Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust

A soldier will fight long and hard for a bit of colored ribbon.
~Napoleon

And so I saw the heart a young soldier ungracefully receive his prize for his service; A wasteful mix of lead and copper, crafted to kill, almost gleeful at fulfilling its purpose.

War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
~Bertrand Russell

And he was left to ponder all that was unfinished in his life...

So he pondered while he could, his lips hitting the dirt, gazing as the blood from his own withered cough united with the dust that would bear witness to the final 15 seconds of a young man's life.

Older men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die.
~Herbert Hoover