Overall Thoughts
This book was written by a well-decorated Marine who served in France during World War 1. It was published in 1933. Company K is interesting because it’s technically fiction, but it’s based on the author’s true experiences in war. In other words, there was no “Company K”, and the men outlined in the book weren’t actually real (at least they don’t have the same names). The author didn’t start out writing the book with the intent of having it be fiction, but in the end he decided to because he wanted to highlight how war is for anyone.
Here’s a direct quote from March describing his intentions.
“This book started out to be a record of my own company, but I do not want it to be that, now. I want it to be a record of every company in every army. If its cast and its overtones are American, that is only because the American scene is the one that I know. With different names and different settings, the men of whom I have written could, as easily, be French, German, English, or Russian for that matter.”
Impactful Quotes
“I didn’t know, as a matter of fact, I just guessed right; that’s all: So I was an intelligent hero, and got the Navy Cross. If I’d been wrong, and there’d been nothing under the crate, I would have been a dumb bastard, a disgrace to the outfit, and, like as not, would have thrown into the brig.”
It’s interesting how much luck is involved with things like war. Sometimes we think we take risks at our jobs, but in reality we don’t face consequences like death. We can’t compare to these scenarios.
“If the common soldiers of each army could just get together by a river bank and talk things over calmly, no war could possibly last as long as a week.”
This quote came from a story that involved the Americans and French fighting all day, and ironically ending up setting up camp across from each (over a river) without knowing it. In the morning they noticed they were across from each other, but instead of killing each other they ended up going about their morning peacefully.
“‘No,’ I said… ‘I’m totally blind.’ Then a feeling of relief came over me. I felt happier than I had in months. ‘The war is over for me,’ I said.”
Many men were happy to get injured enough to go home. Think about how terrible war must be for this to be true.
“‘I’ll never know how the war comes out,’ I thought. ‘I’ll never know, now, whether the Germans win or not.'”
This quote comes from a story when an American soldier knows he’s dying on the battlefield. This is the thought that comes to his mind. Essentially he’s thinking, “Is this going to be worth it?”
“If the common soldiers of each army could just get together by a river bank and talk things over calmly, no war could possibly last as long as a week.”
You can buy “Company K” at this link – “Company K”.