We Don't Need to Hate
lIy s/s(;.'!'. I10)nnl'1'
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So m e wCf· ks ago. a well -known neWSpfi ller cor res po nd e nt m a d e th e s Latcrne nl
th al Ameri ca n 8() lcl ie r~ d Oli ' " h aLe o ur c n c .nies e n o u g h . lI a t c, h e sa id . " 'as
u n cccs~ a r y Clll o l inn in ,,'a r ; i t mad e lig hti n g m e n fig hl more "indic ti,'c ly
and . hen e(', be th'",
ubseq ll c nll y th e I·lus t , in a plain-SI)o k cn editor'iul , loo k
iss u e w ilh Ihis ·p hilo sop h y. Hnd . na n )' read e rs , bo th soldi e rs a nd c i"ilians,
wro l e lI ~ to a ppl u u (1 n ur !"I I-u nd . O n e o f t h ose , ,, h o r ead th e ed ito ria l was
S /S~t.
lI o b c r l S k idm o re. S La Li O ll c d 0 11 a fa r -away is la nd in th e P acific. A g ifted
\~r ilc l·. a uth o r o f s l'ven.! __ Ii s l in g ui s h cd s h o rt s to ri es w hic h h a ve alllleW'cd in
th e Po:-. I. , Scr gC4.l n l S kid m ore p r'O llllJ tl y sut d O \~' n a nd \~ ro l c th e follo " 'ing
Sergea nt Sk id mo re.
a rti cle. \\ hi f' h \\ c cons ide r o ne of th e fin es t ex pressions o f suld ier p hiloso phy
to co rlle o u t o f th is; wa r.-Thl· Ellitorll.
W
E THINK of our old hats you have so
carefull y stored in th e wardrobe, our c ivi lia n s hoes you dust occasiona lly-perh aps
more o ft en t.han necessary-the shirts lau n"de red
b u t not yet s tarc hed o r ironed beca use you did nIt
kn ow when we would be ho me. We think of these
t hings a nd imagine the d ay whe n we will be try ing
them on again. W ill they fit ? W e wonder a bout it
as m u ch as you do.
Pe rha ps we have c ha nged. M aybe not in a way
that our clothing will no longe r fit, but a g reat
m a ny other things won lt. rest so comfort.ably on our
sh ou lde rs . The things thAt. have cha nged in us will
not affect. the co nt.o u r of our clothing, j ust t.he
sh a pe of our li ves.
Out. he re, we have co me to know Am erica . We
h ave lea rned t.he love a man ca n have for his
ho me land . It is a n u nex pected love for us to have.
fo r we wer e a lmost. disinherit.ed . Jn our day we have
booed the display o f the nag, hoo ted the Preside n t,
laugh ed at Congress, sco rn ed a count.ry that. had
no place fo r us a nd the n foug ht for a ll those t.hings
a nd so m e of us died for t.he m. Things lhat. meant
nothing to us before are vaJuable now, for they ha ve
been threatened a nd we have secured t he m.
We wond er why peo ple d eplore our lack of int e res t. in ha tred. We know t.he qu al ity of hat. red.
We have felt it for those o f our coun t ry who have
failed us. But ch arity is g rea ter in us th a n hat. red.
A nd pa tie nce is g reat.e r, a nd tole ra nce. And t.he
k nowledge of t.h e t ra nsitory na t.ure of t h ings is
str ong in us. Those wh o were w ith u.s yeste rd ay
aren't here today . What we felt yesterd ay, we ca nnot feel today. We ca nn ot a fford to h old a single
emotio n for long, e xce pt. loneliness a nd honorwhic h is not a n e m otio n, but a state of living.
Ange r, a qui c k a nd ready thing. we know well.
lt is no t a n ab iding a nd co ntinued feeling. It is the
t hi ng t hat makes a sold ie r in co mbat achie ve the
near ly impossible. B u t it must be co n t.rolled . A n
a ngry ma n has his guard d own. H e e ndange rs himself a nd the ot.he r m e mbers of his s hip, or pla ne. or
gu n c rew or foxhole. There is a wo rd we ha ve in the
Army for a guy who is always fill ed wit.h a nge r a nd
ba t red . ]t is n 't a pretty word.
At the righ t time a nd for the right t.h ing, a nger
is va lua ble. A co n t inuing hatred is n 't worth a
d a mn . D o our c iviHa n law officers ha te cr imina ls
a nd la wbrea kers? N o, they have co nte mpt for
them and arrest them a nd p unish them. It is a
ve ry sa t.isfacto ry a nd d e m oc ra tic solution.
It is very disturbing to know that we st.ack up
wi t h a ny soldier o f any co untry. t hat we a re winning, and then to h ave people shout that we d on 't
know wh at it is a ll abou t-we do not hate e no ugh !
Perh a ps we d on ' t know what. it is a ll abou t, b u t
Am erica is a big co untry, the re a re a lot. of us a nd
we can't a U be b rilliant a nd we shouldn 't all be
states me n . The b ig issues s hould be left to the me n
trained to ha ndl e them. W e are dee ply proud of o ur
lead e rs. We know Ame ri ca has such men . 'rhe b ig
iss ues will be ha ndled.
Never believe that we are not aware of them.
We know t he imme nsity of th is wa r. We have see n
it in t he dealh of just one m a n. in the pa rt-life of
a nothe r, in the unbelievable "knowledge that we are
s Ull a li ve. We know th e issues are large. greater
than we ca n realize; a nd all of us, a ll who have
been t o battie, ha ve asked God to he lp us . H e ca n
see th e patte rn of th ings.
If there is a nyone e lse who alone can compre he nd a ll t.hings in vo lved, wi ll he please ste p
forwa rd , wh ere we ca n a ll see h im a nd hea r him?
H a t.red we know. We are fighting a n e ne my ca pa ble of hatred . They really loa the us a nd no fooling
a bo u t th a L They ha te us with a bl ind fury : you
proba bly have no t iced t hat they are losing t.he war,
will lose the peace, will lose so me thing the people
of a na tion s houJd ne ver lose.
We wis h t hese peo p le who .want u s to hate co uld
see the G .L's in the e m battled co rners of t he earth
d o ing m ore to s pread d e mocracy a nd t he liberal,
C hristia n way "Of life than was done by a nyone
dur ing the t ime o f peace. Our budd ies who share
a nyt hi ng t hey have w it h those who need it., whateve r the ir backg round has bee n, a re bringi ng a
new stature to our peop le. They a re showi ng the
American way of life to the world.
'rhe natives on these ato lls ou t here. peo ple in
Ita ly a nd Africa a nd Ch i.na and F ra nce a re fi nd ing
G .I. Joe a very wo nd erful guy. T hey ar e learning
that a lot of t h in gs t hey have bee n ta ught a bo u t
him, that he is c ru el a nd filled with hatred-the
cunning propaga nd a th at has co nvinced t he m th at
t.h~ Ame rica n soldier will cu t out t.heir tongues and
lop off their hands- is not true at. a U. T hey a re
finding that he is charitable a nd kind , that he is
ca pa ble of h u ma nity a nd frie ndsh ip a nd ready
la ughter. They have seen h im go witho u t food, t hat
t heir terrified c hildre n might ea t. They have seen
him hold h is tire whe n e ne my s ni pe rs shove wome n
a nd child re n before them. None of these things
ha ve t.he qual ity o f hatred in t he m.
-~
We know t here are n' t. go i_ng to be a ny pfc's or
sergeants at. a ny peace table a nywhere . Bu t we
know t ha t the peoples of t he world will not forget
us. They will re me mbe r us with kindness a nd lo ve.
They will re m e mber th at we came a nd freed the m.
N ever again will fa nati a l lead ers be able t.o co nvince t hem that t h e American people are contemptible a nd greedy a nd soft. These things will
help to secure the peace. That's a b ig issue.
We are coming home with this feeling. We know
what we a re like now. We wonder if you have
changed.
Las t nigh t a guy ca me through he re, a kid who
got out of Ohio State in '40, a nd ou t of Guadalcana l
in '44. H e got a furl ough (Continued on I JujJf' 16)
~
I LL U S T
n. A T I ON
1-1 Y
J A ~I E S
34
R.
n I ~ C H A .\1
WE DON'T NEED
TO HATE
(Cofltifluecl front I'u ge 34)
back to the States, like almost a U pilots,
to see the wife he lived with a few short
months, and the son h e had n ever seen.
He is back.here, going down und er again,
and he would rather not do it. But h e
must and he will.
We asked him how if was back t here:
the clothing in the closet, the cha ir, the
worn, comfortable shoes . W e asked him
if there was just enough space to p ass
between the side board a nd t he table,
there in the dining room ; if yo u t urn
just so, can you pass to the ki tc hen ?
He said , "Yes, yes, it is still like tha t."
You have passed t hese r emember ed
things of our lives so m a ny ti mes, so
many d ays, so many h ours that t hey
may ' not mean so much to you , wi t h o u t
us there. We can und erstand t hat . B u t
one day we will be coming h ome. W e
will take the brown hat from the wardrobe and put it on our head. It will seem
strange after a steel h elmet, stra nge a nd
known and welcomed , a nd we will go
through the dining roo m a nd pass by t he
chair and shove the kitche n d oor open
and say, "Darling, le t 's ta ke a wa lk.
Let's go out and see the tow n. "
Listen when we say that! Liste n, beloved, for we have learned.
We have come to know our tow ns a nd
our country and our people. W e have
learned most about t h e m in lone ly , hom esick hours in alien pIa s. Th t hings we
have sacrificed during war have ava il d us
a great deal. W e will never thank a ny o ne
for causing us to wa r , bu t we didn 't know
the quality of our co untry until we w re
out of it.
We will be bac k som etime . W
o uld
throw ourselves on the earth o f Ame ri 'a,
onto her soil, trying to hu g h r. The way
we are going to hug yo u , with th
knowledge that it will never b
no ug h ,
that never in our li ves will our a rms b
strong enough a nd grea t no ug h to express what is in our minds a nd o ur h arts .
Yes, we are corning h ome, a nd this is
the love, human and pl e ntiful , that w
bring you . This is what we have b en
writing you about. omething is coming
with us, something that will fit asily
into the blue suit with the pin .' trip a nd
the white s hirt- the s hirt wilJ be ·loose
around the nec k, but we will cat'h up
with it -something t hat will fit pndily
into the good feeling of be ing at hom ;
but whe n we go out the d oo r we wa nt
100 POUNDS OF
jffjlfA /?f!-'~
EQUALS BOXES FOR
1150 20-MM. SHELLS
something else to fit, too. And before it
fi ts it will have to co n ta in tolera nce a nd
ch ar ity an d k indness, h on esty a nd , darling, a n odd word for us, n obili ty. These
qualities we have ga ined.
To u s, n obili ty always m ea n t some
lord or la dy, somebody in a book we borr owed at t he dru gstor e. It isn't like t h at
at ali. Nobility i a guy s itt ing alon e in
his foxhole, scared a nd worried a nd
homesic k a nd r eady to fig h t. H e's s itting there a lone with his head n oddi ng
d ow n between his knees a nd his ha nds
stiff with dirt a nd wea rin ess a nd he
th inks to himself, I hope they're all right.
I hope they're feeling good. 0 God, talle
care of them.
That's better than bing a lord.
N obili ty is the guy who sees it coming. H e's Jimmy - -, t he tail gu nn er
in th e B-24 we called t he Happy H a r py.
H e s es it coming and he knows t h jig
is up for him . And h 'says, lo ud a nd
quick, so t hat his throat vib rates aga inst
the two liWe disk a nd we a ll hear it in
the in te rcom, "Guys, tak good care f
America. Inver met h r socia lly, but
sh e's a wo nd erful gir l. "
And t he nurse. W e call ed h er D a nie.
S he nev r to ld us he r nam , but when
we cam in, dirty a nd b loody, with our
beard s a nd o ur hun g r a nd pa in a nd
lo neliness, s h washed us a nd w
aid,
t h way we did wh n w w re kid s gett ing scru bb 'd, "H y, you' re too r oug h .
You'll kill a g uy!" But w we re th inking
how good And rea l a nd s lfless s he was to
orne o u t h rand liv in th fi ld with
us a nd h lp us. W th ught t hat wh n
we got pat h d up a nd w 1\ w would
build a ni
la trin for h r so s h
uld
li v lik a lady . W th oug ht a bout that
wh n s h was h ·d t he blood from o ur
fa s, but a ll sh sa id was, 'All right,
don't blow your top, bub, ther 's a
war n!"
That's b tter than bing a lad y .
Thes fire t he th ings t.hat w ait in o ur
mind wh e n we t hink of coming horn .
Am ri a is bigg r t.han w t houg h t, a nd
we h Ave m Ad o ur. Iv s bigge r . Things
that u. d to fit will hay t b nl a rg d .
You ' lJ und e rstand whe n yo u s us.