[ what follows is not a lecture but a manifesto. a pep-talk, almost. a way to contextualize the horror and the guilt. ]

I'm not proud of what I do on those fields. I'm not saying that anyone should even try to be proud. But...in the end? Survival is the only silver lining to any draft. If we besmirch it 'cause we're having some crisis of conscience then we are cheapening what we manage to give to the people who can't defend themselves out there.

We do what what we have to do. We get'er done. We don't have to feel good about it, but we have to know that it's ultimately the right thing to do. I'd rather a soldier's blood on my hands than a little girl's. And there were two of those drafted, last time.

[ little girls. ]