A school exhibition（展览）/ˌɛksəˈbɪʃən/ told（告诉）/toʊld/ how one nation（国家；民族）/ˈneɪʃən/ moved from war（战争）/wɔr/ to peace（和平）/pis/. On a wall（墙）/wɔl/, a poster praised a brave（勇敢的）/breɪv/ hero（英雄）/ˈhɪroʊ/ born（出生）/bɔrn/ eighty years（年）/jɪrz/ ago（以前）/əˈgoʊ/. It said he joined the army（军队）/ˈɑrmi/, fought（战斗）/faɪt/ every enemy（敌人）/ˈɛnəmi/, used a gun（枪）/gən/ to shoot（射击）/ʃut/ many people, and became（变得）/bɪˈkeɪm/ a master（主人；能手）/ˈmæstər/ of war. Amir doubted the story because the poster named no record upon（在……之上；一……就）/əˈpɑn/ which readers（读者）/ˈridərz/ could depend.
Ms Wu gave the group letters, state（国家；州）/steɪt/ reports, and an old newspaper. According to（根据）/əˈkɔrdɪŋ tɪ/ these sources（资料来源）/ˈsɔrsəz/, the man was a young（年轻的）/jəŋ/ lawyer（律师）/ˈlɔjər/, not a soldier. During an attack（攻击）/əˈtæk/, he worked with a policeman（男警察）/pəˈlismən/, a policewoman（女警察）/pəˈlisˌwʊmən/, and a factory guard（守卫）/gɑrd/ to lead families in need away. He refused（拒绝）/ˈrɛfˌjuz/ to steal（偷窃）/stil/ army food or fool（愚弄；傻瓜）/ful/ people with a lie（谎言）/laɪ/. His courage protected life; it did not celebrate death or kill（杀死）/kɪl/ an enemy.
One letter began, "Dear Sir（先生）/sər/, only God（上帝；神）/gɑd/ knows when this loss（损失）/lɔs/ will end." Amir kept（保留）/kɛpt/ the line as（作为；当……时）/ɛz/ a personal belief（信仰）/bɪˈlif/, not a historical（历史的）/hɪˈstɔrɪkəl/ fact. Another writer regretted（后悔）/rɪˈgrɛt/ supporting the fight and asked whom（谁（宾格））/hum/ the law（法律）/lɔ/ should punish（惩罚）/ˈpənɪʃ/. The lawyer answered that peace required truth（真相）/truθ/, wise（明智的）/waɪz/ judgement（判断）/ˈʤəʤmənt/, and pardon（原谅）/ˈpɑrdən/ where the law allowed it.
The later records showed him as a pioneer（先驱）/ˌpaɪəˈnɪr/ of public service. He advised a president（总统；主席）/ˈprɛzɪdənt/ and helped the new state protect common wealth（财富）/wɛlθ/. A short section（部分）/ˈsɛkʃən/ explained socialism（社会主义）/ˈsoʊʃəˌlɪzəm/ as one idea in the nation's history, while the whole exhibition remained about peace rather than（而不是）/ˈrəðər ðən/ politics（政治）/ˈpɑləˌtɪks/. Though（尽管）/ðoʊ/ he never called himself（他自己）/hɪmˈsɛlf/ a hero, his spirit（精神）/ˈspɪrɪt/ influenced others. He himself always said ordinary（普通的）/ˈɔrdəˌnɛri/ families were the brave ones.
The students removed（删除）/riˈmuvd/ the false gun story and wrote（写下）/roʊt/ what the evidence（证据）/ˈɛvədəns/ supported. They did not hide war, attack, or loss, but they refused to turn them into adventure（冒险）/ədˈvɛnʧər/. Therefore（因此）/ˈðɛrˌfɔr/ the finished wall showed a more useful（有用的）/ˈjusfəl/ kind of victory: people could follow the rules（遵守规则）/ˈfɑloʊ ðə rulz/ and take care of（照顾；处理）/teɪk kɛr əv/ one another at the same time. Amir checked facts instead of（而不是）/ˌɪnˈstɛd əv/ choosing to agree with（同意；赞同）/əˈgri wɪθ/ a powerful（有影响力的）/ˈpaʊərfəl/ poster.