Jeffrey Blankfort wrote:
As it now stands, however, the presence of black or brown soldiers in
our military does not appear to have had any humanizing effect.
JW reply:
Why should it? And what do you mean by humanizing effect?
Ethnic background or gender have little to do with it, it is
intelligence, knowledge and social upbringing.
JB wrote:
Soldiers are given orders by their superior officers and learn to obey
these orders without questioning them....
JW reply:
So the theory goes, but the closer you get to the ground the more input
individual soldiers have on immediate decisions. Been there and done
that and from my experience most soldiers are not dehumanized machines.
Orders are often modified as they pass down the chain, and in some
instances they get modified out of existance. Discipline is important,
but it is not unquestioning, at least not in any of the units in which I
served.
-- Jerry West Editor/publisher/janitor ---------------------------------------------------- THE RECORD On line news from Nootka Sound & Canada's West Coast An independent, progressive regional publication http://www.island.net/~record/
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