(2 of 2)
"It is curious how this feeling communicated itself. Except for the hard knot which is inside some men, courage is largely the desire to show other men that you have it. And so, in a large group, when a majority have somehow signaled to each other a willingness to quit acting, it is very hard indeed not to quit. The only way to avoid it is to be put to shame by a small group of men to whom this acting is life itself, and who refuse to quit; or by a naturally courageous man doing a brave deed. It was at this moment that Charles Alfred Rigaud, the boy with tired circles under his eyes, showed himself to be a good officer and grown man. Despite snipers all around us, despite the machine guns and the mortar fire, he stood right up on his feet and shouted out: 'Who in Christ's name gave that order?'"
Hersey was curious to know what these tired, hungry, hard-worked Marines thought about war. "They did not want that valley or any part of its jungle" and yet they willingly went down into it. So he asked what they were fighting for. "They did not answer for what seemed a very long time. Then one of them spoke . . . and for a second I thought he was changing the subject or making fun of me, but ... he was answering my question very specifically. He whispered: 'Jesus, what I'd give for a piece of blueberry pie.' . . . Here pie was their symbol of home."