War Is Society's Dirty Work,

How Could You Get Mad At Someone Who Neither Needed To Attack Nor Was At All Worried About Being Able To Defend? It Was Like Getting Mad At Switzerland.

I Began Writing 'matterhorn' In 1975 And For More Than 30 Years I Kept Working On My Novel In My Spare Time, Unable To Get An Agent Or Publisher To Even Read The Manuscript.

In The Military I Could Exercise The Power Of Being Automatically Respected Because Of The Medals On My Chest, Not Because I Had Done Anything Right At The Moment To Earn That Respect. This Is Pretty Nice. It's Also A Psychological Trap That Can Stop One's Growth And Allow One To Get Away With Just Plain Bad Behavior.

When The Peace Treaty Is Signed, The War Isn't Over For The Veterans, Or The Family. It's Just Starting.

I Mean... If You're Raised As A Decent Human Being, Killing Somebody Is Against Every Moral Thing You've Ever Been Taught. And So, Generally, In Combat It's 'krauts,' The 'gooks,' The 'yanks' - Whatever You Want To Do To Try And Make It So That It's Not A Human Being.