How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #10
In it the boy told of the burning of Columbia, of how the soldiers laughed as a great wind fanned the flames, of the loot carried off, of mirrors and pianos smashed, and of intimate family treasures scattered to the winds by men who seemed to have gone mad.
Ed Turner's hands trembled as he returned the letter to its envelop.
"What is this goin' to do to an eighteen-year-old boy, Matt? Kin a lad come through weeks of this kind of actions without becomin' a hardened man? Is human life goin' to be forever cheap to him and decency somethin' to mock at?" (12.22-24)
Ed Turner has some very legitimate concerns, especially since war has proven to have some extreme effect on soldiers. And what Ed describes is more than just shooting at the enemy—this type of action is barbaric and not reminiscent of what we expect war to be.
Quote #11
"Don't expect peace to be a perfect pearl, Jeth," Ross Milton had warned. "This is a land lying in destruction, physical and spiritual. If the twisted railroads and the burned cities and the fields covered with the bones of dead men—if that were all, we could soon rise out of the destruction. But the hate that burns in old scars, and the thirst for revenge that has distorted men until they should be in straightjackets rather than in high office—these are the things that may make peace a sorry thing…" (12.44)
So technically this one isn't about warfare, but Ross Milton has some insightful things to say about life after war. From his perspective, peace is not something that just magically pops up once war is declared over. And just like Shad, Ross Milton alludes to politicians being distorted and worthy of being thrown in to the loony bin.