This Side Toward Enemy

by Patrick McDermott

Reference Notes

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Chapter 3. Who Was Most Courageous?

“Who was most courageous—the man who felt the least fear or the man who felt the most?”

Kuwahara, Yasuo, & Gordon T. Allred, Kamikaze, New York: Ballantine Books, 1957, p. 147.

“Where do we get such men?”

Michener, James A., The Bridges at Toko-Ri, New York: Fawcett (0-449-20651-3), 1982 (1953), p. 126.

“Though I be the sole survivor, I will not cease until the mission is accomplished.”

Stewart, James B., Heart of a Soldier: A Story of Love, Heroism, and September 11^th, New York: Simon & Schuster (0-7432-4098-7), 2002, p. 185.

“Better to live one day as a lion than a hundred years as a sheep.”

Hemingway, Ernest, Across the River and into the Trees, New York: Scribner Classics / Collier Books / Macmillan (0-02-051920-6), 1987 (1950), p. 40.

“I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country—Victory or Death”.

Quoted in Leckie, Robert, The Wars of America, Revised and Updated Edition, New York: Harper & Row (0-06-012571-3), 1981 (1968), p. 322.

“Come and get them”.

Pantano, Ilario with Malcolm McConnell, Warlord: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy, New York: Threshold Editions (1-4165-2426-6 978-1-4165-2426-7), 2006, p. 380.

“Even a half-good billet, a downright awful hole, will tempt the soldier to bide”,

Keegan, John, The Face of Battle, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books (0-14-004897-9), 1976, p. 298.

“Ordinary men see their immediate peril rather than the larger one to come.”

Sheehan, Neil, A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam, New York: Vintage Books (0-679-72414-1), 1989 (1988), p. 239.

“beat their drums with the bones of the dead.”

Quoted in Holmes, Richard, Acts of War: The Behavior of Men in Battle, New York: The Free Press / Macmillan (0-02-915020-5), 1986 (Firing Line, 1985), p. 6.

“These men were not panic-stricken cowards, ashamed of their conduct: they had simply decided that their interests were best served by the avoidance of battle.”

Holmes, Richard, Acts of War: The Behavior of Men in Battle, New York: The Free Press / Macmillan (0-02-915020-5), 1986 (Firing Line, 1985), p. 318.

Gettysburg,

Maxwell, Ronald F. (screenwriter & director), Tom Berenger, Jeff Daniels, Martin Sheen (actors), Gettysburg [based on the novel The Killer Angels by Jeff Shaara], Burbank: Ted Turner Pictures / Warner Video (0-7806-3277-X), 2005 (1992).

“tried to forbid signs of prudence that bordered on cowardice, like officers concealing their insignia to avoid the special attention of snipers, and tankers augmenting their front armor with rows of sandbags.”

Quoted in Fussell, Paul, Doing Battle: The Making of a Skeptic, Boston: Little Brown (0-316-29717-8), 1996, p. 110.

“My flag, which I gave to the 69^th, was lost, the ensign dropped it in his retreat, and as he escaped unhurt has not dared to show his face.”

Keneally, Thomas, The Great Shame: and the Triumph of the Irish in the English-Speaking World, New York: Anchor Books / Random House (0-385-72026-2), 1999 (1998), p. 330.

“In their instinctive generosity, Americans have never understood, God bless them, that the cowardly are wounded as readily as the brave.”

Fussell, Paul, Doing Battle: The Making of a Skeptic, Boston: Little Brown (0-316-29717-8), 1996, p. 145.

“It is a popular idea that a man is a hero just because he was killed in action. Rather I think a man is frequently a fool when he gets killed.”

Quoted in Hanson, Victor Davis, The Soul of Battle: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, How Three Great Liberators Vanquished Tyranny, New York: Anchor Books (0-385-72059-9), 2001 (1999), p. 267.

“Had it been heroism or folly, I asked myself for the thousandth time, which had urged him forth to inspect the wire beneath so bright a moon?”

Brittain, Vera, Testament of Youth: An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900-1925, New York: Penguin Books (0-14-018844-4), 1989 (1933), p. 243.

“either die now on my responsibility, or win a decoration on his own.”

Holmes, Richard, Acts of War: The Behavior of Men in Battle, New York: The Free Press / Macmillan (0-02-915020-5), 1986 (Firing Line, 1985), p. 340.

Roberts Ridge

MacPherson, Malcolm, Roberts Ridge: A Story of Courage and Sacrifice on Takur Ghar Mountain, Afghanistan, New York: Dell / Bantam (0-553-58680-7 978-0-553-58680-0), 2006 (2005).

“the U.S. forces involved in this fight again distinguished themselves by conspicuous bravery. Their countless acts of heroism demonstrated the best of America’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) as Army, Navy and Air Force special operators fought side by side to save one of their own, and each other”.

Milani, LTC Andrew, “Executive Summary”, Department of Defense, May 24, 2002, quoted in MacPherson, Malcolm, Roberts Ridge: A Story of Courage and Sacrifice on Takur Ghar Mountain, Afghanistan, New York: Dell / Bantam (0-553-58680-7 978-0-553-58680-0), 2006 (2005), p. 311.

“I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy”,

MacPherson, Malcolm, Roberts Ridge: A Story of Courage and Sacrifice on Takur Ghar Mountain, Afghanistan, New York: Dell / Bantam (0-553-58680-7 978-0-553-58680-0), 2006 (2005), p. 216.

All for an exploit that could have no good effect on the important battle that was raging in the valley below.

From Official Report, Milani, LTC Andrew, “Executive Summary”, Department of Defense, May 24, 2002.

In fact, it became a distraction, subtracting from the effectiveness of the forces fighting.

Franks, General Tommy with Malcolm McConnell, American Soldier, New York: 10 ReganBooks (0-06-073158-3), 2004.

“The mission was obviously not a success because MAKO 30 never got in. They became the focus instead of the mission. Takur Ghar played no part in the success of Anaconda. It was an unwanted distraction.”

Milani, LTC Andrew, “Executive Summary”, Department of Defense, May 24, 2002, quoted in MacPherson, Malcolm, Roberts Ridge: A Story of Courage and Sacrifice on Takur Ghar Mountain, Afghanistan, New York: Dell / Bantam (0-553-58680-7 978-0-553-58680-0), 2006 (2005), p. 308.

Catch-22

Heller, Joseph, Catch-22, New York: Laurel / Dell (0-440-20439-9), 1990 (1955).

“their dread of incurring the like fearful perils unnerves them for each succeeding conflict.”

Quoted in McPherson, James M., For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War, New York: Oxford University Press (0-19-512499-5), 1997, p. 45.

“A man’s courage is his capital, and he is always spending. The call on the bank may be only the drain of the front line or it may be a sudden draft which threatens to close the account.”

Quoted in Holmes, Richard, Acts of War: The Behavior of Men in Battle, New York: The Free Press / Macmillan (0-02-915020-5), 1986 (Firing Line, 1985), p. 213.

held fast and fought like lions as they transformed into a band of fanatical furies who stormed and captured a fortified village against all odds.

Quoted in Holmes, Richard, Acts of War: The Behavior of Men in Battle, New York: The Free Press / Macmillan (0-02-915020-5), 1986 (Firing Line, 1985), p. 220.

The Red Badge of Courage

Crane, Stephen, The Red Badge of Courage, New York: State Street Press (0-681-99484-3), 2000 (1895).

“A hero is a coward who got cornered.”

Dunnigan, James F., How to Make War: A Comprehensive Guide to Modern Warfare in the Twenty-First Century, Fourth Edition, New York: Quill / HarperCollins (0-06-009012-X), 2003 (1993), p. 343.

“served as an infantryman from 1914 through 1917 in a regiment which, like so many others, lost more than 100 percent of its initial troop strength.”

Ehrenreich, Barbara, Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War, New York: Metropolitan Books / Henry Holt (0-8050-5077-9), 1997, p. 211.

the 70 percent casualty rate expected to be experienced by these airborne units landing behind the beaches on D-Day.

Chetwynd, Lionel (writer & executive producer), Robert Harmon (director), Tom Selleck, James Remar, Timothy Bottoms (actors), Ike: Countdown to D-Day, A& E Network / Sony Pictures, 2004, 18:00 ff.

“The lead element’s expendable.”

Wright, Evan, Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and the New face of American War, Berkley Caliber, New York: Berkley Publishing Group (0-425-20040-X), 2005 (2004), p. 246.

“Their mission will be to seek out enemy ambushes by literally driving into them.”

Wright, Evan, Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain America and the New face of American War, Berkley Caliber, New York: Berkley Publishing Group (0-425-20040-X), 2005 (2004), p. 8.

“Work all day, all night. Make one tiny mistake and you are hamburger.”

Pantano, Ilario with Malcolm McConnell, Warlord: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy, New York: Threshold Editions (1-4165-2426-6 978-1-4165-2426-7), 2006, p. 266.

“Some Civil War soldiers grasped intuitively, and more acquired by experience, the modern understanding that courage is not absence of fear but mastery of it.”

McPherson, James M., For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War, New York: Oxford University Press (0-19-512499-5), 1997, p. 36.

“YOU’LL BE SCARED. Sure you’ll be scared. Before you go into battle you’ll be frightened at the uncertainty, at the thought of being killed.”

Quoted in Grossman, Lt. Col. Dave, On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society, New York: Back Bay Books / Little, Brown (0-316-33011-6), 1996 (1995), p. 53.

“every man is scared in his first action. If he says he’s not, he’s a goddamn liar.”

Quoted in Grossman, Lt. Col. Dave & Loren Christensen, On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace, Belleville, Illinois: PPCT Research Publications (0-9649205-1-4), 2004, p. 4.

“I can with truth assure you that I heard the bullets whistle. Believe me, there was something charming in the sound.”

PBS, The War That Made America, WQED, Episode 1, 2006.

“The truth is, I felt happy. The nervousness had left me the moment I got into the helicopter, and I felt happier than I ever had.”

Caputo, Philip, A Rumor of War, New York: Henry Holt (0-8050-4695-X), 1996 (1977), p. 81.

“Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.”

Quoted in Prochnau, William, Once Upon a Distant War, New York: Times Books / Random House (0-8129-2633-1), 1995, p. 343.

“Many soldiers expressed surprise at their own coolness once fighting began.”

McPherson, James M., For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War, New York: Oxford University Press (0-19-512499-5), 1997, p. 39.

“At such times we have so much to do that we hardly have time to be scared.”

Quoted in McPherson, James M., For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War, New York: Oxford University Press (0-19-512499-5), 1997, p. 39.

“on the battlefield, you’re frightened all the time. You live with it. The beauty of being a leader, of being a squad leader, a platoon sergeant, a company commander, and so on, was that you were busy.”

Lamb, Brian, Booknotes: America’s Finest Authors on Reading, Writing, and the Power of Ideas, New York: Times Books (0-8129-2847-4), 1997, p. 230.

an 18-year-old peasant girl who in 1429 became convinced she had a divine mission to save the city of Orléans from the English, and then see the Dauphin crowned King of France.

This tale is drawn from Chapter IX of Creasy, Edward Shepherd, Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: From Marathon to Waterloo, New York: Da Capo Press / Perseus Group (0-306-80559-6), 1994 (1851), pp. 206-224.

“Our admiration for her courage and patriotism ought to be increased a hundred fold by her conduct throughout the latter part of her career, amid dangers, against which she no longer believed herself to be divinely secured.”

This tale is drawn from Creasy, Edward S., Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: From Marathon to Waterloo, New York: Da Capo Press / Perseus Group (0-306-80559-6), 1994 (1851), p. 223.

“preternatural killing machines oblivious to danger and fear.”

McPherson, James M., For Cause & Comrades: Why Men Fought In The Civil War, New York: Oxford University Press (0-19-512499-5), 1997, p. 40.

“As H.G. Wells wrote, if you make men sufficiently fearful or angry the hot red eyes of cavemen will glare out at you.”

Quoted in Connell, Evan S., Son of the Morning Star: Custer & the Little Big Horn, New York: Promontory Press (0-88394-088-4), 1984, p. 305.

“You tremble with two contradictory impulses: the heightened awareness of the huntsman, and the terror of the quarry.”

Jünger, Ernst, Michael Hofmann (translator from German), Storm of Steel, New York: Penguin Books (0-14-243790-5), 2003 (Stahlgewittern, 1920), p. 71.

“Of the thirty-six strategies, running away is the best choice”.

Sun Haichen (compiler & translator), The Wiles of War: 36 Military Strategies from Ancient China, Beijing: Foreign Language Press (7-119-01399-8), 1941, 1991 (~1600), p. i.

“The bloody carnage resulting from disintegration and flight”,

Fox, Richard Allan, Jr., Archaeology, History, and Custer’s Last Battle: the Little Big Horn Reexamined, Norman: Red River Books / University of Oklahoma Press (0-8061-2998-0), 1993, p. 51.

“Soldiers die in the largest numbers when they run.”

Keegan, John, The Face of Battle, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books (0-14-004897-9), 1983 (1976), p. 70.

“welfare and that of the group are intertwined.”

Fox, Richard Allan, Jr., Archaeology, History, and Custer’s Last Battle: the Little Big Horn Reexamined, Norman: Red River Books / University of Oklahoma Press (0-8061-2998-0), 1993, p. 46.

The Red Badge of Courage.

Crane, Stephen, The Red Badge of Courage, New York: State Street Press (0-681-99484-3), 2000 (1895).

“A recruit, who deserts during his first engagement, may afterward become a hero.”

Craighill William P., The 1862 Army Officer’s Pocket Companion: A Manual for Staff Officers in the Field, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books (0-8117-0020-8), 2002 (New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1862), p. 299.

“Both men had the same answer: they felt alternating fear, rage, calm, and, most of all, an overpowering determination to survive.”

Brokaw, Tom, The Greatest Generation, New York: Random House (0-375-50202-5), 1998, p. XXI.

Currently under Construction.

Copyright ©2009 Patrick McDermott