BBC NEWS | UK | 'Why I would not kill in war' Article is on two WWII conscientious objectors, corpsman on Okinawa and a German boy who was forced into the army near the end of the war.
I grew up reading inspiring stories about those who remained true to their beliefs and heroically went about saving lives rather than taking them. Then I went to Vietnam. There I learned that a medic who would not defend his patient was pretty well useless and was occupying a slot that could be filled by someone who was a bit more realistic. It may have happened that medics who were not willing to defend their patients got shot at from two directions! Most shed their CO status rather rapidly and turned into good troops. BTW, We never doubted that, should we be wounded some crazy SOB driving a dustoff chopper would come get us!!!! These guys were great! If you know anyone who flew dustoffs, tell him how great he was.
Comparing Vietnam CO's to WW2 CO's is flawed. In WW2 medics (some of whom were CO's) were not picked off because of their "red cross" helmets which was the standard approach in 'nam, and some areas/times of WW2. To go into combat knowing that "cross" on your helmet is a target takes some courage to say the least. Different times, different circumstances. But I agree there were always crazy pilots in the dustoff choppers, they deserve more credit than they get.
