Possible Clues:

• Soldier starts to slice the core ...
• Essential point or general sense of anything
• The main point is that the American soldier is on the street
• The soldier's a good man in essence
• Soldiers need time to see essential points
• The heart of the matter
• In which the meaning is taken
• Essential point or meaning of, say, the matter
• Main theme
• A Pole might be one to excuse the substance of this