Body Quote by Randall Jarrell
“We read our mail and counted up our missions In bombers named for girls, we burned The cities we had learned about in school Till our lives wore out; our bodies lay among The people we had killed and never seen. When we lasted long enough they gave us medals; When we died they said, "Our casualties were low." They said, "Here are the maps"; we burned the cities.”
About This Quote
War dehumanizes both victims and perpetrators, turning strategic objectives into personal tragedies masked by official narratives.
In simple terms: Combat reduces people to statistics and myths.
Key Takeaway
War obscures humanity behind abstract goals.
Themes
war
dehumanization
memory
politics
Mood
grim
lamenting
Type
poetic
political
When to use this quote
- military training
- veteran counseling
- historical education
Key Concepts
psychological trauma
propaganda
Practical Applications
- Integrate personal testimonies into curricula
- Support veteran mental‑health programs
Questions to Reflect On
- How does language shape our perception of conflict?
- What responsibilities do societies have to remember individual suffering?
A Different Perspective
Some argue that strategic decisions are necessary despite human cost.
![“Early in his life Mr. [Ezra] Pound met with strong, continued, and unintelligent opposition. If people keep opposing you when you are right, you think them fools; and after a time, right or wrong, you think them fools simply because they oppose you. Similarly, you write true things or good things…” quote by Randall Jarrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/5a7/randall-jarrell-3811_ends_early-in-his-life-mr-ezra-pound-met-with_359433.jpg)
![“I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests with ZERO-G [a charter-flight service in Arlington, Va., that uses modified Boeing 727s to simulate weightlessness], which went great.” quote by Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/aa1/richard-branson-256_adventure_i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-repl_903.jpg)
