“The events set down here did happen. But on rereading this reportage, my memory becomes alive to the other things, which were not reported. That they were not reported was… largely because there was a huge gassy thing called the War Effort… The rules, some imposed and some self-imposed, are amusing twenty years later. I shall try to remember a few of them. There were no cowards in the American Army, and of all the brave men the private in the infantry was the bravest and noblest. The reason for this in terms of the War Effort is obvious. The infantry private had the dirtiest, weariest, least rewarding job in the whole war. In addition to being dangerous and dirty, a great many of the things he had to do were stupid. He must therefore be reassured that these things he knew to be stupid were actually necessary and wise, and that he was a hero for doing them. Of course no one even casually inspected the fact that the infantry private had no choice. If he exercised a choice, he was either executed immediately or sent to prison for life.”
- “Introduction,” Once There Was a War, John Steinbeck. Steinbeck is here discussing the de facto‘rules’ of war correspondence during World War II.
- “Introduction,” Once There Was a War, John Steinbeck. Steinbeck is here discussing the de facto‘rules’ of war correspondence during World War II.