Post by EXO on Sept 25, 2011 10:53:06 GMT 8
Magnificent effort in every respect, Fots. I hope we can all hear more of what Paul Cain has to say.
speaking of Valtin, not Cain, I have noticed a palpable aversion that veterans have to other veterans repetitive use of the first person singular. They frown upon self aggrandizement, and encourage me to reflect the "team effort." Perhaps this is behind Valtin's choice of the plural.
If a book published early was in error, or was a literary fraud, I'd expect there to be some fairly contemporaneous books published in refutation, shots being taken at it. One would hope, anyhow. I recall hearing about an altercation involving the author Ben Waldon (and his execrable book about his 'heroics' on Corregidor) and a fellow veteran at a POW Reunion, and lament the listing of that miserable piece of self-promotion every time I see it in eBay or Amazon.
I return time and again to a letter in which John Lindgren raised the issue of uncertainty with Bill Calhoun. He writes:
When we say "we cannot say with certainty" we are standing in the fog of war. thanks for attempting to dispel some of it.
speaking of Valtin, not Cain, I have noticed a palpable aversion that veterans have to other veterans repetitive use of the first person singular. They frown upon self aggrandizement, and encourage me to reflect the "team effort." Perhaps this is behind Valtin's choice of the plural.
If a book published early was in error, or was a literary fraud, I'd expect there to be some fairly contemporaneous books published in refutation, shots being taken at it. One would hope, anyhow. I recall hearing about an altercation involving the author Ben Waldon (and his execrable book about his 'heroics' on Corregidor) and a fellow veteran at a POW Reunion, and lament the listing of that miserable piece of self-promotion every time I see it in eBay or Amazon.
I return time and again to a letter in which John Lindgren raised the issue of uncertainty with Bill Calhoun. He writes:
A long time ago I was on a troopship, the USS Eltinge bound for Bremerhaven: anticipating a dull trip I had a copy of Tolstoy's War and Peace which in most ways is a very dull book. What wasn't dull was his theory of the battle where he describes the action at Borodino not as some great strategic clash that will decide the fate of Europe but thousands of small struggles among confused and bewildered soldiers who only know what is happening to them and a few of their comrades that are nearby. They are so confused that they never know whether they were brave or cowardly soldiers or whether they have properly done their duty because no one tells them except in a general way perhaps. Not only are they uncertain about the battle and even themselves, there is really no one to talk to about it unless they had experienced the same thing.
When we say "we cannot say with certainty" we are standing in the fog of war. thanks for attempting to dispel some of it.