The Culture of War: a lecture by Paul Fussell (In 1994)

davidbfpo · Jun 7, 2025

Paul Fussell appears in many threads here; he was a US military historian and judging from the variety of comments here on his books not everyone agreed with him.

This YouTube clip (29m) was sent by an US marine officer friend. The clip's explanation is:

The truth is that very few people know anything about war. In an infantry division, for example, fewer than half the troops actually fight. That is, with rifles, mortars, machine guns, grenades, and trench knives. The others, thousands on thousands of them, are occupied with truck driving, mimeograph machine operating, cooking and baking, ammunition and ration supplying, and similar housekeeping tasks. Now, those things are no doubt necessary, but they're hardly bellicose. And they hardly provide the sort of experience which can issue as trustworthy testimony about what the word war might mean.
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From:

It adds:

Paul Fussell (1924–2012) served with the 103rd Infantry Division in World War II. He was wounded during the Rhineland campaign. His many books include his autobiography: Doing Battle: The Making of a Skeptic (Little, Brown).
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More bio on: Paul Fussell - Wikipedia

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The Culture of War: a lecture by Paul Fussell (In 1994)

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The Culture of War: a lecture by Paul Fussell (In 1994)

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