Legendary Marine Scout Sniper Chuck Mawhinney dies at age 75 (msn.com) He sure helped his fellow Marines out in Vietnam and, even though I wasn't in the jungles of Vietnam, I still think he's a true HERO! IOW, he saved numerous Marine lives.
Very interesting that this article is getting no replies here. Wonder why? If I had been in the jungles of Vietnam looking for the enemy, I'd love to have a Sharpshooter get one before that enemy got me!
Cody, I know that in war it's kill or be killed. But it seems to me to be sadistic to keep a running tally of those who you have killed. Those young men had mothers and fathers back home just like our young men did. Possibly a wife and children, too, all of whom were grief stricken when they were killed. They were doing their duty to their country just as our young men were. War is hell but I can't justify celebrating kills. BTW, if women were in charge of the world, there would be a lot less wars. A few more cat fights, maybe, but less wars.
I think there's a thread here where we discussed all of the wars initiated by female monarchs, disproving your theory. But I'll fight if ya wanna
Believe it or not, Shirley, onboard the ship I was in Vietnam, the Army and Marines would check out any enemy positions that we'd get coordinates to fire our two 5 inch front and rear guns at, and send back the number of kills we had. They would count the number of dead VC and NVA. When it comes to "them (the enemy) or us (Americans)" neither cared about the families of the ones killed. That's not what is taught in any military training. Even Navy Fighter pilot's Commanders kept track of "kills" of VC and NVA. We talked to a retired Navy Fighter Pilot that told us that his ship Captain done just that. And, btw, the VC and NVA kept tally of the number of Americans they killed (when they could). Killing the enemy, to save fellow soldiers from being killed, should be celebrated. Guess you don't know anyone that was in the military during any of the Conflicts the U.S. has been involved in.
So, what's the problem with celebrating a "kill count"? When enemies are fighting, families are not thought of at all. However, after doing a little thinking about it, celebrating a "kill count" does sound somewhat disgusting, but "it is what it is". Every Conflict/War has done it. America celebrated the two atomic bombings of Japan in 1945 and the Doolittle Raid after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
We may have this Marine's body count by his own estimate but we will never have a count of how many American lives he saved by killing enemy soldiers. It's our guys and gals or the enemy. I choose ours. In my book he is a hero. I don't know if my two relatives killed anyone in Vietnam or not, although I think I can be pretty sure that the one on the river boats did what he had to do in some pretty hot encounters. I know that my other one was involved in enemy fire on patrol but often you didn't know. They never told me and I never asked. It's not something you do. We just welcomed them home and let them know how much we loved them and how much we honored their willingness to serve. They could have gone to Canada, I guess, but that's something they would never have done.