What happened next? I retain nothing from those terrible minutes except indistinct memories which flash into my mind with sudden brutality, like apparitions, among bursts and scenes and visions that are scarcely imaginable. It is difficult even to even to try to remember moments during which nothing is considered, foreseen, or understood, when there is nothing under a steel helmet but an astonishingly empty head and a pair of eyes which translate nothing more than would the eyes of an animal facing mortal danger. There is nothing but the rhythm of explosions, more or less distant, more or less violent, and the cries of madmen, to be classified later, according to the outcome of the battle, as the cries of heroes or of murderers. And there are the cries of the wounded, of the agonizingly dying, shrieking as they stare at a part of their body reduced to pulp, the cries of men touched by the shock of battle before everybody else, who run in any and every direction, howling like banshees. There are the tragic, unbelievable visions, which carry from one moment of nausea to another: guts splattered across the rubble and sprayed from one dying man to another; tightly riveted machines ripped like the belly of a cow which has just been sliced open, flaming and groaning; trees broken into tiny fragments; gaping windows pouring out torrents of billowing dust, dispersing into oblivion all that remains of a comfortable parlor.. Guy Sajer
About This Quote

In the heat of battle, in the midst of the chaos and confusion, we may not be able to remember what actually happened. We may not be able to recall who did what and when. All we know is that we were there at the time and we were involved in a terrible battle. The memories of these moments overwhelm us and we can't put them in order or make sense of them.

They simply flash into our minds like apparitions, unpredictable and violent. When such moments happen, it is difficult to try to explain what was going through your mind at the time when you were in such a state of confusion. Sometimes it's hard even to try to remember or even try to figure out why you reacted that way during such a chaotic and terrifying event.

Source: The Forgotten Soldier

Some Similar Quotes
  1. There was a clatter as the basilisk fangs cascaded out of Hermione's arms. Running at Ron, she flung them around his neck and kissed him full on the mouth. Ron threw away the fangs and broomstick he was holding and responded with such enthusiasm that... - J.k. Rowling
  2. They're in love. Fuck the war. - Thomas Pynchon
  3. If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: in love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are. - Kristin Hannah
  4. And when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful. - Ruskin Bond
  5. The words ‘I Love You’ kill, and resurrect millions, in less than a second. - Aberjhani
More Quotes By Guy Sajer
  1. Only happy people have nightmares, from overeating. For those who live a nightmare reality, sleep is a black hole, lost in time, like death.
  2. As I remember his laugh, there was nothing mad about it, it was more like the laugh of someone who has been the victim of a practical joke, a farce in which he had believed until suddenly he realized his folly.
  3. Then there was the war, and I married it because there was nothing else when I reached the age of falling in love.
  4. War always reaches the depths of horror because of idiots who perpetuate terror from generation to generation under the pretext of vengeance.
  5. No time to spare: the expression assumed its full significance, as so many expressions do in wartime.
Related Topics