82Whitey51 Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 (edited) I remember watching this documentary on PBS as a kid in the 80s (6th/7th grade...?). Knowing I would have a career in the military in some regard, it was very interesting and timely to me. Some really good analysis of war with the soviets throughout the series. At any rate, at the 3:38 mark of episode 1 here, Gen. Sir John Hackett has the following quote: “The whole essence of being a soldier is not to slay but to be slain. You offer yourself to be slain rather than set yourself up as a slayer.” I don't think I could disagree more with what he said...he obviously never watched the opening scene of "Patton". Edited November 21, 2016 by 82Whitey51 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 34 minutes ago, 82Whitey51 said: I remember watching this documentary on PBS as a kid in the 80s (6th/7th grade...?). Knowing I would have a career in the military in some regard, it was very interesting and timely to me. Some really good analysis of war with the soviets throughout the series. At any rate, at the 3:38 mark of episode 1 here, an English fellow has the following quote: “The whole essence of being a soldier is not to slay but to be slain. You offer yourself to be slain rather than set yourself up as a slayer.” I don't think I could disagree more with what he said...he obviously never watched the opening scene of "Patton". Not sure who the gent is that made that statement but I'm guessing he was never a grunt. Very much a macro-level, philosophical outlook on the subject. During my stint, it was always strongly suggested that the approved approach would be to kill the bad guy. Ideally, to kill many bad guys. Being killed was considered to be a less than desirable outcome. That being said, I was Army. I could easily see my brothers in The Corp (tm) buying in to the quote above. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Cartwright Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 Kind of the opposite view of this (slight language warning): Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sabre Freak Posted November 16, 2016 Share Posted November 16, 2016 (edited) Actually, Whitey, I think you and Patton got it wrong and that English guy nailed it. Comrades vs country Edited November 16, 2016 by Sabre Freak Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Murph Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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