Art, blogs bare souls of yet another fighting generation - USA Today

Fri May 27, 9:23 AM ET

A century and a half ago, in Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman captured the poignant range of soldiers' experiences and emotions in the Civil War. In one unforgettable poem, a warrior feels alienated from victory as his captain "lies fallen cold and dead."

This Memorial Day, as Americans remember the dead in all wars, Whitman's poetry is both a touchstone and reminder that for all the changing technology, from muskets to heat-seeking missiles, each war weaves a similarly complex web of impact on soldiers, families and communities. And, by extension, on the nation.

In most wars, it takes time for the country to digest and comprehend that full impact. Creative evocations of the war experience - such as Ernest Hemingway's World War I novel A Farewell to Arms, the World War II movie Saving Private Ryan, or Jarhead, Anthony Swofford's memoir from the first Iraq war - usually take years or decades to emerge.

Rest of the story