At camp, a friend of mine ripped off the head of a bat that landed on him in his sleep.
That was rather bloody.
Who does he think he is, Ozzy?
Was Patton really insane though?
So many military books talk about soldiers training for years and years to become elite killing machines who can’t wait to be put to use. They all want to see combat. Until they see combat, of course.
I’d say most of them like the mystery, not the murder. Plus, they want to see the person get caught.
I’m no fan of guns, except in games. Explosives? I’ve thrown one grenade in
my life, and it actually hit my target. Underwhelming explosion, nothing like in
the games I like. Blades are more personal weapons - my choice if I’d need to
murder someone. I just don’t want to do the cleaning…
And then you are reading “The Talented Mr. Ripley” or watching “Match Point” and get all confused and stuff.
It’s not Ripley’s fault though, he has no conscience.
That would be the US then?
No, Bush Jr.
Michael Herr, ‘Dispatches’ is pretty good on the dread sexiness of war.
Edit: Looking for some good links, but they’re all a little faggy. Favourite quote though, from memory. He’s talking to a spacy LURP - special forces recon dudes who went out into the jungle for weeks.
He told me a story as one-pointed and resonant as any I heard in my time there. “Patrol went up the mountain. One man came back. He died before he could tell us what happened”.