r/Documentaries • u/Porcospine • Sep 27 '23
WW1 My body crawls with lice, my rags are saturated with blood - A trench diary of a WW1 soldier (2023) [00:13:24]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQTAU4zkp8c16
u/fuqdisshite Sep 28 '23 edited Sep 28 '23
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs,
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots,
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of gas-shells dropping softly behind.
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys!—An ecstasy of fumbling
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time,
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And flound’ring like a man in fire or lime.—
Dim through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams, you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,—
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
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u/MentalNomad13 Sep 28 '23
Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori:
Translates to "It is sweet and fitting to die for your country".
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u/sevksytime Sep 28 '23
What’s this from? I haven’t watched the video yet because I’m at work, but this is a beautiful quote. Would love the source.
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u/photogRathie_ Sep 29 '23
We studied this poem at school, so reading it was quite a throw back. ‘It is a sweet and noble thing to die for one’s country’ is the Latin quote translation we were told. Interestingly, being 15 years older and perhaps more importantly having seen film dramatisations and documentaries since reading it at school it is much more visceral to read again.
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u/fuqdisshite Sep 29 '23
i was 20 in 2001.
i had signed up to be in the US Air Force in August of 2001.
on or about August 13, 2001, i was stopped and illegally searched. the search resulted in weed seeds being found 'within my reach'.
our case had hold for a case that had far reaching consequences due to holding a detainee longer than constitutionaly legal.
went to my recruiter and told him what happened. i had already test and had a ship out date. he laughed at me and told me to reapply for the army. they were the only ones that took dopers.
less than a month later 9/11/01.
they called me daily asking me to sign up for the top tier shit after that day.
noped right out of that. you can't accept that there were some weed seeds on a car floor? i can't accept that you want me to go fight people that have nothing to do with what you are claiming.
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u/DogtariousVanDog Sep 28 '23
I'd rather like to read the diary. The AI voice is unbearable and nonsensical, I gave up after 30 seconds of trying to listen and understand.
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u/Ootek_Ohoto Sep 30 '23
What's your opinion on this channel? https://www.youtube.com/@MilitaryClubHISTORY
People raised concerns in the comments on the authenticity of the source material, some suggesting they are both AI created as well as read.
You provided a source, so subbed and nice effort.
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u/Porcospine Oct 03 '23 edited Oct 03 '23
It's definitely being read by an AI voice, which, by the way, is much better than the one I use. As for the content, I really don't know where they're sourcing it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was AI generated as well using GPT-4.
In my case, I do extensive research for the source texts and photos, but it's hard to find scanned diaries which are in the public domain and are compelling at the same time.
I only use AI to colorize the photos and for the narration.
Thanks for the sub!
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u/Twokindsofpeople Sep 28 '23
Kind of weird they used AI to narrate this. I can't say I hate the idea of using AI to voice historical documents, but it is just strange.
Maybe this will be a new trend, using AI to search for images and narrate old documents. Kind of automating documentaries. There's certainly worse uses for the technology and as long as the documents actually exist and they're just not invented whole cloth by Chat GPT I'm interested.