Cranes

"Cranes" was a well written piece showing the conflicting emotions of two childhood friends who end up on opposite sides of the Korean conflict.  An officer chooses to escort his friend, now turned enemy, to another location where he most likely will be executed.  As they walk, he angrily asks his friend how many he has killed in the conflict.  During this conversation, he can't help but recollect their time as boys climbing a chestnut tree and capturing a crane as a pet.  He recalls how close they had become (his friend pulling chestnut burrs out of his rearend!).  He also recalls the compassion he had for the crane they had captured.  Even though they had captured it and kept it bound, when they knew it was in danger of dying, they immediately set it free.  The ending is open to interpretation, but I like to think that as he recounts the compassion they had for an injured bird, he realizes he should have compassion on his bound prisoner/childhood friend.