he had been only a boy for the first one , seventeen years old , and ready to die like a man , but he knew , all through the year he spent in the trenches and fields of war , trembling and cold at night , fearing death , that he was no different from boys of all nations sent to fight and defend their countries in the name of god and patriotism , when in fact , the reasons they were fighting were usually money , pride , narrow self-interest .