This will be difficult for me to write since it's a subject that most vets only discuss among themselves, but I'll try to keep it forum friendly.
Most of the members here haven't been in the military and the of vets in here many may not have been in combat. It is NOT like the movies or books you have read. But I hope others will chime in as they see fit.
For background, let me say that I'm a native North Carolinian, grew up in a small eastern NC town and joined the USMC when I was 17. Two tours in Vietnam in non-combat (supposedly) jobs, but got to see more blood and guts than I cared to see.
When the stuff hits the fan and it gets real you realize that it's not summer camp, a trip to the range or some tactical training exercise. Someone is REALLY trying to kill you. Do you have the mindset to pull the trigger on another human being? Does your training and muscle memory take over and you do what you KNOW instinctively that you have to do? Can you walk over the dead you've just killed and not puke your guts out or wet your pants when those bullets are coming your way? I've seen both happen. It's gory, not glorious. It's dirty, muddy, smelly. It assaults your senses in unimaginable ways. You'll have hunger, starvation, diseases and incurable wounds. Certain smells still bring flashbacks 50 years later. Those who have seen the elephant do not want to see it again. (With exceptions - there are some who ride the adrenalin rush and can't get enough of the killing, but they aren't the norm). War is horrible, but sometimes it is necessary - although I wish it were not. Might is the only thing some people and powers understand.
The problem with war is that no matter how "surgical" you try to make it there will be collateral damage. There will be non-combatants killed by accident. There will also be non-combatants killed on purpose to set an example by terror. We went through a ville in Nam where the VC had been through the night before and slaughtered everyone. Bayoneted women and children and they were laying in the hot sun, bloated with their guts sliced open and the flies and maggots already on them. All their food had been stolen and they were an example for other villages to not refuse the VC. These were not on the newsreels coming back from the reporters in Saigon hanging out in the bars and filing a story they got from somebody who got it from somebody else. The war I was reading about in my hometown newspaper was not the same war I was in. I'm sure the guys who were in Afghanistan or Iraq or Kuwait can all tell how their war was different from the "official" war story. But it doesn't matter which war you fight in, they are ALL about killing or being killed. You fight to stay alive and to help keep your fellow soldier/sailor/airman/Marine alive with you. It is not clean. It doesn't end at quitting time when the whistle blows. And after it is finally over after months or years you WILL carry it with you forever.
I know we're heading down a path that is untenable. When it will actually explode into total chaos I have no idea. I fear for my children and grandchildren and what kind of world they will have to live in. At 70 I'm too old and out of shape to run, so I'll just have to stand my ground and go out in a pile of empty brass - if it comes to that. And that I know I can do.
What I hope to try and say here is don't be in such a hurry to have this all go real. If it does, it does and be ready for it. If we get lucky and this cold war doesn't go hot we can breath a sigh of relief and have a good fun-time CFF get-together across the state.
Pray for Peace, But Prepare for War.
Most of the members here haven't been in the military and the of vets in here many may not have been in combat. It is NOT like the movies or books you have read. But I hope others will chime in as they see fit.
For background, let me say that I'm a native North Carolinian, grew up in a small eastern NC town and joined the USMC when I was 17. Two tours in Vietnam in non-combat (supposedly) jobs, but got to see more blood and guts than I cared to see.
When the stuff hits the fan and it gets real you realize that it's not summer camp, a trip to the range or some tactical training exercise. Someone is REALLY trying to kill you. Do you have the mindset to pull the trigger on another human being? Does your training and muscle memory take over and you do what you KNOW instinctively that you have to do? Can you walk over the dead you've just killed and not puke your guts out or wet your pants when those bullets are coming your way? I've seen both happen. It's gory, not glorious. It's dirty, muddy, smelly. It assaults your senses in unimaginable ways. You'll have hunger, starvation, diseases and incurable wounds. Certain smells still bring flashbacks 50 years later. Those who have seen the elephant do not want to see it again. (With exceptions - there are some who ride the adrenalin rush and can't get enough of the killing, but they aren't the norm). War is horrible, but sometimes it is necessary - although I wish it were not. Might is the only thing some people and powers understand.
The problem with war is that no matter how "surgical" you try to make it there will be collateral damage. There will be non-combatants killed by accident. There will also be non-combatants killed on purpose to set an example by terror. We went through a ville in Nam where the VC had been through the night before and slaughtered everyone. Bayoneted women and children and they were laying in the hot sun, bloated with their guts sliced open and the flies and maggots already on them. All their food had been stolen and they were an example for other villages to not refuse the VC. These were not on the newsreels coming back from the reporters in Saigon hanging out in the bars and filing a story they got from somebody who got it from somebody else. The war I was reading about in my hometown newspaper was not the same war I was in. I'm sure the guys who were in Afghanistan or Iraq or Kuwait can all tell how their war was different from the "official" war story. But it doesn't matter which war you fight in, they are ALL about killing or being killed. You fight to stay alive and to help keep your fellow soldier/sailor/airman/Marine alive with you. It is not clean. It doesn't end at quitting time when the whistle blows. And after it is finally over after months or years you WILL carry it with you forever.
I know we're heading down a path that is untenable. When it will actually explode into total chaos I have no idea. I fear for my children and grandchildren and what kind of world they will have to live in. At 70 I'm too old and out of shape to run, so I'll just have to stand my ground and go out in a pile of empty brass - if it comes to that. And that I know I can do.
What I hope to try and say here is don't be in such a hurry to have this all go real. If it does, it does and be ready for it. If we get lucky and this cold war doesn't go hot we can breath a sigh of relief and have a good fun-time CFF get-together across the state.
Pray for Peace, But Prepare for War.