In Ukraine, some Russian troops are throwing down their arms and running, bringing to mind such a scene in “Red Badge of Courage.”
Tag Archives: war
Panic Gripping Russian Soldiers
Good Omens and Vladimir Putin
To imagine the reluctance of Russian soldiers to fight, check out this scene in “Good Omens.”
Imagine Hemingway in Ukraine
Ukrainian resistance to the Russians has me reading “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” and I’m seeing a lot of similarities.
Crane’s Reenactment of War’s Horrors
Leaders should “Red Badge of Courage” before sending their troops into battle.
There Watched I for the Dead
In Owen’s “Unreturning,” our poem for Memorial Day, the poet excoriates those who use religion to justify warfare.
Ask Vets to Tell You Their Stories
For Veterans Day, ask a vet for his or her story. Scott Bates and Tim O’Brien convey the importance of such storytelling.
To Avoid War, Look to The Iliad
As we once again hear war’s drum beat, it’s good to return to “The Iliad” and its vision of peace: the Achilles-Priam truce.
Vets in WWI Documentary Do Not Age
Tuesday Last night Julia and I watched Peter Jackson’s extraordinary documentary about World War I in which he applied filmmaker’s magic to archival footage to create a sense of immediacy. By brightening dark shots and darkening overexposed ones, erasing scratches, evening out movement (World War I film was shot with hand-cranked cameras), turning long-shots into […]
When Will We Ever Learn?
Alfred Noyes’s “On the Western Front” challenges us to learn from our wars.

