At its core, perhaps, war is just another name

for death, and yet any soldier will tell you,

if he tells the truth, that proximity to death

brings with it a corresponding proximity to life.

—TIM O’BRIEN, The Things They Carried

Oh the army, the army, the democratic army,

All the Jews and Wops, the Dutch and Irish cops

They’re all in the army now.

—CORPORAL JOHN MULLIN, LYRICS TO

MARCHING SONG SUNG BY THE

77TH “MELTING POT” DIVISION