I haven't had the chance to read the entire series, but I read enough of the early installments to feel their power.

I appreciate your sharing these experiences, from the mundane to the profound. I was one of those baby boomers who grew up with the "fetishized" view of war you describe: we would "play army" all day as kids, pretending we were taking on the Germans, killing and dying neatly, without horror or suffering or remorse or examination.

I'm not sure how the realization grew in me that war is full of horror, and that it must always remain only a very last resort, an unavoidable one - but it has, and for that I am grateful.

And I am grateful for voices like yours. Thank you.