I am not surprised to see the topic of was expressed in poetry.
War brings about many different feelings in people.
One way of expressing this can be in poetry. The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner to me is one way Randell Jarrell used to release his feeling about war and Ball Turret Gunners. Randell Jarrell may have known a Ball Turret Gunner or been related to one and this is his way of expressing the feeling of sympathy and grief he felt for them. The attitude projected about war in this poem to me expressed that often during war, is there truely a winner. Usually in war people die, lots of people die.