The author wrote this story in 1950 - when he was 20 years old - and at the beginning of the Korean War. He touches on the relationship between love and loyalty, and the question which has been asked many, many times and will no doubt be asked equally many times in the future: is any war worth it? Have millions of people sacrificed their lives for nothing? Is it at all possible to ever achieve a peaceful world, being as the human race seems to have an inborn and strong desire to self-destruct?