Gentlemen of war

[Chiswickboy]

Getragdogleg said:

If I found myself fighting for my country in a war I did not want to fight for reasons I did not fully trust I would shoot to injure.

A very noble stance but unfortunately it is not as simple as that. The chances of your enemy standing still for you to be able to take careful range, wind and temperature calculations before shooting them in a non lethal part of the body are slightly less than zero.

A more practical path is to volunteer for the medical corps.


On a more general point, what no-one has taken into account is that the perpetrators of Germany's aggression was the Nazi Party and that many Germans did not agree with them. Those who say that the fighter pilot should have obeyed orders have not understood that "I simply obeyed orders" is not a defence when you are making a moral decision. Unless you have been in this position it is almost impossible to appreciate the thought process.