Yet other people reading those same letters would conclude that those soldiers were fighting for such noble reasons as preserving the Union, freeing the slaves, or "truth, justice and the American way."

As to their references to the treatment of Southern civilians, war brutalizes young men, and "people" become the "enemy". I rarely go back and read the Vietnam letters that I wrote to my then-girlfriend (now my wife), which she saved. On the rare occasions that I take a look at one of them, I cringe when I read what I wrote about the fire-support missions we were engaged in. If those letters were to be published, people would think we were cruel, heartless barbarians -- it's not easy for non-veterans to understand that referring to human beings as "meat" is a way that young, immature soldiers deal with killing other people. You reassure yourself, your buddies and your girlfriend that they're not really "people", they're the enemy. It's how young soldiers put their Sunday-school training on hold so they can do their duty.