<p>This VT shooting thing has placed some some doubts in me on going to war and taking an enemy's life.
Can someone help me overcome this doubt, this is getting extremely frustrating as i'm going to the naval academy in two month and want to become a seal. I sure do not want to have this doubt when i'm goin through the training and especially not during a firefight.
Any help is appreciated thanks.</p>
<p>I think you have a while before you'll need to make that choice, i wouldn't sweat it right now, you have more important things to worry about.</p>
<p>Read "On Killing"; it's a great book. Also, consult an Officer who has had combat experience.</p>
<p>Do you doubt your ability to pull the trigger when someone threatens your life or your buddy's life? If your superiors told you that someone posed a threat to our nation and way of life, could you take that person out?</p>
<p>If you answered yes, I doubt you have anything to worry about.</p>
<p>I would have thought that you would have already resolved any personal moral issues that you have with taking enemy life BEFORE you had decided to enter any branch of service, let alone the SEALs. If killing an enemy who will obviously kill you if given the chance, what will you do if you are asked to perform a mission that has a significant chance of killing or injuring civilians? Under what circumstances will you allow civilian casualties? If you are forced to choose between dead/maimed children for sending an air strike to strike a hideout for a terrorist leader or telling the mother of one of your men that her son has died in service to his country (knowing full well that you could have spared his life by calling in that air strike) what would you choose? Are you uncomfortable with the idea that the lives of many people lie in your hands? </p>
<p>As a future member of the Class of 2011, I sincerely urge you and others to consider these issues now, so that you will have an idea of what to expect.</p>
<p>I think I'm too young at the moment to be responding to this question (having no experience and whatnot), but I would like to point out that currently, the enemies that are being faced in the war on terrorism do not care if they die. When fighting an one who is not afraid to die, it's imperitive to have your own doubts and fears about killing settled. I would suggest just sitting down for a couple hours to think to yourself. No one can quell your worries but you.</p>
<p>Take a look outside at the children playing and the elderly watching them with a happy smile. To what extent will you go to protect that freedom and happiness? </p>
<p>I hope that helps somewhat.</p>
<p>Marine is correct.</p>
<p>Still, it's hard to wrap your mind around the idea of killing another human being (whether they deserve it or not). I am fortunate and thankful to God that I have never been put in the situation where such a decision was necessary, but it is something you have to at least come to some modicum of peace with if you are choosing a career in the military. If you plan on being a SEAL, then your chances are even greater that you WILL have to face such a decision.</p>
<p>There is no correct answer, and I won't pretend that I know of one. You have to think long and hard, but it would be disappointing if you were to turn your back on the Academy after you have been accepted. You kinda should have thought of this earlier, you know?</p>
<p>Still, good luck. It's a question a person can answer only for themselves.</p>
<p>i've never doubt my ability to take an enemy's life before, but after the VT thing, my whole prospective just changed. I tried to restore myself by playing a lot of video game, but that's having little affect.
I'll never turn my back to the academy, b/c i've always wanted to be in the military. Its that this week my mind got so blown out by that VT thing and i started to question myself. Maybe, i should just stop thinkin about this for now</p>
<p>FWIW, I fail to see what the VT atrocity has to do with your valid concern. </p>
<p>In your case, you are debating whether you can take a life while in the line of duty, carrying out the legal orders of the elected government of a legitimate democracy. In VT, it was a lunatic who couldn't deal with life.</p>
<p>Follow the advice above: Stop worrying about it. NO ONE knows the answer to that question until they are faced with the instant of having to pull the trigger or face death themselves. Complete your training and then be ready to act if you need to. </p>
<p>Just pray you never have to.</p>
<p>I-Day is approaching. Since you said that you've never doubted your ability to take an enemy's life before, maybe I-Day anxiety is fooling with your mind. Take a breather. Think about the reasons you want to go to the USNA. If it is where you truly belong, I'm sure your doubts will subside.</p>
<p>I think if anything having some doubts about it are healthy, it shows that you value human life and think about the decisions you make. None of us really know what we will do if we are faced with that situation and God willing we won't have the opportunity to find out. Our decision is whether or not we are willing to follow the orders given to us.</p>
<p>seaairland-
if you had the chance to stop the vt killer before he struck others, by striking him down, how would you react? In regard to the theory for using deadly force, military service (and law enforcement) in the US are much the same. I am sure that all those police officers involved in the aftermath of the vt murders wishes they had hppened upon the gunman prior to his slaughter of the innocent.</p>
<p>hopefully, these decisions will remain abstract and hypothetical in your experience......but you do need to consider them. good luck at USNA.</p>
<p>All of these topics being discussed are delved into fully and completely in "On Killing".</p>
<p>The percentage of soldiers who actually fired at the enemy, with the intent to kill, in WWII was 10-15%. This ratio was increased to 50% in Korea and then to 90-95% in Vietnam due to tactics used by the military to help ease a soldiers' quelms about taking another life.</p>
<p>My honest advice: read the book. To take a human life is NOT as easy as these guys are making it sound; unless they have actually killed another human being, they are not experts in this area and any advice given by anyone here should be seriously scrutinized.</p>
<p>To go off of what 2011marine said, you DO NOT have to have your mind made up prior to being confronted with a potentially hazardous scenario. It is natural human behavior to doubt whether or not you will be able to take another human's life, to make it sound like you need to know RIGHT now whether or not you can do it is ludacris; 98% of soldiers nationwide will be hesitant to pull the trigger and if they do will suffer from some sort of psychological kick back; that is a real statistic, not something I just made up. The topic of killing is something that shouldn't be discussed nonchalantly as I feel is being done here.</p>
<p>What I feel you may be doing is concentrating on the negative aspects of taking a life (there's positive aspects? yes). Remember as an Officer you are charged to 'protect your flock'; remember you are serving your country and protecting your nation. If you can find absolutely no reason whatsoever as to why you would need to kill the enemy (which I severely doubt you won't find anything) then I would suggest looking into another career.</p>
<p>And just for another statistic, only 2% of all soldiers contain the ability to kill the enemy unremorsefully with no psychological problems to follow thereafter, so you're not alone.</p>
<p>I don't think we are trying to trivialize the subject. Obviously, the psycholgical aspects to war are very complex. I think there is a difference between having doubts about killing the enemy in a split second decision and realizing that one is totally opposed to the idea, to the extent that they could not pull the trigger. </p>
<p>I have no doubt that I would have afterthoughts and remorse for killing an enemy, however, I am fairly confident that I could accept it by rationalizing my actions as a military necessity. The issue comes when people don't believe that they could accept their actions, or when they absolutely will not act in accordance with what is required by the situation.</p>
<p>i figure out i have to fight off the evil in this world and helping out good people. I will be killing the serpent and freeing the oppressed. I kinda realized w/o this little incident, i would've never figured out why I fight.</p>
<p>
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I kinda realized w/o this little incident, i would've never figured out why I fight.
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</p>
<p>Don't sell yourself short. You always knew, and you would have figured out the rest sooner or later. :)</p>
<p>Read:
Rogue Warrior by Richard Marcinko
One Perfect Op by Master Chief Dennis Chalker </p>
<p>(Both Red Cell and SEAL Team Six Plankowners)</p>
<p>and
Warrior Soul by Chuck Pharrer </p>
<p>they all talk intimately about this act</p>
<p>My wife and I attended a book club a week ago and the last book discussed was "Flags of our Fathers". This very topic came up and since we had a few WW2 (Okinawa and Iwo) and Korean Vets who had actually seen combat and had the very real experience of having been shot at, we had the opportunity to hear their thoughts on the matter. The overwhelming theme we heard was that:</p>
<p>Every soldier/marine they ever knew (incl themselves) was terrified in combat. When they fired their weapon it was to protect themselves or their buddies. 99% of the time they were shooting "towards the enemy", not actually "at" an individual enemy soldier---things were that confusing and "foggy". They didn't think a whole lot at the moment about duty, the flag, history, saving democracy, or being a heroic soldier---just staying alive.</p>
<p>I remember my Grandfather who was an Episcopal priest saying how he received letters from the sons of several parishoners whom he knew during the Vietnam era. Many of them asked if it was morally right for them to kill their enemy. He told them it was morally defensible to protect themselves, their fellow soldiers and their nation. He told them to do so would help them to get home to their families. </p>
<p>This is a topic on which no young man or woman can know how they will feel until they are thrust into the situation of having to pull the trigger. Thats why the training they receive is what it is.</p>
<p>I might as well join in with another good book to read, which happens to be my favorite book ever. "Without Remorse" by Tom Clancy.</p>
<p>PS- See ya on I-day!</p>
<p>While that is a great book, I have to question its relevance. That kind of killing is very different...and a bit creepy. (Being about a ex-seal on a revenge trip.)</p>