Alive Like You’ve Never Felt Alive

War is like mountain climbing or some other extreme sport – it gives you a high. It’s like big game hunting, but it’s the most exciting big game hunting of all because it’s man-hunting.

On the other hand, I must admit that sometimes there’s so much fear that you reach a crescendo of terror. I was so frightened sometimes, so frightened. I really never thought I was going to get out of this alive. But when it was all over, and I was alive and unhurt – like the time I had a bullet in my canteen – the release of fear gives you a rush, a high of just being alive. You’re alive like you’ve never felt alive before. It’s not something that’s pleasurable in a sensual sense. It’s pleasurable in the sense of sheer animal survival. It’s your primary brain, your reptilian brain. It’s very low and primal.