Fourth Post: The Good War

The most significant thing that I had read throughout these two passages was the fact that the soldiers were not necessarily attached to wanting their families or their housing or even going back home; the soldiers in Japan and the soldiers in Germany/Europe were in desperate need of food.  They explained how they would stop wishing to God how they wanted to to see their families again and how they wanted to be home.  They became simple only praying for food.  "Food. Fear. Comradeship." (165 Terkel).  These were the three things that were most important to the men.  Rifleman Bob Rasmus explains how when he was a boy, he was so excited to be in the war and never even thought about the possible consequences of being sent to the first lines.  He then goes on to say that he entered the army and was ultimately placed as a rifleman in the middle of the war.  After being placed in this infantry group, he then realized that there was a high possibility that he would be killed.  He then explained how they had a great time when they had their time off, but when it came time for battle, everyone "sobered up" and got their heads in the game.  To me, this was extremely significant being an athlete.  I sometimes have a hard time getting myself ready after fooling around with my teammates before the game.  Obviously the situations have their differences but at the same time, they have their similarities.  When I saw the title of this section I became confused; after reading this section, I still do not really understand why any "war" could ever be even somewhat "good"?