I was seven--almost eight, bouncing on a knee, and if I'd known anything of war not played with flimsy, dull-edged cards around an old extendable kitchen table every two Sundays, I might have asked. I'll bet it changes people, war, I mean. Lead-tipped and trigger-operated death, strafing all those mothers' sons, mortars like small-town fireworks, and everything I've read about.