horrors of the war

The two entries that I read are http://rebelcoyote.livejournal.com/57700.html and http://thunder6.typepad.com/365_arabian_nights/2006/01/last_days_at_th.html#comments. Both entries left me speechless. I watched so many programs on television and never really got the kind of information that I got from these entries. They are so much more personal and I think that's what makes it so much harder for the reader. I was almost in tears when I read Trueman's entry. Just the fact that he is so young is what gets to me. At this age he already knows so much more about the reality of the human kind than a lot of us will know in our entire lifetime. He had to see his best friend die in front of him and could not do anything to help him becuase he was injured himself. A lot of us forget that every soldier that passes away there's a family and his friends who have to suffer his loss. We could honor a soldier for his duty and his life but we cannot give his family and friends what they need. Trueman had to leave when he was supposed to be studying in college and when he came back he could not attend college because he could not afford it. I just find it so unfair that a young soldier is not provided with the financial support that he so desperately needs to have a life that he had to give up to fight for his country.
The second entry was striking in a different way. The soldier feels relieved to be out of the war zone. We feel his happiness through his words and we also feel his sorrow. He lost friends and he made friends and he was bound to them with an invisible thread. I don't think anyone can break these threads. From his entry you can see how much he learned about friendship, courage and valour and how much he values them. I just wonder when he came back how did he adjust to the normal life again.