Le mémorial des forces armées à Norfolk en Virginie a eu la bonne idée – au lieu de célébrer l’héroïsme ou les hauts faits du passé – de rassembler quelques lettres à leurs proches de simples soldats qui allaient mourir, quelques jours, quelques semaines ou quelques mois après, dans les diverses guerres du pays. La lecture est poignante et les dates ne font que rappeler la litanie des conflits : guerre d’Indépendance, guerre de 1812, guerre de Sécession, Première Guerre mondiale, Deuxième, guerre de Corée, guerre du Vietnam, première guerre du Golfe.
1776, 1777
« I begin to think that mankind when engaged in warfare are as wary and timorous of each other as deer are of men. »
« We lie in four miles of the Hessian lines, and we see them every other day. »
1813
« If there is any fighting to be done we are the men that bring it on, we riflemen… »
1861, 1862, 1863, 1864
« Sarah, my love for you is deathless. »
« … and burst on the opposite side without appearing to have met with any more resistance than if the tree had been a pillar of smoke… War looks a great deal better in the newspapers, than anywhere else… »
« The bullets fairly rained around us; when I got there the poor fellows were falling around me, with pitiful groans. … God has protected me through this, my first fiery, leaden trial… »
« You must not make yourself uneasy about me. I will take care of myself. »
« … If I live to get out of the army… »
1918
« … My girl, my girl, how I do miss you. I didn’t think it possible for one to be possessed of the longing I have for you. At night I lie awake and think and think of you, the roar of the big guns giving way before the press of mental pictures of you… »
1943, 1944
« »Well, Bob, you are in a heck of a fix. What are you doing here? » »
« The wind is on a mad rampage and its main objective seems to be to lift the tent. … They are brought in bloody, dirty with the earth, mud, and grime, and most of them so tired. Somebody’s brothers, somebody’s fathers, and somebody’s sons… »
1952
« The terrible weapons that I have seen and handled, and the thought of what they could do to a man… »
1966, 1968, 1970
« So we were receiving murderous fire from both sides… We ended up with one seriously wounded by our own fire, and the other one we’re not sure who got him. … I carry all your letters in the top of my helmet. »
« When we meet again I can promise you that there will be no wasted moments. »
« Nobody rips the ground around you with an automatic weapon, shrapnel doesn’t buzz or bullets crack past your ears, you’ve never hid twenty feet from people wanting to kill you or had jets lay napalm a hundred yards away from you. … You people can’t really understand – and I sincerely hope you never can. »
1991
« The army is not the life for me, you can bet your bottom dollar on that one too… »
Un rappel utile pour tous ceux des générations d’après-guerre qui ont eu la chance de ne connaître aucune guerre, de vivre dans des pays en paix. Comme le dit très bien Renaud dans une de ses chansons, J’ai cent ans :
J’souhaite pas aux p’tits jeunes une bonne guerre
Vu qu’moi j’en ai pas eu, à part Mai 68
Mais j’me rappelle même plus en quelle année c’était
Ni qui c’est qu’avait gagné
Étiquettes : Armed forces memorial Norfolk, Civil War, Guerre d'Indépendance, Guerre de 1812, Guerre de Corée, Guerre de Sécession, Guerre du Golfe, Guerre du Vietnam, Guerres, Guerres mondiales, J'ai cent ans, Norfolk VA, Renaud
Le journal de Joli Rêve 
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