[August 1, 2026] The memoir of John Lewis Barkley was first published in 1930 as No Hard Feelings! (the title chosen by the publisher from an anecdote in the book). Barkley received the Medal of Honor for heroism during World War I, but we know little of him; and that is unfortunate for this hero. In his book, he describes the gore and killing in graphic detail and does not portray the war primarily as senseless horror, like so many others.
No Hard Feelings! is a firsthand combat memoir of his service as a reconnaissance man/sniper in Company K, 4th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Division. It covers training, major actions (including Château-Thierry, the Marne, Saint-Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne), and culminates in his Medal of Honor action near Cunel on October 7, 1918.
The tone is straightforward, vivid, and often unapologetic: Barkley describes the immediate effects of the war in more detail than many would like. He emphasizes individual initiative, skill as a woodsman and marksman, and aspects of combat that he approached with determination (and at times apparent relish). It also includes lighter or personal elements—his troublemaking streak (smuggling liquor, avoiding promotions), interactions with French and German civilians, and moments of humanity (such as protecting a young German prisoner).
The book was not written solely by Barkley. He provided notes and worked with a military friend/ghostwriter (identified in sources as Mike Mulcahy), after which a team of professional editors at Cosmopolitan Book House refined it.
The main problems of his book were commercial failure and critical mismatch with the 
era’s literary tastes, not formal military or legal repercussions:
No Hard Feelings! appeared just as the Great Depression began. Few people had spare money for a $2 book, and interest in WWI memoirs had already peaked. Only about 3,800 copies were printed in the sole run.
Books like Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front (1929), Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms (1929), and Robert Graves’s Good-Bye to All That (1929) had set a strong expectation for disillusioned, anti-heroic accounts of the war’s futility and trauma. Barkley’s candid, sometimes enthusiastic depiction of combat, graphic killing, and focus on personal participation and effectiveness went against that grain. Reviewers were often put off by the gory details and the lack of the expected anti-war message.
Barkley wrote it partly out of financial need, to help support his widowed mother and hold onto the family farm as agricultural prices collapsed. The book’s flop meant it provided little relief. He later lived more quietly as a farmer in the Kansas City area and stayed involved in veterans’ activities and local parks.
The 2012 reissue under his preferred title, Scarlet Fields, has given the memoir wider modern recognition as a distinctive American combat account that stands apart from the “Lost Generation” style. And this is why I’ll be recommending it. Additionally, it is important that we do not lose the reality of the battlefield, especially in a modern era where it is so easy to “want war.”
In short, the “trouble” was primarily that the book’s honest, combat-oriented voice arrived too late and clashed with what critics and readers expected in 1930, leading to poor sales rather than any official punishment. I salute John Lewis Barkley for both his physical courage in the war and for his moral courage in writing this book.
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Thank you for highlighting John Lewis Barkley’s unflinching memoir and for bringing this overlooked Medal of Honor recipient back into view. His willingness to describe the gore and the killing without apology stands in sharp contrast to the disillusioned, anti-heroic narratives that dominated the late 1920s. Barkley’s emphasis on individual initiative, marksmanship, and the practical realities of combat offers a necessary counterweight to accounts that treat war solely as senseless trauma. The commercial failure of No Hard Feelings! in 1930 had less to do with the quality of the writing than with timing and the prevailing literary fashion. Readers and critics of that moment preferred the tone of Remarque, Hemingway, and Graves, and Barkley’s candid voice simply did not fit the mold. That the book was later reissued as Scarlet Fields is a welcome correction, because honest combat literature remains essential. In an age when some speak lightly of war from a safe distance, we need reminders of what the battlefield actually demands. Barkley’s physical courage in the Meuse-Argonne is matched by the moral courage it took to put those experiences on paper without softening them. His story of protecting a young German prisoner also shows that humanity can coexist with ruthless effectiveness. I appreciate the reminder that we should not sanitize the past simply because the details are uncomfortable. This is precisely the kind of historical recovery that keeps leadership and sacrifice grounded in reality rather than myth.
Thank you, Gen. Satterfield for another story of heroism and war!