that had been killed about two months into the deployment.  他在战地工作两个月后就牺牲了。

It was a few plywood B-huts  所谓的哨站就是几个胶合板搭建的兵舍。

clinging to a side of a ridge,  靠着山脊的一侧而建。

and sandbags, bunkers, gun positions,  还有沙袋、掩体和火力点。

and there were 20 men up there  那里总共有20个人。

of Second Platoon, Battle Company.  隶属战地连第二排。

I spent most of my time up there.  我在那儿度过了很长的时间。

There was no running water.  没有自来水。

There was no way to bathe.  没法洗澡。

The guys were up there for a month at a time.  士兵们在那儿一待就要待一个月。

They never even got out of their clothes.  从来没脱过衣服。

They fought. The worked.  不管是战斗、执行任务。

They slept in the same clothes.  还是睡觉，都穿着同样的衣服。

They never took them off, and at the end of the month,  他们从来不脱衣服，等到月底。

they went back down to the company headquarters,  他们被换下来回到大本营时。

and by then, their clothes were unwearable.  身上的衣服都不能穿了。

They burned them and got a new set.  他们就把衣服烧掉，再领一身新的。

There was no Internet. There was no phone.  那儿也没法上网，没有电话。

There was no communication with the outside world up there.  与外界完全失去联系。

There was no cooked food.  没有现做的食物。

There was nothing up there  没有任何。

that young men typically like:  年轻人可以喜欢的东西。。

no cars, no girls, no television, nothing except combat.  没车，没妞，没电视，什么都没有。除了战争。

Combat they did learn to like.  于是他们慢慢喜欢上了战争。

I remember one day, it was a very hot day in the spring,  我记得有次，一个大热天。还是春天。

and we hadn't been in a fight in a couple of weeks, maybe.  当时我们都已经闲了大概好几个星期了。

Usually, the outpost was attacked,  通常，哨站会遭遇袭击。

and we hadn't seen any combat in a couple of weeks,  但是当时已经有几周没有袭击了。

and everyone was just stunned with boredom and heat.  每个人都感到晕晕的又无聊又热。

And I remember the lieutenant walking past me, 然后我记得一个中尉从我身边走过。

sort of stripped to the waist.  光着上半身。

It was incredibly hot.  因为当时太热太热了。

Stripped to the waist, walked past me muttering,  他光着膀子走过，说：。

Oh God, please someone attack us today.  天哪，来次袭击吧。。

That's how bored they were.  他们真是无聊到不行了。

That's war too, is a lieutenant saying,  但这也是战争的一部分，就像一个中尉说：。

Please make something happen  给我们点事儿干吧。

because we're going crazy.  我们这就要疯了。

To understand that,  要理解他们的想法。

you have to, for a moment,  你必须临时。

think about combat not morally. 从非道德的角度思考一下战争。

that's an important job to do. 这很重要。

but for a moment, don't think about it morally,  只是临时地，不从道德的角度。

think about it neurologically.  而是神经学的角度。

Let's think about what happens in your brain  大家现在想一下。

when you're in combat.  当你身处在战争中时，你脑子里会想些什么。

First of all, the experience  首先，这种经历。

is very bizarre, it's a very bizarre one.  是很奇怪的，非常非常奇怪。

It's not what I had expected.  我之前从来没有想到过。

Usually, you're not scared.  通常你不会感到害怕。

I've been very scared in combat,  我曾经害怕过。

but most of the time when I was out there,  但大多数时候我在那儿。

I wasn't scared.  是不感到害怕的。

I was very scared beforehand. 去之前害怕过。

and incredibly scared afterwards,  回来之后也后怕。

and that fear that comes afterwards can last years.  这种后怕能持续几年的时间。

I haven't been shot at in six years,  我已经有6年的时间没暴露在枪林弹雨细下了。

and I was woken up very abruptly this morning. 但是今天早上我猛然的惊醒。

by a nightmare that I was being strafed by aircraft,  就是因为我梦到我被战机扫射。

six years later.  这都过了6年了。

I've never even been strafed by aircraft,  我从没被战机扫射过。

and I was having nightmares about it.  但做梦却梦到了。

Time slows down.  时间慢了下来。

You get this weird tunnel vision.  你的视角变得狭窄。

You notice some details very, very, very accurately. 能异常敏锐地注意到细枝末节的事情。

and other things drop out.  对其他事情置之不理。

It's almost a slightly altered state of mind.  这种思维方式可以说起了一定的变化。

What's happening in your brain  你的大脑。

is you're getting an enormous amount of adrenaline. 由于异常多的肾上腺素而受到过多刺激。

pumped through your system.  这些刺激扩散到整个体内。