"It's a war."
Sidney utters the words from above when he is asked why unharmed soldiers must go down the tunnel to look for a soldier who is most likely dead. His words prove that during war, almost every action can be justified. If a person says that what he or she is doing is for a greater cause, then almost no one will try to stop that person or dare to say that an action is unjust or unjustified. This type of thinking is also what pushed many soldiers and leaders to do unspeakable things during the war. For them, their actions were justified because they did them to win a war.
“...things may be viewed from many angles.”
Li Van was a Vietnamese soldier the American troops found in the tunnels in Laos. Van showed the Americans his observation post and when Berlin looked out, he wasn’t able to distinguish anything. Li Van points out however that everything can be seen from different angles and what it may seem nothing for someone may be everything for another person. This is also true when it comes to war and the fact that one nation blames the other for everything that is happening. However, as Li points out, a story can be told from different perspectives and those perspectives change everything.
He would go to Europe. That's what he would do. Spend some time in Fort Dodge then take off for a tour of Europe. He would learn French.
Paris was something almost every soldier and even those who were not in the army dreams about. For them, Paris was more than just a city: it was an ideal, something to aspire and dream about. Paris was in many ways the only thing that keeps many soldiers alive during the war as it represented hope and opportunity. When Berlin thinks about going to Paris, he doesn’t necessarily means the city, but rather the thing it symbolizes and the ideas it transmits.
