Part 22

The ten of them were more or less motionlessly seated as Dagogo worked on the boat’s engines. Soldier Gani continued his colloquy.

‘’In those days, there was no such thing as the brave and cowardly soldier. If one survived the terse heat of the killing fields one was considered brave. If one died on the battlefield, chances are that one was considered cowardly.’’

‘’As often as I thought about it, I drew the opinion that bravery was not necessarily earned on the battlefield. It was stumbled upon. I pondered that one could, by some providence, live through one battle to yet another, with some impulsive survival intuition. This is what I reckon would make for a brave soldier. I recognized that with a hard working attitude and a lot of spunk, one could survive a whole lot, in the battlefield. Surviving is the key for a military man. Winning a war is not even as important as this.’’