One soldier picked up a dead Argentine, supported the corpse's weight underneath his arm, put a cigarette in the dead man's mouth, then one in his own. He then held a lighter under the corpse's cigarette and his friend took a photograph. They both laughed. I also laughed. This was foolish ― smoking can kill.
This quote vividly illustrates a moment of dark humor amid the chaos of war. The soldiers' act of placing a cigarette in the mouth of a deceased enemy soldier and then sharing a smoke reflects the complex emotional responses soldiers experience under extreme stress. In war, moments of levity often emerge as coping mechanisms, helping soldiers momentarily distance themselves from the grim reality surrounding them. The act of laughing at such a grim scene indicates a form of psychological release, a way to maintain some semblance of normalcy or camaraderie amidst adversity.
However, there's an underlying layer of irony and poignancy in the statement "smoking can kill". Smoking, a personal vice that can lead to death over time, is contrasted here against the instant death of the soldier. It underscores how life and death are intertwined unpredictably in wartime, and how trivial habits can take on symbolic weight. This small act of humor is fraught with the tragedy that war imposes—not only physical danger but also the emotional toll that leads soldiers to seek humor in the absurdity of their situation.
The quote reminds us of the resilience of the human spirit, even in its darkest moments. It shows how bonds form in shared experiences, and how soldiers sometimes find brief escapes through humor. Yet, it also casts a shadow of regret or reflection, highlighting the foolishness of such acts when viewed in the cold light of morality and life itself. The narrative encapsulates a poignant, raw human experience—simultaneously humorous, tragic, and inherently humane.
