‘I grew up with little knowledge about [my father’s] life or experiences as an ambulance driver for the American Medical Bureau in the Spanish Civil War’

Recalling the Spanish Civil War
[Re. “For Whom the Ambulance Rolls,” by James Neugass, Feb/Mar:] Thank you for publishing excerpts from my father’s book, War Is Beautiful. In 1949 he died of a heart attack when I was 18 months old. I grew up with little knowledge about his life or experiences as an ambulance driver for the American Medical Bureau in the Spanish Civil War.

For more than 60 years the unpublished manuscript gathered dust in a writer’s attic in Vermont and the rare book collection of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2007 the Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, in New York, expressed their desire to publish his manuscript. The book represents a major find because of my father’s poetic and narrative gifts and the historical perspective of horrific events in this war. War is not beautiful, and his title symbolizes the contrast between the horrors of war and the beauty, idealism and camaraderie that motivated those who volunteered in Spain.

Reviewers have hailed the book as an important addition to Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls and Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia. His story has brought new meaning to my life and will preserve his legacy for future generations.

Jim Neugass
Matthews, N.C.

As a Puerto Rican who had relatives fighting on both sides of the 1936–1939 war, it vexes me that, 70 years after the end of that war, you are still so willing to take at face value the propaganda line of communists who betrayed the Republic. Whoever says the communists fought for the liberty and the democracy of Spain is at best very foolish, at worst a dissembler and a deceiver.

The 1936–1939 war was strictly a Spanish affair, in the same way the 1861–1865 war was strictly an American affair. Foreigners such as Neugass were nothing but intruders meddling in affairs that were no concern of them.

In this 70th anniversary of the end of the war, you have the obligation to do better.

Juan Jose Morales
Tampa, Fla.

Whole Nine Yards
Jon Guttman’s article [Power Tool, Feb/Mar] on the M2 .50-caliber machine gun is excellent, and, as usual, I learned a few things, which happens each time I pick up the magazine. It continues to be an excellent source of my own professional military continuing education.

Given the number of Scots in my family, I would be remiss (or worse) if I did not mention this: Guttman states that when the M2 was used in fighter aircraft, the ammunition belts normally totaled 27 feet worth of linked ammo, which reportedly gave rise to the phrase “give it the whole nine yards.”

Based on what I have been told the past number of years, that phrase rises from another use—the length of tartan used for a kilt. Although many kilts could be made with eight yards of material, it was always thought wise to use nine yards, as the kilt could also double as a covering or blanket at night. While I would never want to say either is absolutely correct or incorrect, I did want to step up to the plate.

Brig. Gen. William D.R. Waff
U.S. Army Reserve
Deputy Commanding General
U.S. Army Human
Resources Command
Alexandria, Va.
St. Louis, Mo.

Editor responds: Thanks for sharing your Celtic twist on “the whole nine yards.” We couched our definition with “reportedly,” as no one can agree on the origin of the phrase, which has been attributed to yards of fabric and ammunition, sailing ship yardarms, even the Montagnard hill tribes of Vietnam.

Terrain vs. Brain
Re. David T. Zabecki’s article “Why Terrain Matters” [Nov/Dec]: He is right—terrain is the one constant in warfare. But he misses how important the relationship is among terrain, technology and the human mind.

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