General Discussion

And I would certainly object to being classified as one of those "rah rah patriot types" sent to "go kill people."

The mistaken impressions about the military may have something to do with the current disconnect between the military and civilian society.

For one thing, most who serve never kill anybody. Even in-country in Vietnam, there were about 11 suport troops for every combat troop. I don't know what the current ratio is, but it's probably not far off from that. Many in the military work in admin offices and mess halls and supply rooms--they are hardly psychotic killers, even though they all went through combat training. And at that time, I think someting like 2/3 of our forces never even went to VN.

And being sent to serve in an Infantry "grunt" unit in combat didn't turn me into a psychotic killer, even though I'd already received a lot of military training, from Basic and Advanced Infantry Training through Infantry OCS.

You could take an ordinary civilian, with no military training, place him in the same situation, with other people attacking him, ambushing him, and trying to kill him, and he also would fight to survive.

The notion that our military people are just out to "go kill people" is an unfair misrepresentation, and I think you know it. People placed into a combat environment, whether unwilling draftees or RA, gung-ho recruits, will do what they have to do to survive and to protect their fellows--and, increasingly, their sisters.

It's one thing to criticize the policy that puts them there. But I have to object to any characterization of the troops as simply being out "to kill people." That's just wrong.