There is the guilt all soldiers feel for having broken the taboo against killing, a guilt as old as war itself. Add to this the soldier's sense of shame for having fought in actions that resulted, indirectly or directly, in the deaths of civilians. Then pile on top of that an attitude of social opprobrium, an attitude that made the fighting man feel personally morally responsible for the war, and you get your proverbial walking time bomb.
Interpretation
The quote explores the emotional and moral burdens soldiers carry due to their actions in war, especially concerning civilian casualties.
In this quote, Philip Caputo delves into the complex emotional landscape of soldiers who experience guilt and shame for participating in war and killing, which is inherently taboo. He suggests that the weight of responsibility for the consequences of their actions, including civilian deaths and societal judgment, can lead to a psychological state of being a 'walking time bomb', highlighting the mental health struggles faced by veterans.
In practice
During a speech at a veterans' event, you could use this quote to emphasize the psychological toll of war.
In a guerrilla war, the line between legitimate and illegitimate killing is blurred. The policies of free-fire zones, in which a soldier is permitted to shoot at any human target, armed or unarmed, further confuse the fighting man's moral senses.
It’s paradoxical that the death of your quarry is besides the point and at the same time the whole point. A chase without a kill as its object is like a journey without a destination; a kill without a chase employing all the hunter’s craft is killing, not hunting.
I'm simply not afraid. It's not in my dictionary of behaviour.
I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certain evidence that any one has gone.
If the State cannot survive the anti-slavery agitation, then let the State perish. If the Church must be cast down by the strugglings of Humanity to be free, then let the Church fall and its fragments be scattered to the four winds of Heaven, never more to curse the earth.
In difficult and desperate cases, the boldest counsels are the safest.
I think the Negro people should feel secure enough by now to face a reasonable ridicule without terror. I am unalterably opposed to all efforts to put down free speech, whatever the excuse.
Come the three corners of the world in arms, and we shall shock them.
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