Paul Fussell is a well known anti-war leftist. He is no more the voice of WWII infantrymen than Elton John would be. Just because he served doesn’t mean that his distorted view of what happened has to be accepted.
The one good thing that Fussell has done in his miserable life is to collect and publish war poetry, primarily from WWI. Beyond that I have no use for him and his opinion. I suspect that he was a pretty poor platoon leader.
So what if he is, “a well known antiwar leftist?” In this documentary I don’t recall anybody asking him what he thought of Iraq. If I remember correctly he described his arrival on the line and viewing the dead bodies of Germans killed the previous day by the unit that he had replaced. He graphically described the wounds on two boys apparently around 14 years old and his realization that he was in a serious business. Like a lot of others he was profoundly affected by his wartime experiences.
I got no sense of his views on this war, or any war. I don’t know the political party of the majority of the men included in the film. I don’t think they tried to achieve parity in featuring 50/50 Republicans and Democrats.
“I suspect that he was a pretty poor platoon leader.”
Well, from what I can tell he wasn’t Audie Murphy. He lasted 4 months. If he was a complete idiot he would have either gotten relieved or killed. According to his bio:
“Fussell served as a second lieutenant in France for four months. Leading his rifle platoon in an attack on an Alsace town in March 1945, he was on the roof of a bunker when it was hit by a shell. With pieces of metal in his back and leg - Fussell receives a 40% army pension - he was patched up and sent to hospital. Earlier that day he had been rebuked for hesitating, and still believes he would have taken cover had he not been trying to prove his bravery. When his companions were killed, he felt he was responsible, and The Great War is dedicated “To the memory of Technical Sergeant Edward Keith Hudson”.”