A Piece of Wood by Ray Bradbury. Short summary

5 seconds

Wanting to rid the world of all wars, a junior army officer takes it upon himself to invent a special device that turns any weapon and any military equipment into rust.

1 minute

Sergeant Hollis, serving in one of the armies of the world, has been through the crucible of a terrible war. And it took its toll on the junior officer’s psyche. The colonel noticed his subordinate’s unstable mental state. The army commander wanted to improve the sergeant’s situation by transferring him to another duty station. To this end, he summoned Hollis to him in order to have a serious talk with him.

Once at the commander’s office Hollis shared his vision of warfare and how it might be prevented. The sergeant saw the problem with wars as the availability of advanced weaponry and military hardware with which people continue to kill each other. And to prevent this atrocity forever, the military invented a special device that turns weapons and military equipment into rust. The colonel does not share his subordinate’s position and believes that people are the source of all wars and sends the sergeant to a psychiatrist.

But after a while the commander receives confirmation that the sergeant’s device is ready for use.