Marine Corps Association & Foundation

By Callie Oettinger | Published: January 23, 2012

They were “just boys” or “babies” or “young.” Often in war stories, it is the men who are at battle, but the boys who go to war. Those deciding and those fighting are men and boys, as are those leaving and those returning home.

By Callie Oettinger | Published: February 6, 2012

It was 1961 and Dwight Eisenhower was still going back to that game in 1912—West Point v. Carlisle.

West Point and Carlisle were winning teams. One featured two future generals—Eisenhower and Omar Bradley—and the other featured all-around athlete and gold-medal-winning Olympian Jim Thorpe and the now-legendary Coach Pop Warner.

ByCallie Oettinger | Published: December 19, 2011

They tried to sift out the best from the mass of existing manuscripts, and to guide the reading of the people; they made lists of “best books,” the “four heroic poets,” the “nine historians,” the “ten lyric poets” the “ten orators,” etc.

Every time I open Will Durant’s The Life of Greece, a smile yanks at the corners of my lips.

I know he doesn’t bore me to sleep.

I know I’m in love with the way he shares history.

And yet. . .

By Callie Oettinger | Published: December 5, 2011

When asked why he battled, Audie Murphy replied, “They were killing my friends.”

Throughout history, as seen in fiction and non-fiction writing, the reasons for fighting are often much simpler than the wars being fought. Country, family, friends, self-preservation are often the reasons.

The following are excerpts from different books and papers, on why different people/groups have fought through the years.