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Great post. I too noticed that the author's "combat experiences" seemed to be more about relating the experiences of his friends than his own personal thoughts
by run4yourlives 15y ago
Great post. I too noticed that the author's "combat experiences" seemed to be more about relating the experiences of his friends than his own personal thoughts and feelings.
The best analysis I've seen about the combatant are the works of LCol. Grossman. On Combat and On Killing are outstanding pieces of work that say pretty much the exact opposite of W here.
- bdunbar 15y agoOn Combat and On Killing are outstanding pieces of work that say pretty much the exact opposite of W here. This might be because W is an intelligent Brit who enlisted as a private solider. Grossman is an intelligent American who accepted a commission. Different experiences, different cultures.
- run4yourlives 15y agoGrossman is a psychology professor, specializing in the psychology of killing and its effects on humans. Add "different skillset" to your comparison while you are at it.
- bdunbar 15y agoBefore he was a professor of psychology he was an NCO, a company commander ... I thought 'different skillset' went without saying (smile).
- majelix 15y agoThe best example of this is his story about his buddy never seeing the dead bodies of a family, and trying to hold this up as some moral issue. It was really more an issue of his brain simply filtering out everything that wasn't a direct threat to his immediate existence. Adrenaline may make you super strong, but it also makes you blind, deaf, and destroys fine motor skills like marksmanship and bladder control.