re: #97 ckkatz

I think that we lived through it here 2016-2020. And I like to think that the high level corruption did not influence too many of us into a life of crime. Of course I have been wrong before.

I have a question for you. You were in Germany during the Cold War. Did anyone ever talk with your unit, or even did you talk about it among yourselves. About what you would do if a Warsaw Pact tank or anti-tank missile team was shooting at you while they were hiding in a German building known to be occupied by civilians?

My experience was the expectation that the environment would be permissive.

It would have been very permissive and I hate thinking about that scenario. The only reason I don’t know how many would have died from us is how few would have been left after the nuclear, chemical and very possibly biological weapons being used in the early 80’s in middle Europe…

Yet they hammered us, monthly, about not obeying illegal orders. About not doing the wrong thing. About being better than what They had been in WWII and We had been in The ‘Nam (though they _NEVER_ said that name even though the lessons were obvious to anyone). The Army in 1983 was in a damn strange place. I only understood just how bad crazy it really was when I got back to the states and got out of active duty and about 6 months later in a fit of boredom joined the National Guard.

We went to the nearest training post. All day we did normal training. Then that night? Out came a half barrel, a bonfire, and it was a fucking frat party just with out the sorority chicks. I was deeply shocked. Even the stoners on active didn’t party like those senior NCOs.

Things were changing, though. A year later, no more parties in the field.

Less than a decade later I watched a half dozen good troops end up in the stockade over less than a lid of pot because an ambitious 1LT wanted to make a name. He did but not like he hoped, thankfully. “Health & welfare” my ass. I didn’t smoke since I was into alcohol, but didn’t give a rats fuck if people did as long as the job was done.

Finding the balance has always been the bitch in this.