1. epigraph is a saying at the beginning of a book
2. not intended to be an accusation, confession or adventure
its like a witness account
not a complaint, or something to get off his chest or a fun story
3. author says the novel will show how war affected the soldiers who were very young
4. previous war novels glorified war and treated it like it was something fun
5. first hand account of a soldiers experience
this is similar to "the red badge of courage" by stephen crane about the civil war