Remember those bad old days when American troops were bailing out to Denmark, Canada, Sweden, wherever, to escape a vicious, misbegotten and unnecessary war allegedly about bringing democracy to a backward world but actually about holding onto political power back home?

Peter, who keeps an eye on Europe for us, sends this story from Der Spiegel. Excerpt:

In the hospital [Sgt. Bob Evers] picked up a biography of Gen. Ludwig Beck. The former chief of staff of the German Armed Forces publicly resigned five years after the Nazi takeover; he was put to death after an attempt on Hitler’s life. Evers read Beck’s words — “A soldier’s duty ends where his knowledge, conscience, and responsibility forbid him to follow a command” — and thought: Yes it does.