Est ce que tous ces soldats, tout cet entraînement ont été pendant ces 79 dernières années ? Pas exactement. On dirait plutôt ” à quoi ont servi tous ces soldats, tout cet entraînement….”
Your translation is mostly fine but you had to choose a longer text – 10 lines at least, I asked.
Your commentary captures one aspect of the text, that soldiers are misused. However, the problem for THoreau is not to use them to exploit all of their capabilities, but rather to use them for moral purposes. That’s a huge difference. 14/20
