tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post1830906038979491720..comments2024-01-01T01:47:59.449+02:00Comments on Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Distinctions About KillingYaacovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12835192312242961481noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post-65921002947928646832008-04-01T11:02:00.000+03:002008-04-01T11:02:00.000+03:00I would have to agree with Lydia. Few men (or toda...I would have to agree with Lydia. Few men (or today, women) volunteer for military service out of a yearning for death. The reasons for service will vary. Some attempt to remediate deficiencies in family life or secondary school education; some seek additional vocational training, experience, post-service benefits, travel or adventure. Some men simply wish to emulate their fathers. <BR/><BR/>It really depends on the branch of service. For example, the United States Air Force tends to attract those with their eye on training and the post-service job market, while the Marine Corps attracts those who may define themselves as "combat hungry."<BR/><BR/>What is "combat hungry"? It isn't death--I've known no soldier who ever volunteered "to die." But it is a yearning to be tested in ways unavailable in civilian life. Ultimately, that testing may involve death insofar as certain MOS's (infantry, for example) promise greater testing by a higher exposure to the risk of death. <BR/><BR/>But that yearning is usually satisfied by one's first baptism of fire. At the sound (or as the target) of gunfire or mortars, if one didn't run, faint or soil themselves, one has passed the test; all the better if one had enough presence of mind to return fire or whatever job one was trained to do in those circumstances.<BR/><BR/>So when do such soldiers engage in activities that promise almost certain death? I can assure you that it's not with any knowledge or planning aforethought. Rather, it's entirely circumstantial, and usually revolves around the sudden, instant need to honor the moral contract that binds comrades.<BR/><BR/>If you look at the usual reasons as to why medals for bravery are awarded, the predominant theme is rescue--saving injured comrades under fire; destroying an enemy position in order to relieve one's own or one's comrades from increased risk, and so forth. Nobody thinks much about flags or nationalities--and few (hand grenade sitters are an exception here) go in believing that death is an absolute, unavoidable certainty: enemy fire may miss, running in a zig-zag pattern may cause inaccurate fire, or Heaven will save, or just plain luck. <BR/><BR/>Shakespeare captured its essence in Henry V: it's the band of brothers. There is no death cult, at least in the U.S. military. Many soldiers are first class killers, but believe me, it's a job, not a catharsis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4008006782907969381.post-82229308339646479652008-04-01T04:37:00.000+03:002008-04-01T04:37:00.000+03:00Quite right. That interplay between trying to get ...Quite right. That interplay between trying to get back alive while going into danger is all part (IMO) of healthy masculinity, as well of course as healthy humanity. Not worshiping death, far from it, but holding life on an open palm, as it were.Lydia McGrewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00423567323116960820noreply@blogger.com