I’d be the dead kind of soldier. To my way of thinking, an act of war is an acceptance of death. Once such an end is seen as inevitable, cowardice and bravery become irrelevant and the task at hand is all that matters. Of course, while I would hope to survive, I would rather focus on accomplishing the task that my nation, my people, my neighbors and my family deemed worthy and weighty enough to justify the sacrifice of my existence.
This is what I suspect of myself. I hope to never be in a position to learn the truth.
Um, Normandy on D-Day and me with only one medic bag. I’d probally be astonished at first, but I’d start treating the wounded to the best of my ability. Can’t save them all but I’ll be damned if I am going to loose them all.
A dead one. I’m vehemently opposed to war (most war-there are a couple exceptions where more people would ahve tied if the war HADN’T been fought…).
I’d stand up and meet my penance.
I’m your commander in this scenerio. And I want you to run 50 yards(with no cover mind you) to that pill box with the 50 caliber spitting bullets out of it like it’s nobody’s business and throw a hand grenade in there. And don’t worry about your 5 buddies that are dead now from trying it because they weren’t fast enough(then thinking to yourselve that everyone of them out ran faster than you in bootcamp). Well? Would you do it or would you say, “let Mikey do he likes to run”.
Disregarding the fact that I would have been thrown in the stockade long before (I’m really bad at following orders), and assuming that I was actually packed into one of the landing craft…I’m not sure.
On past occasions when I’ve been in danger, I’ve noted in myself a tendency to go completely cold inside–no emotion, no real thought, just taking the shortest path to the far side of the crisis. I find that disturbing. I probably wouldn’t shove forward, but I wouldn’t hide, either. I’d probably even charge the pillbox, particularly if they had shot one or more of my buddies.
Of course, I’d probably try making a sling out of my underwear to throw the grenade from cover first. I’m an engineer, not a fighter. What can I say?
Back during the Gulf War, my mother made some comment about sending me to Canda in case the draft started. It was tongue-in-cheek, but it made me think and I resolved that while it’s doubtful I’d enlist in a conflict that didn’t directly threaten our country, I would go without hesitation should the armed services call upon me. In my mind, that’s part of the price you pay to live in this nation. Of course, now I’m a 27yr old single father, so I think I’m in the clear…
Anyway, if I had to go defend the Land of the Free, I’d prefer to be in a noncombat position that still had some risk to it. In other words, I don’t want to shoot people, but I wouldn’t plan on shooting for a desk job. Medic comes to mind, and in all honesty I could see myself risking my own life to help someone in the field, but I assume the US armed forces want their medics to have something beyond a high school first aid course and reruns of St. Elsewhere as their sole training. If not that, I’d go for artillery where at least I could kill people without having to look at them. But if the chips were down and I was in an infantry unit pinned in the mud by machine gun fire, I like to think that I could make that suicide run to disable it. Until it happens, I won’t know. Let’s hope I never find out, eh?
Well since I do play on a winning tournament Paintball team and have been playing pretty regularly, (recball and speedball equally!) I feel I have to add my two cents.
Since a war would be more like a recball game (usually woods or town setting. Varied terrain, no real set battlelines, etc…) I am best suited to playing a position of ambush. Not sniper! Sniping IMO is long-range action. That’s no good for me, I cannot sit still like that. What I am famous for around my area is crawling up past people and hitting them from behind. On the other hand I sometimes hammer the trigger and run at them (lots of fun!)
Long story short, I would say I’d make a good hit and run, get in get out kind of soldier.
What was the average lifespan of a marine/combat medic/infantryman storming normandy beach? from the time they arrived at shore that is? Anyone know?
From the training I’ve been through alone, I have to admit, if it ever came down to having to go into an actual war, (I don’t mean like Bosnia, 'cause when our unit was out there, it was mostly sit and watch and wait to rotate out and go back home), I would definitely make a mess of myself in my pants at least once. I remember fellas that did that in Basic Training alone.
My dad was in a few wars, and you can tell he’s still a bit affected. My grandfather was in WWII, fought for the British. He’s a Rabbi now, hates war.
Mommy, I really don’t wanna go to war…
(ETS October 2002 from IRR)
I would be a shitty, shitty soldier. If I weren’t already ineligible for military service because of my defective lungs, I’d be jumping at the Yossarian reference other posters above were quicker to get to.
Well, I was Comm in the Marines, but I also am a hell of a shot. I was quoted in Continental Marine a few years back while at the Rifle and Pistol Team tryouts [sub]missed it by that much! (Two years in a row)[/sub]. Figuring I was 1 of 40 nation-wide that made it to try-outs, I figure I would do alright. The farthest I’ve shot for score to date is only 600 yards, though.
In all truth, I’d really rather not go into battle, and certainly not as a Comm-guy.
Well, since I’ve got a psychological aversion to violence that is so strong I’ve gone my entire life without ever hitting anybody, I guess I’d be a U.S.O. girl too!
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Wildest Bill & broccoli!'s Black Ops Ninja Sniper Squad… Who wants to help me rule the world? Uncle Spam needs YOU! We’ll have carefully placed people in every country, and when that country doesn’t ally to us, we take out their leader from one of our well-placed SDMB snipers. If the new leader doesn’t join us, bang he’s gone too. And just think it all began with one little post and everyone wanting to be a sniper…
[/aside]
I’m in, I suppose. I think I should mention though, that even though I was in the Marines for 6 years and played rugby for 3 and started a fraternity in college, I’ve never been in a fight in my life. Go figure.
Anyway, a buddy of mine in Reno has connections with folks in the Orient and was casually mentioning that there are places that hire mercinaries, snipers and whatnot. Payment is in gold, so transfer of funds is usually not a problem. I have a decent job right now, but should things ever go south…
is crawling up past people and hitting them from behind. On the other hand I sometimes hammer the trigger and run at them (lots of fun!)