" Hours of bombing with the possibility of being blown to bits, buried alive, or being blown off their feet paralyzed many with fear. It is estimated that seventy percent of all casualties on the Western Front were from shellfire. As the shells fell, Roy tried to think of home, shake the hysteria with flippant humor, or just light a cigarette with shaking hands. Being shelled was like a nightmare. One soldier described it as “distant thunder, countless shells falling like rain, towers of smoke, fire, explosions, confusion, cries of help, all of it madness. "

― , Courage: Roy Blanchard's Journey in America's Forgotten War