At the start of the Great War, believing like many others, that it would only last a few months, Rene Besnard responded to the call up to the French army. For most of the war he was stationed around north eastern France. He spent the first part of the war as a stretcher bearer then later as a driver. In September 1917 he was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his bravery. By the end of 1914 when it became clear that the war was going to go on for a while, Rene decided to keep a daily personal diary for his own memories afterwards. The diary includes 21 unique photographs. This diary is published in both in English and the original French titled VECU ET SURVECU. It has been said that war is 90% being bored stiff, 9% frozen stiff and 1% scared stiff, which is certainly reflected in this diary But as Rene himself says, "if at times I wept, I also laughed a lot.""