War and Remembrance

Originally called Decoration Day, Memorial Day was initially meant to honor those who had died in the Civil War. The first national day of observance, on May 30, 1868, was conceived as a step toward reconciliation: flowers were placed on the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

After World War I, Memorial Day became a day of remembrance for all those who had died while serving in the nation's military. Since the Civil War, American men and women have died in combat in 30 different wars, conflicts, invasions or other missions worldwide.

There is a lot of remembering to be done.


With our nation at war, though, it is impossible not to think also about those who are still living: both those serving in harm's way and those who have come home. The price paid by survivors is one we are still learning.

War is hell, we all know that. Yet, somehow, we don't. Chris Hedges explores this contradiction in "War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning," published a month before our invasion of Iraq. As a foreign correspondent for 15 years, Hedges covered wars in the Balkans, the Middle East and Central America. He had observed the success of nationalism promoted through fear and hatred of an enemy, war presented as a noble cause that unites and elevates.

Hedges took longer to recognize in himself the love of war: life in the combat zone can be exhilarating, even addictive. Everyday life seems flat and meaningless by comparison. Unfortunately, Hedges eventually detected that he was changing in undesirable ways. He was a reporter, not a soldier, but as he became inured to the violence surrounding him, he became more willing himself to use violence as a response.

Hedges' book is succinct, eloquent and stridently anti-war. He is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School and his philosophical and literary background illuminates his books; they all have wonderful bibliographies. In this work, he turns to the classics: "every recruit headed into war would be well-advised to read 'The Iliad,' just as every soldier returning home would be served by reading 'The Odyssey.' No two works have come closer to chronicling the rage and consumption of war and the struggle to recover."

This reminded me of another book, published in 1994 and reprinted in 2003, perhaps also in response to the War in Iraq: "Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character" by Jonathan Shay. Shay was the psychiatrist for a group of Vietnam veterans with severe, chronic post-traumatic stress disorder. He was "struck by the similarity of their war experiences to Homer's account of Achilles in 'The Iliad.'"

To summarize (for those of you, like me, whose memory of "The Iliad" is primarily a few catch phrases like "the wine dark sea"): Achilles is an illustrious Greek warrior. Near the end of the Trojan War, Agamemnon, his commander, takes a prize of honor that rightfully belonged to Achilles. Achilles, enraged, refuses to continue fighting. This is the status quo until the Trojan Hector kills Achilles' closest friend in battle. Achilles returns to battle, kills Hector and desecrates his body. The desecration continues for days until Priam, Hector's father, comes to Achilles' tent and begs for the return of the body. Achilles recognizes their fellowship in grief and complies.

For Shay, the two most significant events in "The Iliad" are Agamemnon's action, which he calls "betrayal of 'what's right' by a commander," and the onset of a berserk state epitomized by Achilles' abuse of Hector's body.

Betrayal of "what's right" for a soldier can range from favoritism on the part of a commanding officer (no small issue in a combat zone) to the complex decisions made at the highest level. In simplest terms, it is betrayal of the soldier's reason to serve. Once that is in question, one's loyalty shifts to one's immediate comrades and the loss of one of these has potentially profound consequences.

Shay's work is with the most seriously impacted soldiers. Nancy Sherman, though, argues in her new book, "The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our Soldiers," that no soldier is untouched. Sherman is a philosopher and she believes that we have neglected the moral impact of combat.

That which makes a good person in civilian society is not what makes a good soldier in combat. Obviously, killing is a major issue, but there are many more subtle conflicts for those serving in a war zone. Sherman examines the "moral weight that soldiers carry on their shoulders" and makes clear that the transition from warrior to civilian is never easy. Above all, it is a burden that should not be borne in silence or alone.