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War, as the saying goes, is hell.
But it’s an incredibly complex and paradoxical form of hell for those soldiers who have experienced it firsthand—and war correspondent/authorSebastian Jungeris convinced that the more civilians who understand this the better.
“We like to think of war as an aberration—but there’s scarcely been a time or a culture when humankind has not been at war. It’s universal,” says Junger, author ofThe Perfect Stormand director of the Academy Award-nominated documentaryRestrepo. “When we talk about war, we are talking about what it means to be human.”
Junger pairs up with Vietnam War veteran and authorKarl Marlantes—along with a handful of veterans—to explore how being in combat forever changed their lives in the 60-minute PBS documentaryGoing To Warthat airs on Memorial Day (May 28) at 9 p.m. ET.
Courtesy of Laura Snow
Junger got a ringside seat to the terror and exhilaration of war from his years spent covering conflicts around the world forVanity Fairand other publications. What Junger learned—and what he and Marlantes explore inGoing To War—is that combat provides a sense of “purpose” that is lacking in everyday civilian life.
“It shapes you,” Junger tells PEOPLE. “And I felt it really had to be explained in terms of purpose. In modern society, you don’t really get to experience this sense of purpose (that you get in combat) with 20 or 30 other people upon whom your life depends. You only get that in war. It’s a profoundly human and ancient experience.”
Yet in recent years, only a small percentage—Junger estimates the figure is around 10 percent—of military personnel ever experience combat and the horror, pain and grief that comes with it.
“There was a huge amount of combat and a lot of deprivation,” he says. “But as harsh as it was out there, I was surprised to find out that a lot of those guys didn’t want to go back home. They wanted to back into the war. They wanted to go back to the outpost. And I felt that really had to be explained.”
source: people.com
