ABSTRACT

"The Culture of War," might be regarded as that kind of flagrant oxymoron. So it would be if author was evoking the term culture in any artistic or intellectual sense, implying within the armed forces a considerable amount of viola playing, classical acting, liberal drawing, painting, modeling, poetry, fiction writing, and difficult reading. The culture of war, in short, is not like the culture of ordinary peace-time life. It is a culture dominated by fear, blood, and sadism, by irrational actions and preposterous results. It has more relation to science fiction or to absurdist theater than to actual life, and that makes it hard to describe. Twenty-three percent of the American dead died from friendly fire. The culture of war is the only culture where the concept of morale is crucial, and that is a significant point. Morale is crucial in the culture of war because at all times the troops are engaging in activities sure to undermine cheerfulness and hope.