Est. Throughout the poem, his diction is both concrete and specific, creating vivid imagery of the horrors of battle. From the soldiers knock-kneed, coughing like hags (Owen, l. 2) to the blood / gargling from froth-corrupted lungs (Owen, l. 22), Wilfred Owen presents the sickening truths of a gas attack in the trenches. The poem is surprisingly tightly structured; it has a regular rhyme scheme, and a structure similar to an Elizabethan sonnet. The structure serves as a parallel for the strictly regimented army life; within this structure and order, the chaos and devastation of war is ironic, a stark contrast. It is this inner chaos, the concealed disorder and brutal imagery, that Owen is determined to convey to his readers; he claims that, with this knowledge:

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My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. (Owen, l. 25-28)

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Once one is exposed to the true experience of war, the lies of the homefront no longer hold any power or validity. Instead of adhering to thoughts of the value of self-sacrifice, the importance and even the existence of personal identity are called into question. Owen personifies the disappointed shells in the first stanza, and in doing so, they become more humanized than the soldiers in the poem are; as warfare industrialized, soldiers were dehumanized, becoming nothing more than cogs in the war machine, exposed to both mental and physical pain and agony. Even in his own letters, Owen was not afraid to reveal the truth to the people waiting at home. In a letter to his mother after spending only a few days on the line in 1917, Owen wrote, I can see no excuse for deceiving you about these four days. I have suffered seventh hell. I have not been at the front. I have been in front of it (Fussell 81). Despite also referencing the quote from Horace, Owen Seamans Pro Patria presents much the same view as Jessie Popes poetry: abstract nationalism. Unlike Owens harsh depiction of battle and condemnation of the perpetuation of war, Seaman encourages the citizens of England to willingly do whatever their country asks of them, all for the sake of God and the Crown. As the poem deals primarily with this spirit of idealism, the language is abstract and general and, as a result, somewhat deceptive. Seaman tells his readers to Be glad, whatever comes, at least to know / You have your quarrel just (Seaman, l. 3-4); there is no warning of the despair and agony felt by the soldiers in Owens poetry as they cursed through sludge (Owen, l. 2). Seaman and Pope both represent the same traditional ideas of national values which were challenged with the outbreak of World War I; a new wave of ideology much more akin to Owens graphic depiction was becoming the norm, a way of describing the true experience of war that blind nationalism refused to recognize. This shift in ideology plays a prominent role in Siegfried Sassoons The Poet as Hero as well, as the speaker describes the shift in view of the soldier from that of a chivalric warrior, like Sir Galahad, to a senseless and cursed man. Many of the roots of modern nationalism lie with the myths of knighthood and old codes of chivalry, under which a knights chief objective was to preserve his honor and virtue. Under the codes of chivalry, a warrior would gladly go into battle for his lord without pause or question (Gautier). Sir Galahad, the knight to whom Sassoon alludes in this poem, is most well-known for his quest for the Holy Grail, and for his blessing and purity (Malory). The speaker, though once like Galahad, has changed his mind, and now resents war; his ecstasies changed to an ugly cry (Sassoon, l. 4). As Sassoon explains in the final stanza, he gave over to the senseless violence and hatred of war, and is haunted by his actions and deceased friends. Sassoons declaration that he is no more the knight of dreams and show (Sassoon, l. 10) represents the same rejection of previous ideals and nationalist motivation that many soldiers expressed after serving time in the war. The differences between idealistic views of war and the true experience are noticeable in paintings as well. Otto Dix painted disturbingly graphic, realistic war scenes, such as his War Triptych. In the left, right, and bottom panels, one sees the three main stages of battle for a soldier: lines marching to the front, death, and a mass grave. All of this surrounds the central

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image: a rehashing of Dixs 1923 painting, The Trench. The center of the triptych shows a man in a gas mask in the middle of a collapsed trench, the sole survivor surrounded by his decomposing comrades. The images of death in this center panel are overpowering, and direct the viewers eye around a circular path; as such, the living soldier is not immediately noticeable, overwhelmed by the morbidity and destruction around him (Dix). Gino Severinis Armored Train in Action, on the other hand, embraces and celebrates the new technologies of the early twentieth century. This was one of the key aspects of Futurism, a movement in which the Italian artist played a significant role. Futurists admired technological advances as a means of liberating the burden of tradition while breaking away from the past (Trujillo). As World War I broke out in 1914, Italian Futurists began to stage rallies and other demonstrations in support of involvement in the war, seeing it as a chance for a new beginning worldwide (Curator Notes). Severinis bright colors and neatly uniformed, identical soldiers give the idea of warfare an optimistic tone as they ride in a shiny metallic train across the countryside (Severini). He is too preoccupied with furthering Futurist goals to acknowledge the human costs of the war he encourages. In addition to a strong disconnect between the troops and those on the homefront, throughout the war there was a growing separation between common soldiers and their military officers and government leaders. Often, this came as a result of the troops being used as pawns to further political agendas of which they had limited knowledge and, often, in which they had no stake. The entire concept of warfare became ambiguous, and enemy became an arbitrary designation; often, troop morale ran low, as nobody could justify why they were fighting and dying, or why the men on the other side of no mans land were any different than themselves. Many times, it seems that the soldiers exist merely as puppets for more powerful men. It is not a new idea, either. In Lord Alfred Tennysons The Charge of the Light Brigade, written about the Crimean War, he expresses a similar sentiment, saying that it is Theirs [the soldiers] not to make reply / Theirs not to reason why / Theirs but to do and die (Tennyson). Throughout history, many have held this view of soldiers as mindless puppets. Even half a century later, as American soldiers fought in Vietnam, Henry Kissinger reportedly remarked that soldiers were nothing more than dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy (Woodward and Bernstein 194). In Wilfred Owens Anthem for Doomed Youth, the boys are sent into battle to be killed indiscriminately, and they die as cattle (Owen, l. 1) led to the slaughter. They have no personal conflict with the countries against which they fight; they are merely there because they were commanded to be there. As Tjaden comments in All Quiet on the Western Front, I havent any business here at all... I dont feel myself offended (Remarque, All Quiet 204). The soldiers themselves have no subjective motivation for being in the war at all; they just serve as the pawns of international politics. This puppet-like nature is also noted in Giorgio de Chiricos 1915 painting, The Duo. The artificial-looking men in this painting have no faces; as a result, they are robbed of emotion or distinct identity. They cannot even stand of their own volition. Instead, they are propped up with metal and string, manipulated like marionettes (de Chirico). In all of these works, will and input have been robbed from the young men sent into battle; they exist solely to do as commanded. Just as the men do not have personal conflicts with the enemy nations, as Tjaden mentions, they do not have any inherent reason to hate the soldiers against whom they fight. Many even recognize and ponder the fact that their enemies are no different than themselves. In

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both Remarques All Quiet on the Western Front and Harrisons Generals Die in Bed, the main character is thrown into a one-on-one confrontation with an enemy soldier. Paul, in All Quiet on the Western Front, finds himself in a shell-hole with a French soldier, whom he instinctively kills. As he witnesses the man die slowly and painfully, Paul identifies with him as he tries to help comfort and bandage the Frenchman in his final hours. For the first time, he recognizes the enemy soldier not as an abstract thought but as a real person; he tells him:
Comrade, I did not want to kill you... But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction that lived in my mind and called forth its appropriate response. It was that abstraction I stabbed. But now, for the first time, I see you are a man like me. I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship... Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying, and the same agony... how could you be my enemy? (Remarque, All Quiet 223)

He realizes that there is no reason for the French soldier to be called his enemy apart from political designation that is beyond either of their control. The soldiers on the other side of the lines are just like the German troops; they were taken from their homes and sent to war to fight for their country, believing their cause was correct, but never long considering what their cause truly was. They operate just as Pauls army does, obeying whatever commands the higher officials pass down to them. As Kat says earlier, Why would a French blacksmith or a French shoemaker want to attack us? No, it is merely the rulers (Remarque, All Quiet 205). The distinctions between soldiers are entirely arbitrary; the men are far more alike than their commanders would have them believe. The nameless narrator in Generals Die in Bed has a similar experience, and reaches the same conclusion. After he has an encounter with a German soldier in a trench and stabs the man with his bayonet, he sees the mans humanity and takes pity on him, and he puts him out of his misery by shooting him (Harrison 114). After he is forced to take the brother of the dead man, whose name he learns is Karl, and another German hostage, the three men are temporarily isolated together and try to overcome the language barrier. The narrator, still shaken and guiltridden after his encounter with Karl, joins the other German in comforting Karls brother, and offers to share his cigarettes with them (Harrison 119-121). Like Paul, he no longer regards them as an abstract threat; instead, they are his equals. As he sits with Karls brother, the narrator wonders, How can I say to this boy that something took us both, his brother and me, and dumped us into a lonely, shrieking hole at night it armed us with deadly weapons and threw us against each other (Harrison 119). It is only chance that makes men enemies, not personal differences. Before such realizations of connection and empathy occurred, however, soldiers often adopted views that, in hindsight, may seem rather callous, mainly as a result of their original war conditioning. In a letter to his parents shortly after being wounded for the first time (as the first American to be wounded in Italy), Ernest Hemingway explained that he had gathered:
...a wonderful lot of souvenirs. I was all through the big battle and have Austrian carbines and ammunition, German and Austrian medals, officers automatic pistols, Boche helmets, about a dozen bayonets, star shell pistols and knives and almost everything you can think of. The only

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limit to the amount of souvenirs I could have is what I could carry for there were so many dead Austrians and prisoners the ground was almost black with them. It was a great victory and showed the world what wonderful fighters the Italians are. (Hemingway, Letter to C.E. and Grace Hemingway)

He regarded the scraps and remnants of lives to be nothing more than souvenirs to describe when writing home. His pride in the Italian army, in which he worked as an ambulance driver, for their strong victory embodies the one-sided view that commanders and political leaders encouraged amongst the troops. At times, not only did the generals and other higher officials encourage polar attitudes in the soldiers, but they also outright lied to them in order to persuade them to commit morally questionable acts. In Generals Die in Bed, the men are told that the Germans sank the Llandovery Castle, a ship that the general claims was a hospital ship; as a result, despite international rules, he obviously implies that the soldiers should not take any prisoners in the next battle. They heed his command with sickening results. The Canadians shoot the advancing Germans as they run forward, even once they realize that:
They are unarmed. They open their mouths wide as though they are shouting something of great importance. The rifle fire drowns out their words. Doubtless they are asking for mercy. We do not heed. We are avenging the sinking of the hospital ship. We continue to fire... There is a look of amazement in their faces as we shoot. We are firing point-blank now. (Harrison 254-5)

Harrisons stark, choppy prose enhances the scene; the shooters are cold and unforgiving in their revenge, feeling that they are entirely justified in their slaughter. It is not until some time later, as the injured narrator lies on a hospital bed at the quay in Boulogne waiting to be carried onto a waiting hospital ship, that an orderly tells him that the Llandovery Castle was carryin supplies and war material (Harrison 268). The narrator is stunned and sickened as they carry him up the gangplank, reflecting on the generals words and the countless unarmed Germans he and his fellow soldiers had killed in the battle, all as a result of a lie fed to him from higher up the chain of command to force excessive brutality.1 Again, this is a case of soldiers used as pawns to further their commanders agendas. They are fed lies to force them to adhere to the plans laid out beyond their control. Throughout the war, the men fighting became increasingly separated from the normal routine of life. In The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway begins with a remark made by Gertrude Stein in conversation: You are all a lost generation (qtd. in Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises). In A Moveable Feast, Hemingway explains that Stein had once heard a mechanic use the term, and she has decided, Thats what you are. Thats what you all are... All of you young people who served in the war (Hemingway, A Moveable Feast 29). This term is commonly applied to the generation of young men devastated by their involvement in World War I. Many times, war novels include portions in which characters ponder the nature of the post-war existence, wondering what they could possibly do with their lives. Furthermore, they no longer find pleasure in old habits, or connection with the people on the homefront, even their own families.
1 One should note that the Llandovery Castle was, in reality, a Canadian hospital ship sunk by German submarine U-86 on June 27, 1918 (Leroux). Harrison fictionalizes the circumstances, presumably to further the novels themes.

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In All Quiet on the Western Front, Paul and his friends wonder about and discuss these topics several times. When the majority of them joined the war, they were eighteen and had begun to love life and the world; and we had to shoot it to pieces... We are cut off from activity, from striving, from progress. We believe in such things no longer, we believe in the war... I believe we are lost (Remarque, All Quiet 88; 123). The boys went to war young, just as they were beginning to learn about themselves and about the world, and now know of nothing but killing and death and despair. There is nothing left for them to be if or when they return. When Paul is in the shell-hole with the French soldier, he learns that the man was a printer named Grard Duval and immediately reaches a conclusion: I must be a printer, I think confusedly, be a printer, printer (Remarque, All Quiet 225). He panics, searching for any coping mechanism available to him. Up until that moment, Paul has had no purpose beyond the war; now, as he faces the reality of the murder he has committed, he tries to draw some purpose from it, while at the same time anticipating a path of penance. When the boys go on leave, they inevitably feel a strong detachment, both from the rest of society and from their previous lives. When Paul returns home on leave in All Quiet on the Western Front, he comments that there is a distance, a veil between us (Remarque, All Quiet 160). There is a distinct difference between Paul and everyone at home, both in experience and perception of the war. He finds that the people at home have worries, aims, desires, that I cannot comprehend... it is so narrow, how can that fill a mans life (Remarque, All Quiet 1689). Additionally, he discovers that he no longer finds joy in old habits, such as reading his books. He tries to regain a spark from his old life by looking through his bookshelf, but finds he can no longer read them, as the stories have become just Words, Words, Words they do not reach me... Nevermore. Slowly, I go out of the room (Remarque, All Quiet 173). Paul no longer has any connection to things that seemed so important or valuable to him before the war. In Generals Die in Bed, the narrator finds the same veil between himself and the common people of England that Paul finds when he goes home. While at the theater with Gladys watching a show that mocks the war efforts, he becomes uncontrollably angry with the smooth-faced civilians. I feel they have no right to laugh at jokes about the war... their bellies are full, and out there we are being eaten by lice, we are sitting trembling in shivering dugouts... (Harrison 160-1). Their view of the war does not align with his experiences, and their laughter belittles the pain and suffering the narrator has felt. He cannot even speak to Gladys about the war. When he confesses to her that he once murdered a man, she is horrified until she realizes that the crime occurred in the trenches. She laughs, saying, You silly boy. I thought you had really murdered someone (Harrison 169). Again, this dismissal and belittlement of his experience in battle further adds to the distance the narrator feels from the rest of the civilian community while spending time on the homefront. As all soldiers come home or confront aspects of their own prewar lives, they feel this same alienation from the life they once led. Once the war ends, if the soldiers survive physically, it is almost inevitable that they have not escaped without some mental harm. Shell shock, later labeled Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), was common amongst soldiers; it is estimated that by the end of the war, 20,000 men were still suffering from shell shock. Thousands more had experienced its symptoms during their military service (BBC, Shell Shock). At the time, little was understood about shell shock as a valid psychological disorder, resulting in lack of sympathy or support for victims. Some shell shocked soldiers were shot dead by their own side after being charged with

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cowardice (BBC, Shell Shock). These men were never pardoned. Others, though not officially charged with any crime, felt an overwhelming amount of shame for what was perceived as weakness. Even the men not directly suffering from shell shock had a hard time adjusting to life after the war, and often felt the same sort of detachment and purposelessness that characters like Paul worried about during the war. Sometimes, to try to cope with this detachment, they tried to travel, to physically escape from their pain. In The Sun Also Rises, Jake knowingly explains that going to another country doesnt make any difference. Ive tried all that. You cant get away from yourself by moving from one place to another. Theres nothing to that (Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises 19). Paralleling his characters situation, Ernest Hemingway had desperately turned to travel as an escape nine years prior to publishing The Sun Also Rises. In a letter to Bill Horne, a friend from the war, Hemingway explains:
Theres something wrong with us Bill were Idealists. And it makes us a great deal of trouble and it hurts us... if you want to keep the old ideals straight and cut loose from the damn money grubbing for a year Im your man... Ill go anywhere with you this fall... Break away and well go and when we come back well write it and I will be a classic... And well live Bill! Well live! (Hemingway, Letter to William Dodge Horne, Jr.)

He urges his friend to travel around the world with him in the fall; it does not matter where they go, he merely wants to travel. Like his characters, Hemingway later settled down in Paris for a time, joining the circle of American expatriates who helped him find his place in the world again and break into the literary realm. Often, soldiers returning home did not have as easy of an adjustment as Hemingway did, as they did not know how to function outside of the war, or they had seen too many awful things to seamlessly integrate themselves back into their old lives. As the men return in Remarques The Road Back, Ernst recognizes the skills they have all acquired on the battlefield, but wonders, But for peace? Are we suitable? Are we fit now for anything but soldiering? (Remarque, The Road Back 130), echoing the sentiments Remarque expressed previously through Paul in All Quiet on the Western Front. As the Germans return home, they face both the pains of returning from war and intense political upheaval. It seems as though Ernsts comrades are not, in fact, prepared for life outside of the war, with their fates including suicide and committing murder. They are not given support in their reintegration, and find themselves growing away from one another; they are each becoming increasingly alienated from the world, and they have no constructive way of coping with their agony. As Hemingway writes (as part of what F. Scott Fitzgerald once described as one of the most beautiful pages in all English literature) in A Farewell to Arms:
If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry. (Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms 249)

The soldiers, who have done more brave and selfless things than anyone on the homefront can

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possibly imagine, are the ones killed by the world. They have sacrificed their lives, regardless of whether they actually died on the field. The paintings of German artists such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Otto Dix, and Max Beckmann reflect the same pain and fear of returning home to Germany after fighting in the war. In 1915, Kirchner painted Self-Portrait as a Soldier, a depiction of himself in a uniform standing before his easel with his painting hand cut off. This reflected much of the same fear that writers of the time expressed: after the war, there may be no possibility of returning to his old life and old craft, even though he drew much of his identity from his ability as a painter (Kirchner). Dixs Card-Playing War Cripples shows the horrors of soldiers adapting to civilian life. Three grotesque figures, missing limbs and contorted into unnatural positions, crowd around a table to play cards. They are carrying out a normal activity, but they themselves will never be normal again; they are entirely unnatural (Dix). In examining the work of Max Beckmann, one sees a distinct transformation of his work before and after the war. Prior to World War I, much of his work was akin to his 1912 sketching entitled The Merry Ones. It is rather plain and in the traditional style, depicting ordinary people strolling down a street (Beckmann). After serving in the war and returning to his tumultuous homeland, his style changed dramatically, as shown in works such as his 1919 painting The Night. The scene is disturbing violent, as a family is attacked: the father hanged, mother raped, and children thrown from a window. Unlike in his older work, Beckmann has abandoned traditional modes of depiction, and instead distorts angles, color, and space. The painting is claustrophobic, as Beckmann allows no space to remain free from the frenzied action. In comparing this work to his calm, traditional style before the war, one may clearly see how his traumatic experiences during the war and the German instability afterward affected his mindset (Beckmann). One of the most striking aspects in many works set in World War I is the contrast between living things and the soldiers, and the consequent dehumanization and isolation of the soldiers experience at the front. Novels such as Remarques All Quiet on the Western Front and The Road Back and Harrisons Generals Die in Bed, among others, mention the stately poplars which line the road (Harrison 70) the troops travel along as they move along the front. These brief moments of idyllic imagery are hints of life beyond the soldiers, a fulfilling life that they may never know. Even though they cannot have that sort of peaceful existence, the soldiers make note of these living things as they pass through the countryside; Harrisons nameless narrator even takes pause to notice the number of trees that have not been scarred by explosive blasts and shells. It is also notable that a range of soldiers noticed the trees; Harrison was in the Canadian army, and Remarque in the German army. Two young men pitted against one another by chance experienced the same nostalgia for a course of life that had been taken away from them. In those thoughts, these enemy soldiers are more unified in thought than they are with their own countrymen on the homefront. War creates a separate sphere of experience, and those experiences are isolated from anything that can be felt at home. The contrast between plant life and soldiers appears in paintings as well as novels; Giorgio de Chiricos The Duo features a poplar-shaped plant beside two mechanized, artificial looking men. These men have lost almost all aspects humanity. They are unnatural: faces gone, arms gone, other body parts replaced by mechanical objects and string. All of this is contrasted sharply with the plant to the left of them. It is living, and they are not. They are removed from the natural order of humanity (de Chirico). Devastation, both mental and physical, and a subsequent feeling of detachment and

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alienation and present throughout all of the literary and artistic works resulting from World War I. As the first truly industrialized war, troops saw death and destruction like never before, especially as their countries coped with adjusting to a new type of warfare and strategy. Many of the soldiers and medics turned to writing and art afterward to express the horrors of their experience, and through this growing war collective one can best grow to understand the unique experience afforded to a young man on the front. On the front, the clear polarity, idealism, and nationalism of the homefront did not exist, or merely existed as a faint memory; instead, the men were engulfed by the ambiguity and arbitrariness of battle which, in time, led to the mental destruction of a generation. Vietnam War As in the case of World War I, it became apparent as the United States began its formal military involvement in Vietnam in 1965 that it would be a fight unlike any soldiers had experienced before. It was a jungle ground war on unfamiliar terrain, and the Americans were pitted against soldiers who had been raised to fight and die for their ideals. The American troops were not as conditioned to this type of warfare, mentally or physically. Additionally, there was no strong justification for U.S. involvement in Vietnam at all, nor was there strong proof of progress or success. The Vietnam War also marked the beginning of a new type of chemical warfare, with the introduction of the Rainbow Herbicides, especially the infamous Agent Orange, whose influence continues to cause medical and genetic problems for veterans and their descendants to this day. Finally, U.S. involvement in Vietnam marked the death of the propaganda machine. Instead of American citizens relying on the government to feed them controlled and censored information, new advances in media allowed them to witness much of the action overseas from the comfort of their living rooms. They were suddenly confronted by images that have become icons of the age, such as a young Vietnamese girl in the middle of a napalm attack or a burning monk, or even the photograph of a student shot dead during an antiwar protest at Kent State University, a result closer to home than many would like. Despite the publics closer understanding of the war, the growth of the Credibility Gap between the public and the government cannot be ignored; in fact, this growing divide prompted even more discontent and active disapproval of the war. The literature to emerge from the American soldiers who fought in Vietnam shares many characteristics with that of World War I. As with the World War I veterans, the Vietnam veterans who did return home came back with just as much mental damage as physical. In writing to express elements of their experiences, these soldiers open up a window through which one may better understand the the contrasts between the governments view of the war and the soldiers, the ambiguity and pain of battle and subsequent coping techniques, and the destruction of postwar life. Much of this mirrors the groundbreaking literature written after World War I; seeing the same themes reflected in more modern works affirms the universality of the soldiers experience amongst those alienated by their society and sent to the front lines. Though much of the American public had turned against the war, or at least held doubts about the actions of the government, Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon continued to press on, embodying the traditional American notion of being a city upon a hill, destined to lead the way of righteousness for the rest of the world, especially during the height of the Cold War. Johnson, though worried initially about involvement in Vietnam for purely political reasons, truly believed that what the United States did in Vietnam was the right thing to

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do, and was baffled by any dissenting opinions. Still, the press frenzy grew, and he interpreted their coverage of the war as a direct negative commentary on his own abilities, which he resented deeply. Johnson, always one to demand approval, reacted to the press by refusing even more than before to reveal anything to them, consequently worsening the opinion of him (Dallek). Still, he carried on with the war, convinced that America was defending the rights of the oppressed people all over the world. Nixon, his successor, claimed that while he dearly wanted to end the war, he would not do so without due process, as a result of his consideration of the effect of my decision on the next generation, and on the future of peace and freedom in America, and in the world... any hope the world has for the survival of peace and freedom will be determined by whether the American people have the moral stamina and the courage to meet the challenge of free-world leadership (Nixon). He addressed his speech to the silent majority, those Americans who were not actively protesting or speaking out against the war and, presumably, held many of the nationalist ideas of more traditional times. Though Nixon adopted a different approach to public relations, his message remained more or less the same: the United States had a duty as the leader of the free-world to protect its set of ideals worldwide, and would continue to do so. The truths of the war were, however, graphically different than the idealistic world-leader appeal with which the presidents presented it. Authors who served in the war depicted the horrors they suffered, very much in parallel to the harsh descriptions to emerge from World War I. As Tim OBrien explains in The Things They Carried, A true war story, if truly told, makes the stomach believe (OBrien, The Things 78). He is right: to feel as though a war story is true, it seems that there needs to be an unconscious gut reaction, a combination of repulsion at the capabilities of man, disgust, pity, and most of all, sadness. OBrien is a master of this combination, weaving together a combination of specific, concrete scenes and general, abstract scenes to evoke in the reader a true sense of his experience. For example, in The Man I Killed, OBrien examines the body of the man he killed. Amongst other descriptions, OBrien describes that:
The star shaped hole [where an eye should be] was red and yellow. The yellow part seemed to be getting wider, spreading out at the center of the star. The upper lip and gum and teeth were gone. The mans head was cocked at a wrong angle, as if loose at the neck, and the neck was wet with blood. (OBrien, The Things 126)

He repeats and expands on the graphic description many times, broken up only by Kiowas concerned attempts at comforting him. He is clearly running over the scene in his mind, racing through the consequences of his action. A large part of the horror found in Vietnam was not only the gore and terrible acts committed, but also the immediate mental toll that it took on the men committing those acts. The Things They Carried draws much of its literary power not just from describing what literally happened, but the effects on those who witnessed it. For example, the description of Curt Lemons death is not gruesome in itself. OBrien describes the way the sunlight came around him and lifted him up and sucked him high into a tree full of moss and vines and white blossoms (OBrien, The Things 70) after he accidentally steps on a detonator. The gruesome, evocative part comes in Rat Kileys reaction; when they are higher in the mountains, he finds and tortures a baby water buffalo while crying and speaking softly. He continues to shoot away chunks of meat (OBrien, The Things 79), described graphically over a couple pages. The pain of war is not just seeing gore and destruction; it is also in feeling it.

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In addition to the harsh realities of war, the ambiguity of war and the apparent lack of purpose overshadowed the entire experience. War was no longer just about killing enemy soldiers; women and children were victims as well, as exhibited in both in publicized events such as the massacre at My Lai and unpublicized acts in the course of troop movement. F.L. Riker describes his first napalm attack in Images From Hell as including Women and children caught in the midst / Breathing the oven that came from the sky / The village, the people, all cease to exist (Riker 4). There never seemed to be any specific rules to follow in the combat, and the terrain and enemy were unpredictable. In The Things They Carried, Norman Bowker and Henry Dobbins would ritualistically play checkers every evening, taking comfort in the straightforward element of the game:
The playing field was laid out in a strict grid, no tunnels or mountains or jungles. You knew where you stood. You knew the score. The pieces were out on the board, the enemy was visible, you could watch the tactics unfolding into larger strategies. There was a winner and a loser. There were rules. (OBrien, The Things 32)

Additionally, with the use of the draft in the United States, a large number of the boys did not want to be there at all, and furthermore disagreed with the war in the first place. After he received his draft notice, OBrien explains that It was my view then, and still is, that you dont make war without knowing why... I did not want to die. Not ever. But certainly not then, not there, not in a wrong war (OBrien, The Things 40; 44). As in All Quiet on the Western Front and Generals Die in Bed, the narrator of The Things They Carried empathizes with a man he has killed, recognizing him as a human and an equal. While he stands examining the body of the man, he begins to reflect upon what the mans life may have been like: his childhood, getting teased on the playground, his family, and even his love for mathematics and ambition to become a math teacher (OBrien, The Things 125; 127). The war against the Viet Cong had always been depicted as clear: the United States was going into Vietnam to fight for truth and justice, and had to defeat violent killers. In Stephen Wrights Meditations in Green, the men are forced to watch propaganda videos during training that involve a series of images, culminating in repetition between two: Adolf Hitler, Ho Chi Minh, Adolf Hitler, Ho Chi Minh, Adolf Hitler, Ho Chi Minh... (Wright 11). They are conditioned from the start to hate the VC and all the ideas for which they stand. However, soldiers like OBrien are often forced to see through this perception. The enemy is no longer a shadow, moving through the jungle ready to kill with blood lust; he is a man. Through the emotional and physical pain of the Vietnam War, soldiers were forced to find some form of coping mechanism for self-preservation. This need was often filled through either compulsive false courage or intentional escapism. OBrien explains that, throughout the war, the men were afraid of dying, but they were even more afraid to show it... They were actors (OBrien, The Things 20). They forced themselves to keep a strong face and to never show signs of weakness; as soon as they admitted to being vulnerable, there was nothing else to hold onto, nothing to prevent them from slipping into a complete mental breakdown. In The Dentist in The Things They Carried, Curt Lemon, who has a great fear of the dentist, faints when he is called into the dental tent. The embarrassment and shame become too much for him, and he returns and forces the dentist to pull out a healthy tooth to prove he can bear it (OBrien, The Things 88). Showing weakness becomes one of the greatest taboos for the soldiers, and they are

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compelled to make up for any potential show of fear. Escapism, physical or mental, also plays a prominent role in Vietnam literature. In OBriens Going After Cacciato, the title character decides to abandon the war and walk to Paris. It is the same dream that many soldiers shared: just walking away from the war. Despite the illogical aspects of the actions practicality, Cacciatos journey is the perfect symbol of escape. OBrien begins the novel with a quote from Dreamers by Siegfried Sassoon, the author of the aforementioned The Poet As Hero and one of the most influential poets of World War I: Soldiers are dreamers (Siegfried, l. 7). They need some reassurance of life outside of the war in order to carry on. Some achieve this connection through letters from a girl, even if they need to slightly fictionalize their relationship with the girl. In The Things They Carried, Jimmy Cross keeps photos and a collection of letters from a girl named Martha, and is able to distract himself from the painful work he must do with thoughts of her, even though he exaggerates details about her to himself (OBrien, The Things 1-2; 11-12). This was not uncommon, either, nor did it only take place in literature. John Laskowski exchanged letters with a girl named Nancy, whom he had never met but with whom he exchanged details of life. In one letter, he requested a picture of you, if you really dont mind. You know darn well Im going to look you up when I get home OK? (Laskowski, Letter to Nancy). The final common way of escape was to turn to drug use. In Meditations in Green, the protagonist, James Griffin, first turns to marijuana, then eventually to heroin as his escape from the horrors of Vietnam (Wright). The entire narrative is told in fragmented shifts, and with the interjection of a series of 15 Meditations: stream of consciousness passages of varying length and style. This narrative style reflects the mental state of the main character, both during the war and as he struggles to return to post-war life. Ironically, this coping mechanism can be as destructive as it is a release. As in the case of soldiers returning from World War I, Vietnam veterans felt a strong disconnect from life at home. Many suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, though understanding of the disorder has grown since the end of World War I. Still, there is a strong stigma attached to the disorder, especially due to traditional codes of masculinity requiring that men never show signs of vulnerability. War is perceived as a series of tests, and PTSD is a sign that those tests have been failed (Addis). Over the years since the war ended, there has been great controversy over compensation for soldiers suffering from PTSD, resulting in many men not receiving the treatment they need. According to Professor Michael Addis of Clark University, talk therapy has been proven to be an effective method of alleviating suffering and teaching coping methods, if the victim can get into therapy and manage to stay in, which can be a challenge. Additional problems arise if drugs are a factor, such as in Wrights Meditations in Green. There is a large debate within the field of psychology over whether it is best to first treat substance abuse then PTSD. Clinical process indicates that it would be a better choice, as cognitive function would increase and there would be less of a desire for avoidance; however, when drugs are used as a coping mechanism for PTSD, it is difficult to remove the crutch. As a result, sufferers often must undergo a dual diagnosis treatment plan, addressing both at once (Addis). Even for those not diagnosed directly with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the adjustment to post-war life is a challenge, especially given the distancing and alienation that results from their time in Vietnam. A gulf of understanding emerges. As OBrien writes about the story of

Pro Patria Mori: Soldiers Experience Through Literature and Art Curt, Rat, and the buffalo:

Doxsee 14

Now and then, when I tell this story, someone will come up to me afterward and say she liked it... Shell explain that as a rule she hates war stories; she cant understand why people want to wallow in all the blood and gore. But this one she liked. The poor baby buffalo, it made her sad. Sometimes, even, there are little tears. What I should do, shell say, is put it all behind me. Find new stories to tell. I wont say it but Ill think it. Ill picture Rat Kileys face, his grief, and Ill think, You dumb cooze. Because she wasnt listening. It wasnt a war story. It was a love story. But you cant say that. (OBrien, The Things 84-5)

No matter how many times the stories are told, or how exact they may be in telling them, no one at home may ever truly understand the subjective experience of war. In a letter, Norman Bowker described to OBrien his inability to find a meaningful use for his life after the war (OBrien, The Things 155). He could not commit to doing anything, and could not find anything he ought to be doing. Finally, in 1978, he hanged himself. In addition to a war-induced separation and alienation from homefront life, veterans often found that they were not received well upon returning from Vietnam. Ron Kovic, who returned home paralyzed and in a wheelchair, addressed much of this in his novel, Born on the Fourth of July. In the introduction, he writes: I had been beaten by the police and arrested twelve times for protesting the war, and I had spent many nights in jail in my wheelchair. I had been called a Communist and a traitor, simply for trying to tell the truth about what had happened in that war (Kovic 17). After returning home, Kovic became one of the countrys leading anti-war activists. Despite his status as an honored veteran, he was deeply abused. As the police drag him away, they tear the medals I have won in the war from my chest and throw me back into the chair, my hands still cuffed behind me... They have just beaten up a half-dead man (Kovic 154-5). It seems the suffering in the jungles of Vietnam is not enough; upon returning home, some soldiers still faced violence, and were both actively and passively alienated during their attempts at a return to society. In the literature produced by soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War, one sees the same themes as in World War I literature presented once again, though adapted to fit the context of a more modern war. As with the veterans of World War I, Vietnam veterans were deeply scarred, often physically and always mentally. They put many of their horrors into words, adding their perspective to a growing war collective of literature that illustrates the unique elements of a common soldiers experiences on the front lines of war, far detached from the complexities of politics or the perceptions of friends and family left at home. Conclusion The experience of the soldier is not confined to World War I and the Vietnam War. It presents itself clearly and without nationalist restraint in large numbers for the first time in the literature and artwork of World War I, and as it is mirrored in the works produced by soldiers from the Vietnam War, one begins to see its universality. Indeed, it can be extrapolated that the soldiers experience continues its relevancy through the present day. Troops are currently deployed to the Middle East, and as violence continues in Iraq and Afghanistan, one may expect to see many of the same emotions and symptoms of PTSD in these soldiers as they experience many of the same things. Still, there is hope for better understanding of these present day

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veterans. In a recent High Court ruling in the United Kingdom, held up by the Court of Appeals on May 18, 2009, the court ruled that the Human Rights Act can apply to British troops, even on the battlefield (BBC, MoD Loses). As a result of this landmark decision, which is sure to be contested further, the Ministry of Defense is obligated to provide proper equipment to troops. While the ruling is a small step, it ensures that the experience of British soldiers will be slightly safer and more humane. While the soldiers experience may never be fully understood or perfected, small advances such as this can improve it. Soldiers in both World War I and the Vietnam War experienced a set of horrors and traumatic experiences that can never be fully understood by those who have not seen the torments of war. It is an experience set apart from idealistic or nationalist drive, either in the soldiers home communities or within their governments. A sharp disconnect exists between these preconceptions of the glory of war and the truths of war itself. Men on the front lines suffered from horrible conditions, physically and mentally, and were often forced to confront the ambiguity of war and the arbitrary designations of us and them; when they returned home, the disconnect manifested itself further, alienating the soldiers from their previous lives and communities, as well as destroying their capability for a future. Often, the best and clearest way to express the horrors of battle was through literature and art, and as a result, the conditions of war can be well understood by studying these works.

Pro Patria Mori: Soldiers Experience Through Literature and Art Works Cited Addis, Michael. Personal Interview. 9 April 2009.

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Agent Orange. 13 November 2008. United States Department of Veteran Affairs. 20 March 2009. <http://www1.va.gov/Agentorange/>. Beckmann, Max. The Merry Ones. Germany. <http://images.artnet.com/artwork_images/423903488/239761.jpg>. Beckmann, Max. The Night. Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf. <http://www.artchive.com/artchive/b/beckmann/night.jpg>. Dallek, Robert. Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961-1973. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. De Chirico, Giorgio. The Duo. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Dix, Otto. Card-Playing War Cripples. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin. <http://images.artnet.com/images_US/magazine/reviews/lawrence/lawrence5-22-4.jpg>. Dix, Otto. War Triptych. Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden. Robert W. Brown. University of North Carolina, Pembroke. <http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/dix.wartriptych.jpg>. Fussell, Paul. The Great War and Modern Memory. New York: Oxford UP, 1975. Fussell, Paul. The Trenches: What They Were Really Like. 2004. PBS. 3 January 2009. <http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/historian/hist_fussell_03_trenches.html>. Gautier, Leon. Chivalry. Trans. Henry Frith. London: G. Routledge and Sons, 1891. Gino Severini. Curator Notes. Visual Synthesis of the Idea: War. By Gino Severini. New York: Museum of Modern Art. Gioia, Dana, et al. An Introduction to A Farewell to Arms. National Endowment for the Arts,

Pro Patria Mori: Soldiers Experience Through Literature and Art 2006. Harrison, Charles Yale. Generals Die in Bed. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1930. Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. New York: Scribner, 2003. Hemingway, Ernest. A Moveable Feast. New York: Touchstone, 1996. Hemingway, Ernest. The Sun Also Rises. New York: Scribner, 2003.

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Hemingway, Ernest. Letter to C.E. and Grace Hemingway. 21 July 1918. Hemingway Collection. 21 May 2009. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, MA. Hemingway, Ernest. Letter to William Dodge Horne, Jr. 7 August 1917. Hemingway Collection. 21 May 2009. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, Boston, MA. Horne, A.D., ed. The Wounded Generation: America After Vietnam. Englewood Cliffs: PrenticeHall, 1981. Kirchner, Ernst Ludwig. Self-Portrait as a Soldier. Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College, Oberlin. <http://www.oberlin.edu/amam/Kirchner_SelfPortrait.htm>. Kovic, Ron. Born on the Fourth of July. New York: Akashic Books, 2005. Laskowski, John Joseph. Letter to Nancy. 4-27 April 1969. Massachusetts Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Green Hill Park, Worcester, MA. Leroux, Marc. Llandovery Castle: The Sinking of the Canadian Hospital Ship. 1 February 2008. The Canadian Great War Project. 4 April 2009. <http://www.canadiangreatwarproject.com/writing/llandoveryCastle.asp>. Malory, Sir Thomas. Le Morte DArthur. New York: Modern Library, 1999. MoD Loses Battlefield Rights Case. 18 May 2009. BBC. 18 May 2009. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8054875.stm>.

Pro Patria Mori: Soldiers Experience Through Literature and Art Nixon, Richard M. The Great Silent Majority. Address to the Nation. 3 November 1969. <http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/richardnixongreatsilentmajority.html>. OBrien, Tim. Going After Cacciato. New York: Delacorte Press, 1978. OBrien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Broadway Books, 1990.

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OBrien, Tim. The Vietnam in Me. The New York Times. 2 October 1994. 4 April 2009. New York Times Books. <http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/09/20/specials/obrien-vietnam.html?_r=2>. Owen, Wilfred. Anthem for Doomed Youth. Brigham Young University. 7 February 2009. <http://net.lib.byu.edu/english/WWI/main/anthem.html>. Owen, Wilfred. Dulce Et Decorum Est. Brigham Young University. 7 February 2009. <http://net.lib.byu.edu/english/WWI/poets/DulceEt.html>. Pope, Jessie. Whos For the Game? 1 May 2009. <http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/52141-Jessie-Pope-Who-s-for-the-Game->. Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. Trans. A.W. Wheen. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982. Remarque, Erich Maria. The Road Back. Trans. A.W. Wheen. London: G.P. Putnams Sons, 1931. Riker, F.L. Images From Hell. Bloomington: Author House, 2006. Sassoon, Siegfried. Dreamers. 25 April 2009. <http://www.bartleby.com/103/143.html>. Sassoon, Siegfried. The Poet as Hero. 7 February 2009. <http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-poet-as-hero/>. Seaman, Owen. Pro Patria. 7 February 2009.

Pro Patria Mori: Soldiers Experience Through Literature and Art <http://www.english.emory.edu/LostPoets/Seaman.html>. Severini, Gino. Armored Train in Action. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Shell Shock. 3 March 2004. BBC. 4 February 2009. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/extra/series-1/shell_shocked.shtml>. Tennyson, Alfred. The Charge of the Light Brigade. 25 April 2009. <http://etext.virginia.edu/britpo/tennyson/TenChar.html>. Trujillo, Louis. Italian Futurism: Questions of Perception. Brown University. 7 May 2009. <http://www.brown.edu/Courses/CG11/2007/Louis_Trujillo/index.html>. Veterans History Project. 10 November 2008. The Library of Congress. 3 January 2009. <http://www.loc.gov/vets/>. The War Poets at Craiglockhart. 3 January 2009. <http://sites.scran.ac.uk/Warp/index.htm>. Woodward, Bob, and Carl Bernstein. The Final Days. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005. World War One. January 2009. BBC Schools Online. 31 January 2009. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/>. Wright, Stephen. Meditations in Green. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1983.

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Pro Patria Mori: Soldiers Experience Through Literature and Art Glossary of Poems Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? Only the monstrous anger of the guns. Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons. No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires. What candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes. The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds. Dulce Et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on , blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tried, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime . . . Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;

Doxsee 20

Pro Patria Mori: Soldiers Experience Through Literature and Art If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. Whos For the Game by Jessie Pope Whos for the game, the biggest thats played, The red crashing game of a fight? Wholl grip and tackle the job unafraid? And who thinks hed rather sit tight? Wholl toe the line for the signal to Go!? Wholl give his country a hand? Who wants a turn to himself in the show? And who wants a seat in the stand? Who knows it wont be a picnic not muchYet eagerly shoulders a gun? Who would much rather come back with a crutch Than lie low and be out of the fun? Come along, lads But youll come on all right For theres only one course to pursue, Your country is up to her neck in a fight, And shes looking and calling for you. Dreamers by Siegfried Sassoon Soldiers are citizens of death's gray land, Drawing no dividend from time's to-morrows. In the great hour of destiny they stand, Each with his feuds, and jealousies, and sorrows. Soldiers are sworn to action; they must win Some flaming, fatal climax with their lives. Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin They think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives. I see them in foul dug-outs, gnawed by rats,

Doxsee 21

Pro Patria Mori: Soldiers Experience Through Literature and Art And in the ruined trenches, lashed with rain, Dreaming of things they did with balls and bats, And mocked by hopeless longing to regain Bank-holidays, and picture shows, and spats, And going to the office in the train. The Poet as Hero by Siegfried Sassoon You've heard me, scornful, harsh, and discontented, Mocking and loathing War: you've asked me why Of my old, silly sweetness I've repented My ecstasies changed to an ugly cry. You are aware that once I sought the Grail, Riding in armour bright, serene and strong; And it was told that through my infant wail There rose immortal semblances of song. But now I've said good-bye to Galahad, And am no more the knight of dreams and show: For lust and senseless hatred make me glad, And my killed friends are with me where I go. Wound for red wound I burn to smite their wrongs; And there is absolution in my songs. Pro Patria by Owen Seaman England, in this great fight to which you go Because, where Honour calls you, go you must, Be glad, whatever comes, at least to know You have your quarrel just. Peace was your care; before the nations' bar Her cause you pleaded and her ends you sought; But not for her sake, being what you are, Could you be bribed and bought. Others may spurn the pledge of land to land, May with the brute sword stain a gallant past; But by the seal to which you set your hand,

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Pro Patria Mori: Soldiers Experience Through Literature and Art Thank God, you still stand fast! Forth, then, to front that peril of the deep With smiling lips and in your eyes the light, Steadfast and confident, of those who keep Their storied scutcheon bright. And we, whose burden is to watch and wait High-hearted ever, strong in faith and prayer, We ask what offering we may consecrate, What humble service share. To steel our souls against the lust of ease; To find our welfare in the common good; To hold together, merging all degrees In one wide brotherhood; To teach that he who saves himself is lost; To bear in silence though our hearts may bleed; To spend ourselves, and never count the cost, For others' greater need; To go our quiet ways, subdued and sane; To hush all vulgar clamour of the street; With level calm to face alike the strain Of triumph or defeat; This be our part, for so we serve you best, So best confirm their prowess and their pride, Your warrior sons, to whom in this high test Our fortunes we confide.

Doxsee 23