Quote:
Originally Posted by Manx
Not good enough. Every soldier does not experience these shifts in reality that propel them to commit these acts. So it is not simply combat which is the "something".
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I will agree 100% with this statement. Something in addition to being in combat usually sets off this behavior. However, the combat-zone environment sets the stage.
Kind of like a killer that has a horrible youth (abuse, etc.). Something else might set them off to actually kill, but the original environment set the stage.
Oddly enough, people that usually go this far wouldn't have done anything remotely like this as a civilian (not always the case, granted, every division of every branch of the military has its nutjobs). Taken out of the combat situation, the actions would never have happened. However, in the "zone", these things do happen. Why? I have no freakin' clue. But something about being out there does something to people and it affects everybody differently.
I had a buddy of mine go Section 8. Nice kid, very trustworthy, great worker, etc. Then one day, whammo, he's gone (in his head). It was very sad and troubling to watch this happen to a very good friend of yours. Oh yeah, when were in the Gulf when it happened - go figure. Had he not been in the service, he probably would've made it his entire life without so much as a hiccup.