cut himself off from you? Has the war opened a chasm between sons and parents, a chasm too wide to bridge?
Yes. Your son is no longer that nice, smiling boy, who put on a uni-form and joked about the experiences in the training camp. He has been in combat. He has seen dead and wounded comrades, he has met fear and learned to overcome it. And he has felt that terrible loneliness which comes when you are on your own in a trench under fire.
He tells you nothing about this, to save your feelings. He can’t tell you about this enigmatic life and cruel death, because you belong to another world.
But, parents, on those days of battle your son was also very close. When he set off on an operation in the dead of night, he knew that you were lying sleepless in your beds and worrying about him. And his concern was with you - his parents.
You complain that he wrote so little. Wasn’t that cruel of him? But what could he write? These empty words "I am fine... I look forward to seeing you again soon"? In his position those were empty, mean-ingless, pathetic words. Sometimes he made a ridiculous attempt to deceive you. Said he wasn’t even at the front. That his unit was being held back in reserve. At the same time he knew that you wouldn’t believe a word of it.
And when it happened that a friend died next to him - how terri-ble was the thought of the parents sitting at home without any idea that their son existed no more. Even more horrifying was the thought that tomorrow the same could happen to his own parents.
So, dear parents - if your son comes back on leave, don’t make it too difficult for him. Don’t ask him any questions. Don’t expect any confessions from him. Know that there are things in his heart that cannot be said. Simply enjoy the simple, wonderful reality: Y-o-u-r - s-o-n - i-s - b-a-c-k.
A soldier in combat sees only the small part where he is. Even for us, in our jeeps, with our frequent activity along the whole front, we had almost no chance of comprehending the significance of our own experiences.
Only after many months did I get the chance to speak with the brigade commanders and get a high-level view of the fighting during the months of June and July 1948. And then, much too late, I was shocked by the