St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1941-02-14
THE
MILE-POST
By Samuel A. Reed
Johnny Got His Cum

With war hysteria rising in TIT
United States by the hour, it wOult
be well to for all of US to pause
ever so often to collect 0ul
thoughts and to think more seri
Ously and sensibly about what i
happening in the world and where
this panic is leading us.
It is so very easy to be swept
along with the mob. We approve
of the sending of war materials to
belligerents, then guns, then
money, then men. From the first
step to the last step is a breath
taking jump; but when one step
is followed by another, no single
step seems too rash or difficult to
accept.
And even if we do see where all
this is leading, we can satisfy our
conscience by convincing ourselves
that we must keep democracy alive
in the world by protecting our
selves from foreign barbarians.
But always, unfortunately, there
is the possibility that our foolish,
empty thoughts and slogans might
send thousands of fine, strong,
young men to their death.
All these things call to mind a
book which F read very recently.
It is called Johnny Got His Gun,
and was written by Dalton Trumbo,
a young American.
Trumbo expresses through John
ny, the main character in the story,
some queer yet strangely sensible
ideas.
Johnny Got His Gun" is a story
of a typical American boy who
leaves home, parents, and charm
ing sweetheart to enter the last
World War, to fight for his coun-
try, to beat back the Huns, to keep
the world safe for democracy.
AS the troop train pulls out of
his home town station, Johnny
hears, above the tumult of shout
ing, gOOd-byes, and sObs, the tear
full cry of his sweetheart asking
him, Johnny, have you got your
gum"
Months pass
Johnny awakes one day in a hos
pital in France. The war is over,
but Johnny's battles have only be-
gun. -
You see, Johnny got his gun!
and more besides that he hadn't
figured on.
In the most pathetic, almost sick
ening, unfolding Johnny discovers
in shocking sequence that he is
minus arms, legs, sight, and face.
Only his mind is alive to connect
the past, present, and future with
the mangled stump that is his
body.
The mental torture he suffers al
most drives him insane. But his
wrecked body and his sensitive
mind give him an unusual outlook
on life.
He is so near to both life and
death that he sees everything
through the eyes Of a man who
must live the rest of his days in
the shadows of the dead. Before
him he sees things worthless
dwarfed by things worthwhile, and
out of all the tumble he builds a
picture of what life really means,
to him.
Johnny concludes that death, be
it for an ideal or a cause, can never
even partially substitute for the
thrill of living. Living so near to
death, he is convinced that to hear
the pleasant voices of loved ones,
to see life moving about him, to
walk through the woods in sum.
mertime and to touch the green
leaves of the trees are the most
important things in ones whole
life; and that nothing is so utterly
senseless as to die today in de-
tense of a principle that will
change tomorrow.
The author leaves one with the
thought that human beings are a
pretty brainless lot who haven't
yet come to see the folly Of war
and killing or the joy and infinite
pleasure of merely living.