Will Bird - from Ghosts Have Warm Hands
I just noticed that Will R. Bird has never been mentioned here. Of the highest interest will be his war memoir, And We Go On, as it holds some similarity to Junger's memoir. Graphic in its detail, and written based on his notes, it is unapologetic and in parts coldly removed from the events, although perhaps more as a peasant character or in the literary tradition of the fool rather than the nobility of Junger. It is also very Canadian, so there are some notable differences, Bird had little education, he was of a simple farming background, he lost his father when he was young and his brother in the war, and he was a simple soldier of common rank. He had to fight just to join the war. Like Junger, he lost one of his own sons in WWII. Much of the Canadian character is revealed in the struggles with the brass, involving vengeance or pranks of some kind. There is a rough and democratised sense of authority, which is of interest for its contrast and the specific character that Junger sa