:38:00
The rest of us, of course, will be left...
:38:03
with the job of bandaging the wounded
and burying the dead.
:38:06
I don't trust people who make bitter
reflections about war, Mrs. Barham.
:38:10
It's the generals
with the bloodiest records...
:38:12
who are the first to shout what a hell it is.
:38:14
It's always the war widows
who lead the Memorial Day parades.
:38:18
That was unkind, Charlie, and very rude.
:38:21
We shall never end wars, Mrs. Barham,
by blaming it on ministers and generals...
:38:25
or warmongering imperialists
or all the other banal bogeys.
:38:28
It's the rest of us who build statues
to those generals...
:38:31
and name boulevards
after those ministers.
:38:33
The rest of us who make heroes
of our dead...
:38:35
and shrines of our battlefields.
:38:38
We wear our widow's weeds
like nuns, Mrs. Barham...
:38:41
and perpetuate war
by exalting its sacrifices.
:38:45
My brother died at Anzio.
:38:47
I didn't know that, Charlie.
:38:50
Yes. An everyday soldier's death,
no special heroism involved.
:38:54
They buried what pieces
they found of him.
:38:56
But my mother insists he died a brave
death and pretends to be very proud.
:39:01
You're very hard on your mother.
:39:03
It seems a harmless enough pretense
to me.
:39:05
No, Mrs. Barham.
:39:07
No. You see, now my other brother
can't wait to reach enlistment age.
:39:11
- That'll be in September.
- Lord.
:39:14
Maybe ministers and generals
blunder us into war, Mrs. Barham...
:39:17
the least the rest of us can do is
to resist honoring the institution.
:39:22
What has my mother got
for pretending bravery was admirable?
:39:25
She's under constant sedation...
:39:27
and terrified she may
wake up one morning...
:39:29
and find her last son
has run off to be brave.
:39:34
I don't think I was rude or unkind before.
Do you, Mrs. Barham?
:39:43
No.
:39:47
You better push off, Emily,
if you've got to get to work.
:39:54
Give my best to Father, then.
:39:55
Your father died in the blitz...
:39:57
and your brother died a brave
and pointless death in December 1940.