I was surprised how open and unguarded the military was. I expected more scrutiny, more supervision from command. Sebastian Junger More Quotes by Sebastian Junger More Quotes From Sebastian Junger I think human society for tens of thousands of years has sent young men out in small groups to do things that are necessary but very dangerous. And they've always gotten killed doing it. And they've always turned it into a matter of honor and a way of gaining acceptance back into society if they survived. Sebastian Junger acceptance men thinking I have been working since I was 20, and I'm 38. I actually once averaged out what I had made over my professional life. I think I could have made that much as a waiter or an insurance salesman. You know, I spent so many years in my 20's making $10,000 a year. Sebastian Junger made years thinking The army consists of the first infantry division and eight million replacements. Sebastian Junger infantry-division eight army I'm a good liberal, and I grew up in a very liberal family and had very strongly held beliefs. Sebastian Junger grew grew-up belief I had grown up during Vietnam. I had no connections to the U.S. military, and I had a pretty cynical default opinion about the U.S. military. Sebastian Junger cynical connections military I hope I get married one day. Sebastian Junger married one-day The attacks of 9/11 came out of Afghanistan. It was a failed state, a rogue nation. That's why al Qaeda was there in the first place. Sebastian Junger als rogues firsts Here's an easy way to see if a war movie is being truthful: If you see an explosion on a faraway hillside and the sound of the explosion and the detonation of the bomb happen at the same time - if they're putting the sound and the vision together in the same moment - they're going toward our cultural understanding of war, not the reality of war. Sebastian Junger understanding war reality When you're scared, you're still hanging on to life. When you're ready to die, you let it go. A sort of emptying out occurs, a giving up on the world that seems oddly familiar even if you've never done it before. Sebastian Junger let-it-go hanging-on giving-up If you shell a military base and happen to kill civilians, you have not committed a war crime; if you deliberately target cities and towns, you have. Sebastian Junger military cities war It's fun to have money, but the more money I get, the less interesting it becomes. If you don't have very much, you have to think about it. If you are starving, you become interested in food. If you are struggling to pay the bills, money becomes tragically important. Sebastian Junger struggle fun thinking I decided to start a medical training program for freelancers, only freelancers. They're the ones who are doing most of the combat reporting. They're taking most of the risks. They're absorbing most of the casualties. And they're the most underserved and under-resourced of everyone in the entire news business. Sebastian Junger training news risk How do men act on a sinking ship? Do they hold each other? Do they pass around the whisky? Do they cry? Sebastian Junger ships cry men Well, you got to remember, bin Laden killed 3,000 Americans and, in some ways, he and his ideology killed tens of thousands of his fellow Muslims, including Pakistanis. I understand that that was provocative and complicated for Pakistan, but only if you accept the idea that he was an acceptable member of Pakistani society. Sebastian Junger pakistan way ideas Traditional Albanian society was based on a clan system and was further divided into brotherhoods and bajraks. The bajrak system identified a local leader, called a bajrakar, who could be counted on to provide a certain number of men for military duty. Sebastian Junger military numbers men If you get an infection, you get a fever; the fever is your body dealing with the infection. If you get traumatized, your mind and your brain have a reaction to that trauma. If you're not dreaming about it, something's probably wrong. Sebastian Junger mind dream brain Who wants a life of ease? And who wants a life in the office that you hate, and who wants to play golf? Sebastian Junger hate play golf I went to Afghanistan in '96 to write about terrorist training camps south of Jalalabad and Tora Bora, in the mountains. I was there right before the Taliban took over, literally a few weeks before they took Kabul. The frontline wasn't terribly active, but it was definitely there. And they swept into power. Sebastian Junger mountain training writing My wife, Daniela, and I live in an old house from 1810 with three fireplaces at the end of a dead-end dirt road on Cape Cod, so I turn the trees into firewood for us and a friend of mine sells the rest. Sebastian Junger wife house tree No one will remember that President Obama supported the Arab Spring if it eventually fails and the region collapses back into the political Dark Ages. If we actively engage these movements with advice, with money, and, when necessary, with military force, then we get a vote in how it all turns out. Sebastian Junger military dark spring
