This story is neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war...
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Himmelstoss You're not much to begin with, but I'll do my best. The first thing to do is to forget everything you ever knew, everything you ever learned - Forget! See. Forget what you've been, and what you think you're going to be. You're going to be soldiers, and that's all. I'll take the mother's milk out of you, I'll make you hard-boiled. I'll make soldiers out of you, or kill you!
Franz Kemmerich They've cut my leg off. Why didn't they tell me?...I can't walk any more.
Soldier They never taught us anything really useful, like how to light a cigarette in the wind, or make a fire out of wet wood, or bayonet a man in the belly.
All Quiet on the Western Front
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