reply to post by Vector J
There are a proverbial $*itload of orders that soldiers will not follow. Don't think that just because orders come down the line that they are
carved in stone and originated on the mountain.
I went round and round with my officers on stupid orders alone. I can tell you what happens. If you get orders to do something that will get you
killed foolishly, you'll not do it.
If you get orders to do something that may get you killed, but everyone is doing what they can to minimize deaths to the soldiers, then they'll do
it.
If they tell you to throw down on civilians, you may have one or two who would, but trust me, they won't make a habit of it.
Either the officers get fragged, or the shooters themselves are shot. Normal soldiers prefer the known. They have a moral center. There are lines
that they as a group will not cross.
In any population, there will be a few, just like on a typical Bell Curve, that are outside the norm. Fortunately, they normally don't last long,
once they begin to actually operate outside the norm.
I'm not concerned at all that our soldiers will just throw down on their countrymen. And if I were a soldier, I'd be some kind of pissed that
anyone would suggest such a thing.
As far as Kent State - UNTRAINED young men, who were having $#it thrown at them, lots of yelling, and a few either got pissed or scared. They never
were shown how to face an angry crowd.
Each man, even in crowd, can feel mighty alone. If no one would have been yelling and throwing things, this would have never happened.
It is always unfortunate that those who instigated these events never seem to get shot. Just bystanders.
