War Lessons

"War Lessons" portrays the daily experience of war from the perspective of both the foot soldier doing the fighting and the villager in whose home the war is being fought. When the author leaves Vietnam, he begins an odyssey that brings him back to Vietnam eight times, trying to understand why young people are drawn to war, how war changes those who fight it, why war's destructive effects last so long on both sides, how former enemies are eventually reconciled, how soldiers wanted to be treated by the citizens who send them to war, and how best to memorialize those who lose their lives in war.Most books about war focus on the adventure of war itself. "War Lessons" looks at war as an instrument of policy and examines how the actual effects of war can undermine the very purposes for which a war is being fought. At a time when citizens want to know how to show support for soldiers while questioning a war's goals and methods, "War Lessons" looks at how young people go to war, what they are looking for, what they find, and how war permanently changes them. After describing the limitations of war as an instrument of policy, "War Lessons" proposes a variety of alternatives to war that would inspire young people to participate programmes that would prevent war or reduce its negative impacts. These alternatives include US participation in UN peacekeeping programmes, prosecution of war crimes, and protection of refugees.