“A word of Command has made these silent figures our enemies; a word of command might transform them into our friends. At some table some document is signed by some persons whom none of us knows, and then for years together that very crime on which formerly the world’s condemnation and severest penalty fall, becomes our highest aim. But who can draw such a distinction when he looks at those quiet men with their childlike faces and apostle’ like beards. A non-commissioned officer is more an enemy to a recruit, any schoolmaster to a pupil, than they are to us. And yet we would shoot at them again and they at us if they were free” (Remarque, 193-4)

Belleau Wood: Garth Brooks

“Oh the snow flakes fell in silence
Over Belleau Wood that night
For a Christmas truce had been declared
By both sides of the fight
As we laid there in our trenches
The silence broke in two
By a German soldier singing
A song that we all knew

Though I did not know the language
The song was Silent Night
Then I heard my buddy whisper
"All is calm, all is bright"
Then the fear and doubt surrounded me
Cause I'd die if I was wrong
But I stood up in my trench
And I began to sing along

Then across the frozen battlefield
Another's voice joined in
Until one by one each man became
A singer of the hymn

Then I thought I was dreaming
For right there in my sight
Stood the German soldier
Neath the falling flakes of white
And he raised his hand and smiled at me
As if seemed to say
Here's hoping we both live to see
Us find a better way

Then the devils clock struck midnight
And the skies lit up again
And the battlefield where heaven stood
Was blown to hell again

But for just one fleeting moment
The answer seemed so clear
Heaven's not beyond the clouds
Its just beyond the fear

No heaven's not beyond the clouds
It's for us to find here”