[Ads-l] Quote: Out of every 100 soldiers, 10 should not even be here, eighty are just targets . .. only one is a warrior (Probably not Heraclitus)

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The following statement has been attributed to the ancient Greek
philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus:

"Of every 100 men, 10 should not even be here, 80 are nothing more
than targets. Nine of them are the real fighters. We are lucky to have
them, they the battle make. Ah, but the one. One of them is a warrior
and he will bring the others back."

An email correspondent asked me to explore the provenance of the
statement. I found no substantive evidence that Heraclitus was the
creator. Instead, I hypothesize that the statement evolved from a
monologue in the play "Tracers" which was performed Off Broadway in
New York in 1984. During one scene the character Sgt. Williams, who
was training U.S. soldiers for deployment in Vietnam, turned to the
audience and described the dangerous situation on the battlefield, and
his quest to find a warrior.

[ref] 1985, The Burns Mantle Theater Yearbook: The Best Plays of
1984-1985, Edited by Otis L. Guernsey Jr., Section: The Ten Best
Plays, Play Title: Tracers, Start Page 165, Quote Page 171, Dodd, Mead
& Company, New York. (Verified with scans) [/ref]

[Begin excerpt]
They are now eighteen and nineteen years old. Before they are
twenty-one, nearly half of them will be killed or wounded. With a
two-year draft, we send out amateurs to play against pros in a game
for keeps.

Ten per cent should not even be here. Eighty per cent are targets; we
have no time to train them to be more. Ten per cent are fighters. One
in a hundred may become a warrior. I must seek him out. I must come
down heavy on him. Upon him the success or failure of our present
conflict lies…..
[End excerpt]

More details are available in the Quote Investigator article here:
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2024/08/27/one-warrior/

Feedback welcome
Garson O’Toole

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org