Testament of youth/Vera Brittain

Word Count: 278

Parker Greene

Testament of Youth, Vera Brittain

"One day I remembered how Edward had told me that Geoffrey's last letter, written two days before he was killed at Monchy-le-Preux, had ended with the words: 'Till we meet again, Here or in the Hereafter.' Had they met now in the hereafter, I wondered?" (pg. 86)

Testament of Youth is meant to be a first hand look at what it was like being a war nurse during WWI. Vera Brittain gave her perspective on the difficult time of being a war nurse, having to hear stories and see firsthand just how brutal war is. Vera made some friends while she was treating patients and got to know these people, before they could be redeployed. Brittain obviously went through some very tough times, along with countless others. I enjoyed being able to read her words first hand about the sad stories of fallen soldiers. I think was an interesting story to read; I feel as though I am left with many unanswered questions. The content within the story was very dark and frightening. I can hardly imagine what this time was like for women and men both. I am left wondering how many other women have similar stories to Vera Brittain. It is important to make these stories known in modern times. History is an interesting thing; we think we know what happened, but how much do we really know? This excerpt from WW1 is an example of first hand knowledge during these times. I enjoyed reading this story because historical events are interesting to me. However, this reading was certainly the most puzzling of the stories in this book so far.