No Glory Do Soldiers Dream Of Charging Into Battle To Use Their Deadly Skills? No, Says This Veteran Of The Gulf War; They Hope Never To Fight

Perhaps I should have known better, but when I heard he was an Army commander, I pictured a stern father-figure.

Not quite. Edward Nugent is 33, boyish, deferential. Pleasure to meet you, he said, come in - would you like coffee? Anything?

I also expected a plush office. Don’t commanders get those? I should have known better about that, too. Nugent works in a small room with fake wood paneling in a storefront across from City Hall in East Providence, R.I.

I came to see him about a news story out of Pawtucket. The military has four big trucks with multimedia displays it sends around the country, mostly to schools. They are called Army Adventure Vans. One is in Rhode Island this week and was due to make four stops, but its first, at Shea High School, was canceled by the principal.

He did so after a woman gave him a leaflet from a group called the Central Committee for Conscientious Objectors condemning the Adventure Van. Among other things, she said, its computerized rifle-practice simulator sanitized the impact of bullets because the printouts of the target - a human silhouette - were bloodless.

The leaflet also said other groups should get equal time to give their version of the military.

The principal of Shea decided to just cancel the van. “To me,” he explained, “it was just a lose-lose situation.”

Captain Nugent has spent two years as commander of the state’s recruiting operations.

Before that?

“Spent four years in Germany,” he said, “about the time the Wall came down.”

He reached for something behind him and showed me a small chunk of concrete.

“There’s a piece of it.”

Where did they send him after Germany?

“The gulf.”

You mean the war?

“Yes sir.”

How long was he there?

“Two-hundred thirty-seven days - not that I was counting or anything.”

He served most of that time in a 50-man tent with sand floor. “Hot shower once a week. Whether you needed it or not.”

There are over a dozen military certificates on the wall, but none from the Gulf.

I asked why not - don’t soldiers like to flaunt combat credentials?

He mentioned the saying about there being no atheists in foxholes, and added: “There aren’t many Rambos, either.”

I thought soldiers dreamed of battle.

“No, you hope it never happens.”

Come on.

“We know there’s no glory in combat,” said Nugent. “Dead is dead, whether you’re on our side or their side. When you’re dead you leave grieving families, shattered lives. There’s no glory in war.”

But aren’t soldiers primarily trained for combat?

“I would much rather stay in Rhode Island than go back to fight in Iraq, but our job is to go where the president and the Congress decide they want us, knowing we might get shot at.” There have been times in history when American soldiers weren’t well prepared, he said. It’s important to learn from that.

But once you’re there, I asked, in combat, don’t you take on a warmonger mindset?

“We didn’t hate the Iraqis,” said Nugent. “You don’t really hate your enemies. You want them to stop doing what they’re doing. As soon as they throw down their arms, you treat them with dignity.”

His proudest memory of Iraq, he said, is not of victory alone, but the way the Americans treated Iraqi prisoners.

“They had been told we would shoot them, torture them.” Instead: “We gave them food and water, medical treatment, blankets, and freed them.”

That, he feels, reflected not just the American soldier, but the country’s character. Above all, there is respect for rights.

All right, I said - then what about what happened in Pawtucket? Was Nugent mad at the protester?

“Not at all. She is entitled to her feelings and her opinions. People in the military took an oath to defend the Constitution - not just for people who agree with us, but for everyone.”

Except he himself didn’t get free speech at Shea. So how does he feel about the principal’s decision to cancel?

Nugent said he respected the principal’s right to make the best call for his school. But speaking personally, as one who has been in places with no freedom, Nugent said, communities that welcome debates are healthier than those who run from them.

And students who hear from all sides are better prepared than those who are shielded.

Before I left, I asked how he got that piece of the Berlin Wall.

“Just a regular old hammer.”

During the eight years since, he has kept it in sight wherever he’s worked.

Often, he will pick it up just for a moment to hold, and look at.

It helps remind him of why he does this work.