Some things I've learned from this project I've never learned in countless books:
- It was extremely common for kids to lie about their age to enlist, much more than talked about.
- Taking prisoners was much less common than talked about, even with the Allies.
- The Japanese had a viral habit in which they threw babies in the air to stab them. It comes up in stories all over the Pacific.
- Patton was hilarious
The overall impression is like the film Come and See. These stories show how dark war is. If everyone read all of these stories nobody would have an appetite for war anymore. Even the countless veteran memoirs I've read don't convey this as well as all of these anecdotes do, that war is hell.