unverfied text from someones chat with a soldier in iraq

[spacemanspiff]

following is taken from a post made on www.toolarmy.com , a private message board. the poster claims to have had the following conversation via instant messenger with a soldier in iraq that the poster went to school with and has known since the 7th grade.

personally, i call BS on the whole thing, and believe it is just tripe made to make soldiers look bad and to fuel the anti-war efforts. i have only edited the swear words enough so the language filter wont block them out entirely. moderators, if you feel it should be edited more clearly, let me know, or edit it yourself, i leave that decision up to you.

WARNING! **** following text has graphic descriptions of violence and semi-edited graphic language. this below conversation may or may not have actually occured.
(milkmandan is supposedly the soldier, and noisewithin is the civilian)

=============================
MilkmanDan952 (3:10:38 PM): Hello

thenoisewithin (3:10:44 PM): hey

MilkmanDan952 (3:10:58 PM): this Emily?

thenoisewithin (3:11:06 PM): no, this is John

thenoisewithin (3:11:09 PM): from Santa Barbara

MilkmanDan952 (3:11:11 PM): whoops

thenoisewithin (3:11:13 PM): ha

MilkmanDan952 (3:11:14 PM): thats right

MilkmanDan952 (3:11:17 PM): yhou know who this is?

thenoisewithin (3:11:36 PM): yes, i (unlike you, apparently) have a memory that serves me well

thenoisewithin (3:11:55 PM): how've you been?

MilkmanDan952 (3:12:27 PM): I've been off AIM for about a year, give me some slack

MilkmanDan952 (3:12:31 PM): well, Iraq is the same as always

MilkmanDan952 (3:12:38 PM): unebelivable sXXthole

thenoisewithin (3:12:41 PM): ha, fair enough

thenoisewithin (3:12:46 PM): well, i'd imagine so

thenoisewithin (3:12:50 PM): being third world and all

MilkmanDan952 (3:13:17 PM): tomorrow is our (most likely) last big raid

MilkmanDan952 (3:13:20 PM): then again, so was today

MilkmanDan952 (3:13:23 PM): supposedly

MilkmanDan952 (3:13:27 PM): tomorrrow's gonna get hairy

thenoisewithin (3:13:36 PM): wow

thenoisewithin (3:13:48 PM): i'm curious

thenoisewithin (3:13:57 PM): have you shot anybody?

MilkmanDan952 (3:14:01 PM): yes

thenoisewithin (3:14:05 PM): killed them?

MilkmanDan952 (3:14:09 PM): better than sex

MilkmanDan952 (3:14:11 PM): you got it

thenoisewithin (3:14:33 PM): have you actually had sex to compare it to?

MilkmanDan952 (3:14:41 PM): lol no

MilkmanDan952 (3:14:45 PM): but it sounds cool

thenoisewithin (3:15:00 PM): it actually sounds pretty twisted

MilkmanDan952 (3:15:27 PM): oh it is

MilkmanDan952 (3:15:30 PM): this country is twisted

MilkmanDan952 (3:15:39 PM): it twists everyone in it, too

thenoisewithin (3:15:50 PM): i can see that, i suppose

thenoisewithin (3:16:07 PM): i'm curious this person that you killed, have you ever stopped and pondered it?

MilkmanDan952 (3:16:38 PM): person? singular?

thenoisewithin (3:16:50 PM): well, person, people, whatever

thenoisewithin (3:17:01 PM): wait, how many people have you killed?

MilkmanDan952 (3:17:24 PM): well

MilkmanDan952 (3:17:52 PM): when I was on a Mortar crew, one time 5 in 1 shot (we used a High Explosive (HE) round, kill radius of 15 meters, 30 meters critical wound radius)

MilkmanDan952 (3:18:05 PM): later on some guy popped up to shoot an RPG at us and I capped him

MilkmanDan952 (3:18:21 PM): some guy was running away while we were searching a village and shot him

MilkmanDan952 (3:18:51 PM): saw some dude through a window at that same village with an AK going to answer the door (americans were doing the knocking) and lit him up

MilkmanDan952 (3:19:17 PM): some lady wouldn't stop at the edge of a secure perimiter after being repeatedly warned so I killed her too

thenoisewithin (3:19:40 PM): why?

thenoisewithin (3:19:46 PM): why did you kill the woman?

thenoisewithin (3:19:55 PM): i can understand the others, they were necessity

thenoisewithin (3:20:00 PM): but why the woman?

MilkmanDan952 (3:20:01 PM): my orders state to stop with any means necessary unauthorized perosns entering the perimeter

MilkmanDan952 (3:20:08 PM): I warned her, she wouldn't stop

thenoisewithin (3:20:17 PM): wow

MilkmanDan952 (3:20:19 PM): now she's dead because of it

MilkmanDan952 (3:20:44 PM): some kid tried to shoot me with an AK after we arrested his dad, two brothers, and uncle

MilkmanDan952 (3:21:00 PM): jumped out of a house with an AK we hadn't found yet and tried to shoot it. Didn't work but I capped him anyway

thenoisewithin (3:21:09 PM): well, i'm not questioning the morality of any of that (other than the woman), but have you actually thought of the people that you've killed?

thenoisewithin (3:21:25 PM): dude, that's kinda fXXked...you couldn't have SUBDUED HIM?

thenoisewithin (3:21:29 PM): you had to kill him?

thenoisewithin (3:21:39 PM): i mean, had he been a soldier, sure...but he was a KID

MilkmanDan952 (3:22:03 PM): he was armed

MilkmanDan952 (3:22:11 PM): it happend in about .35 of a second

MilkmanDan952 (3:22:15 PM): I saw an Ak and opened up

thenoisewithin (3:22:17 PM): hmm

thenoisewithin (3:22:19 PM): fair enough

MilkmanDan952 (3:22:27 PM): it was dark at the time, thought dude was crouched

thenoisewithin (3:22:34 PM): okay

thenoisewithin (3:22:39 PM): but, as i asked

thenoisewithin (3:22:57 PM): have you actually thought about the lives that those people must've had up until your paths converged?

thenoisewithin (3:23:01 PM): i'm just curious

thenoisewithin (3:23:23 PM): i'm not going to or intending to preach or anything

MilkmanDan952 (3:24:00 PM): sorry was afk

MilkmanDan952 (3:24:02 PM): one sec

MilkmanDan952 (3:24:12 PM): I have

MilkmanDan952 (3:24:15 PM): I just don't care

thenoisewithin (3:24:19 PM): why not?

MilkmanDan952 (3:24:24 PM): they're Haji, and I'm ordered to kill them, so I do

MilkmanDan952 (3:24:35 PM): because they're pathetic, filthy, disgusting savage fXXks

MilkmanDan952 (3:24:40 PM): I wish they'd all just fXXking up and die

MilkmanDan952 (3:25:01 PM): these 'people' are barbaric and cruel, worse than us if given the chance

MilkmanDan952 (3:25:08 PM): worse by far

thenoisewithin (3:25:08 PM): it doesn't bother you to think of them smiling or laughing while sitting around and telling jokes with their friends or something of that nature?

MilkmanDan952 (3:25:15 PM): not really

MilkmanDan952 (3:25:19 PM): they'd do the same to me

thenoisewithin (3:25:25 PM): yeah, i know

thenoisewithin (3:25:32 PM): i'm not saying that you shouldn't have done what you did

MilkmanDan952 (3:25:51 PM): its hard for most civilians to comprehend the why and how of things here

thenoisewithin (3:25:57 PM): i'd bet that it was out of necessity

MilkmanDan952 (3:25:59 PM): but it's remarkably easy once you're here

thenoisewithin (3:26:11 PM): perhaps so

MilkmanDan952 (3:26:18 PM): this is going to sound fXXked up too

MilkmanDan952 (3:26:23 PM): but that's not the only kid I killed

thenoisewithin (3:26:34 PM): but you've also been trained to look at them as cattle, so don't let that escape your contemplation

thenoisewithin (3:26:43 PM): oh?

MilkmanDan952 (3:26:46 PM): kid came beggin at hte gates and threw a grenade in, so he got hosed

MilkmanDan952 (3:27:14 PM): a large crowd of protesters got violent and took potshots at us, so the gate guards (I was oneo f them at hte time) lit the crowd up

MilkmanDan952 (3:27:24 PM): I imagine some children were killed

MilkmanDan952 (3:27:51 PM): 90% of our kills are adult males though

MilkmanDan952 (3:28:01 PM): oh oh how could I forget my most spectacular kill

MilkmanDan952 (3:28:27 PM): car was fleeing the area, driving on a road going from right to left in front of me

thenoisewithin (3:28:30 PM): your most "spectaculr kill"?

MilkmanDan952 (3:28:35 PM): yeah

MilkmanDan952 (3:28:38 PM): I'm a Grenadier

MilkmanDan952 (3:28:52 PM): (that means I have an M4A1 Assault Rifle and an M203 Grenade Launcher attached)

MilkmanDan952 (3:29:10 PM): and I shot a 40MM (M203 round) Grenade into its path

MilkmanDan952 (3:29:20 PM): normally I'm not a good shot (very inexperienced with M203)

MilkmanDan952 (3:29:29 PM): but it went into the front window and blew the whole car up

MilkmanDan952 (3:29:31 PM): 3 enemy KIA

thenoisewithin (3:30:23 PM): wow

MilkmanDan952 (3:30:27 PM): yeah. It was glorious

thenoisewithin (3:30:39 PM): you talk like a fXXking sociopath

MilkmanDan952 (3:30:39 PM): the explosion detonated the gas tank too

MilkmanDan952 (3:30:53 PM): perhaps

MilkmanDan952 (3:31:03 PM): but the meek don't live long here

MilkmanDan952 (3:31:30 PM): this country hammers out cowardice, laziness, compassion, mercy, from the people that visit

thenoisewithin (3:32:22 PM): you speak of compassion and mercy as though they were loathesome inequities, rather than virtues

MilkmanDan952 (3:32:41 PM): here, they are

MilkmanDan952 (3:32:55 PM): they make you weak and weepy, when a killing instinct is needed here

MilkmanDan952 (3:33:06 PM): you can't think about them as people or innocent lives ended

MilkmanDan952 (3:33:11 PM): (they aren't innocent, which helps)

thenoisewithin (3:33:25 PM): i'm sure you can't

MilkmanDan952 (3:33:27 PM): you just have to treat them with harshness and cruelty or they walk all over you

thenoisewithin (3:33:46 PM): that would make you a murderer, rather than a soldier (in your own mind)

thenoisewithin (3:34:09 PM): i don't mean to sound like i'm accusing you of something

MilkmanDan952 (3:34:15 PM): I've thought about the difference between the two

MilkmanDan952 (3:34:21 PM): and I simply don't care

thenoisewithin (3:34:26 PM): i'm just making simple statements of psychology

MilkmanDan952 (3:34:32 PM): murder, soldierly conduct, whatever! I've got a career to think about

MilkmanDan952 (3:34:37 PM): obeying orders is my priority

thenoisewithin (3:34:46 PM): wow, dude

MilkmanDan952 (3:34:59 PM): I have my goals

thenoisewithin (3:35:06 PM): your career is more important than the lives of other human beings?

MilkmanDan952 (3:35:14 PM): the Army has changed me. It has blessed me with discipline, focus, will

MilkmanDan952 (3:35:21 PM): I have my goals and I have the means to achieve them

MilkmanDan952 (3:35:35 PM): being some whiney bXXXh who's squeemish about getting dirty will hamper them

MilkmanDan952 (3:35:47 PM): life is cheap, John

MilkmanDan952 (3:35:54 PM): they die, there's 6 billion more to replace them

MilkmanDan952 (3:36:04 PM): not to mention a never-ending supply of Haji in this country

thenoisewithin (3:36:08 PM): it's cheap as a statistic

thenoisewithin (3:36:16 PM): that much is true

thenoisewithin (3:36:27 PM): which is exactly how you've been programmed to view them

MilkmanDan952 (3:36:36 PM): programmed? there's no programming needed

MilkmanDan952 (3:36:45 PM): we come, we see, we change

thenoisewithin (3:36:59 PM): and, i never really expected you to (for some reason), but you willingly accepted it

thenoisewithin (3:37:08 PM): you always were a little twisted, i suppose

MilkmanDan952 (3:37:38 PM): the Army awakened something in me, and I embraced it

MilkmanDan952 (3:37:45 PM): it aids me, gives me strength and drive

MilkmanDan952 (3:38:10 PM): everyone who comes and has to experience life here and fight the hajis changes to our way of thinking

MilkmanDan952 (3:38:24 PM): the only pansies here are the ones who sit on the airfield (secure zone)

thenoisewithin (3:38:24 PM): and to clarify, will power and discipline are very easily differentiated between what you're defining them as

MilkmanDan952 (3:39:32 PM): regardless

MilkmanDan952 (3:39:38 PM): I like the change

MilkmanDan952 (3:40:01 PM): I don't jack off thinking about killing these people

thenoisewithin (3:40:04 PM): regardless, you have a pie in the sky dream of being a dictator, right?

MilkmanDan952 (3:40:06 PM): but their deaths don't really bother me

MilkmanDan952 (3:40:14 PM): hehe not particularly

MilkmanDan952 (3:40:25 PM): its a nice fantasy, but exactly taht

MilkmanDan952 (3:40:34 PM): besides, I never had any real ambitions along those lines

MilkmanDan952 (3:40:45 PM): I realized from day 1 that if it happened, it wouldn't be me

thenoisewithin (3:41:26 PM): i see

MilkmanDan952 (3:41:38 PM): oh but it was nice to think about

MilkmanDan952 (3:41:47 PM): gives me warm fuzzies right now just recalling

thenoisewithin (3:41:56 PM): well, i've got homework to do, and i'd rather do that than continue this particular conversation

MilkmanDan952 (3:42:03 PM): but no, it won't happen. I may attain very high military rank, but I won't ever make it that high

MilkmanDan952 (3:42:27 PM): you'd rather do that than talk with me? harsh

MilkmanDan952 (3:43:06 PM): But don't worry about my feelings. Despite what you think, I'm no psycho

thenoisewithin (3:43:26 PM): i'd rather do that than listen to a person talk about the worth of their career above that of human life

thenoisewithin (3:43:29 PM): that's what bugs me

MilkmanDan952 (3:43:34 PM): well

MilkmanDan952 (3:43:38 PM): hear me out

MilkmanDan952 (3:43:42 PM): you're not here

thenoisewithin (3:43:46 PM): i know

MilkmanDan952 (3:43:51 PM): you don't experience these savage motherfXXkers day after day

MilkmanDan952 (3:43:55 PM): you dont see the ???? they do

thenoisewithin (3:44:07 PM): but, keep in mind that that makes you biased in a different way than i am, but biased nonetheless

MilkmanDan952 (3:44:10 PM): you don't hear about the way they treat one another when we're not looking

thenoisewithin (3:44:17 PM): you don't hear it for what it is in it's entirety, just like i don't

MilkmanDan952 (3:44:37 PM): its war, people killing people, and from what I see it needs to happen

thenoisewithin (3:44:45 PM): i don't refute that

thenoisewithin (3:44:56 PM): humanity will never exist without war

MilkmanDan952 (3:45:02 PM): thse motherfXXkers need some serious fXXking purging, their mentality and way of thinking cannot be right

MilkmanDan952 (3:45:17 PM): I refuse to accept some ridiculous liberal notion of ultra objectivity

thenoisewithin (3:45:36 PM): and because of that, you cannot see the full picture

thenoisewithin (3:45:46 PM): i'm not saying that it's right

MilkmanDan952 (3:45:48 PM): these people are primitive savages, and there's no two ways about it

thenoisewithin (3:45:53 PM): as i am not ultra liberal

thenoisewithin (3:46:30 PM): (there's also no way to singularize the notion of "two", pal) [Note to TA: I'm a left-brained word-fetishist at times]

MilkmanDan952 (3:47:00 PM): you get the point...

thenoisewithin (3:47:08 PM): yes, i do

thenoisewithin (3:49:28 PM): well, i'm off

thenoisewithin (3:49:32 PM): have fun...

MilkmanDan952 (3:49:40 PM): oh I will...

MilkmanDan952 (3:49:46 PM): well not really

MilkmanDan952 (3:49:59 PM): death is a rush the first couple times, now its just a hassle

MilkmanDan952 (3:50:04 PM): I'd rather sleep in than raid..

thenoisewithin (3:50:43 PM): bye

MilkmanDan952 (3:50:46 PM): bye

Needless to say, I found our conversation quite disturbing, and I don't intend to ever see him again. I post this here because I feel as though everyone should read the way he talks about killing "the enemy". Just look at the mindset that is bred into soldiers. It's sickening. I'd like to hear your thoughts.
=============================================

end quote

 

[Ebbtide]

Nice script, nothing more

 

[mrapathy2000]

it sure is easy to be a arm-chair quarterback.

 

[gunsmith]

I have talked on the phone &

by email to an E7 in the infantry (and seeing action and getting shot at) and I think
that ...stuff.... I just read is either complete bull hochey or the product
of some E2 in the signal corp stationed in Kuwaite or Qatar far away
from real men doing real work.
I knew a guy in signal he was a wuss who couldn't fight or shoot.
I could beat him in a fair fight and my fist fight skills are far from legendary.
But I was (at the time) finding it real easy to score "expert" with the M16
(that was the 70's though I can't even remember how to clean one now)
and he couldn't stand it. Anyway this guy,an E2 in Signal like I was,would "dress up" as an Airborne Ranger! full dress uniform,he would put E4 insignia on,and walk around the base on his days off .
I am willing to bet this is the same kind of loser spending his days installing cable for computers in some safe base in Kuwaite,and bragging to his pretend friends online about all the "haji" he has killed,single handedly, with a bayonette and a .45...This is hardly a new problem.
http://www.fakewarriors.com
I read an article about these guys who go around claiming they were in "The Nam" the only thing is,nobody else new they were there.
During my hippie days (hey I was young and those dead head girls were loose!) I knew this guy who claimed to be a "Navy Seal" asked him where his dd214 was,and he had no idea what one was,he didn't even know fore and aft bow and stern, I aint no nautical genius myself but I would expect a Navy Vet to at least have a clue !
....
Ground Control to Major Tom...oop's I mean Spaceman!!

 

[nico]

if that's real, the guy seems a little crazy. But it's not representative of all soldiers any more than one cop who gets off on beating up suspects is representative of all cops.

 

[geekWithA.45]

This one pegged the old bull????ometer into the red.

He doesn't sound like any combat vet I've ever spoken to.

In fact, of the dozen or so that I know, they're all pretty reserved about sharing their experiences.

 

[444]

I am probably going to get flamed for this, and I probably deserve it because I have never served in combat. In fact at the time I was in, the only combat I knew about was the Grenada invasion and we wern't a part of it.
But, I have read and heard a lot of stuff over the years about all this remorse and emotional devastation and all that from killing in combat and I never bought into it. I could easily imagine a conversation very similar to this one taking place with military personel who are serving in a combat theatre. These guys have trained for years to do this. They volunteer to do this. It would be like going to baseball practice for years and playing your heart out, and finally getting to play in a real game. I am sure for some of them, possibly many of them, it is a rush to be in combat. Yes, I know there are moments of raw terror, and of emotional devastation when one of your own is hit or killed. Again, I may be totally off base with this, but I would bet that the main reason vets are reluctant to talk about their experiences is because people who have never been there will think they are a nut.
This idea of mine isn't just something I dreamed up while reading comic books. I have spoken to vets over the years and occasionally they would tell a few war stories. None of them had some deep emotional scar from the taking of the enemies life; at least none that they mentioned. I once knew a Vietnam vet who had a morter round go off right between his legs: friendly fire. Blew both his legs off. Prior to being in the military he had played big time college football. When he spoke about his service in Vietnam he said it was the biggest thrill he ever had. I have also worked for more than 20 years in a field where it is common to see death and destruction.
All that being said, I personally don't see the problem with anything the guy said or allegedly did, real or imagined.

 

[OF]

This one pegged the old bull????ometer into the red.

You can say that again.

MilkmanDan952 (3:34:32 PM): murder, soldierly conduct, whatever! I've got a career to think about

MilkmanDan952 (3:34:37 PM): obeying orders is my priority

Uh huh. That sounds convincing.

- Gabe

 

[Chris Rhines]

I hate you, Milkman Dan.

- Karen

 

[Ebbtide]

Nothing wrong with a virgin Grenadier combat vet trying to "attain a high military rank" whist using "High Explosive (HE)" and working on the "mortar crew" and interpreting Hajji familial relationships, is there?

Truth is in the details, and they are all bad. The only thing I could agree with is he has never had sex.

If I did not know better...wait I do...he just described my last hour playing Counter Strike.

 

[Aikibiker]

The details of the story ping my BS meter a little. Try to remember who is writing this narrative though. (supposedly) A very young man almost straight out of our country's failing education system who has been raised on violent movies and a culture that stopped teaching boys what it means to be a man decades ago.

If this is for real, I can very easily see such a conversation taking place. The soldier in question may not be expressing his true feelings adequately or well. (How many of us can do that via the written word?) Or he may actually have turned into a stone cold psycho, it happens in war. Or it may be the mental persona he has adopted to allow him to keep functioning in the hell that is a guerilla war and he will turn into a human wreck when he rotates home.

I have met veterans who were reticent about speaking of their combat experiences and I have met veterans who didn't mind talking about killing at all. I know a Korean War vet who chuckled as he told me about stopping a Chinese human wave attack with a quad .50 AA gun. (He has other memories that aren't quite as happy.) Everyone is different and has (or will/would have) different reactions to violence and taking life.

 

[Harold Mayo]

Is it just me or does every one of these guys who are or were supposedly in combat have at least a couple of dozen "kills" to their "credit"?

If all of these super-soldiers are really that competent, then we should be able to scale back the number of people that we have deployed in the Middle East tremendously.

On another board that I frequent (not even gun-related), there is a guy who has to add something in virtually every post about his supposed military service in Central America during the 1980's. He claims to have been "...in-country for 11 months, been on 36 missions and had 27 confirmed kills..." in addition to having been a Ranger and SF operator. He can't, of course, reveal more than this because it's all classified.

Anyone have any online resources about actual ratios of our soldiers AND enemy casualties and if there is a breakdown of any sort? IIRC, the numbers of Allied vs. Axis soldiers killed in WWII wasn't all that skewed. Certainly not 10:1 or anything like that.

 

[rock jock]

I think it is entirely possible that this is a real conversation. This guy's attitude may not representative of the average professional U.S. soldier, or it may in fact be in a theatre of combat, but there are always exceptions to the rule.

 

[RKCheung]

Total bunk

I'm not even going to bother to read the content of the so-called conversation because I can tell you right now that instant messaging is blocked from all military internet access points. I know because I tried getting on AIM when I was in Iraq last year. It isn't allowed because it is impossible to securely monitor as communications unlike email.

 

[444]

Now that is interesting.
Someone who states facts based on personal experience.
Very rare thing on the internet.
Thank you, RKCheung

 

[Azrael256]

I'm not even going to bother to read the content of the so-called conversation because I can tell you right now that instant messaging is blocked from all military internet access points.

Nope, not true. Brother messages me about once a month from "central Iraq" (LSA Anaconda). It was letters-only for awhile, then just email, but I've been able to talk to him since about mid-November.

Anyway, this alleged conversation is a complete and total crock.

 

[voilsb]

I talk to my little brother (mortarman-turned-SAW-gunner in the 101st, Mosul, IQ) on IM about every two or three days.

From reading the original post, I'd say it was an actual conversation with a guy who either is or was over there. He uses a lot of the same OEF/OIF slang my brother does. I doubt his exploits were as described, but his attitude is similar to that of a lot of privates I've known.

I'd be willing to say he quite possibly has done some of what was said, and greatly exaggerated it and his other experiences.

 

[RKCheung]

Well, then they must have changed their security procedures drastically since I was over there. Or maybe it's just that the Army runs things a little bit differently. Either way, I read through the script and it seems like if it was an actual soldier from Iraq, it'd be something he would say just to spite the person who asks the that stupid question that I've been asked too so many times.

 

[cameroneod]

I'm not even going to bother to read the content of the so-called conversation because I can tell you right now that instant messaging is blocked from all military internet access points. I know because I tried getting on AIM when I was in Iraq last year. It isn't allowed because it is impossible to securely monitor as communications unlike email.

It all depends on whos running your comm. In Afghanistan we could use it depending on where we were.

 

[Art Eatman]

I've known a couple of guys who could have been in that conversation. I happened to become able to read the 201 file of one of them, and he was exponentially "for real". His war stories from Vietnam, having done some 13 years over there, were far more startling than the IM posted above.

Again, there's no uniformity in uniform. No "one size fits all".

Which doesn't create any reality to that IM...

Art

 

[Leatherneck]

Either total BS or doctored. One truth though:

but the meek don't live long here

TC
TFL Survivor

 

[Bruce H]

John Kerry trolling again?

 

[agricola]

i read that and immediately thought of Futurama's Bender touring a chatroom disguised as a nurse

 

[rock jock]

You guys are right. Everyone that is the military is a cookie-cutter version of everyone else. No one in Iraq could possibly have a cynical attitude about that country, its people, or their worth as individuals. Their outlook on killing could not possibly be highly biased based on the experiences of seeing their friends getting wiped on a weekly basis by roadside bombs planted by cowardly terrorists who look just like the "friendly" citizens they are trying to protect. No fresh-faced soldier has been so shocked by the savagery of war that they adopt a devil-may-care approach to their own life and the taking of others. Good thing you guys can give us the real story here.

 

[Tierhog]

People react differently to stress. The first time I was under fire in the first gulf war was from a missile attack. The missiles didn't even hit our compound, but it sure got our attention. We all dove into the bunker we had dug and took inventory. One Marine had jumped in stark naked. Why he was naked we didn't ask. We took about 3-4 rounds and all was quiet. Then we started giggling. We told very stupid jokes and made fun of the naked LCpl. This same LCpl later deserted after we got home and ran off to Thailand to become a budhist monk. (actually at first there was a bar girl involved) Anyway, long stry short is that we all have our own preconceived notions of what combat is or isn't. This post sounds like some kids idea of what the military should be, or what he wants it to be. If he makes it sound ridiculous then maybe it will become less of an issue. just my .02$