"All the rest of us - you and me and even the thousands of soldiers behind the lines in Africa - we want terribly yet only academically for the war to get over"

This quote by Ernie Pyle speaks to the belief of those who are not directly associated with the war. While the soldiers on the cutting edge are actively taken part in the conflict, the rest people are just able to observe and want the war to end. We feel the desire to see the war end, however it is only a scholastic one. We are unable to do anything to cause the end of the war, and so we can only hope and long for it to end. This quote talks to the helplessness of those who are not directly involved in the war, and the desire to see it end. It is a pointer that while we might not be able to do anything to end the war, we can still hope and want it to end.