LtCol Grossman is a former West Point psychology professor, Professor of
Military Science, and an Army Ranger. He is the author of On Killing, which was
nominated for a Pulitzer Prize; has been translated into Japanese, Korean, and German;
is on the U.S. Marine Corps Commandant's required reading list; and is required
reading at the FBI academy, West Point and other military schools.
On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill
in War and Society by LtCol Dave Grossman, 2009, Excerpts
Killing comes with a price, and
societies must learn that their soldiers will have to spend the rest of their
lives living with what they have done. Society must now begin to understand the
enormity of the price and process of killing in combat. By manipulating
variables, modern armies direct the flow of violence, turning killing on and
off like a faucet. But this is a delicate and dangerous process. Too much, and
you end up with a My Lai, which can undermine your efforts. Too little, and your
soldiers will be defeated and killed by someone who is more aggressively
disposed.
The armed forces of every country
can take almost any young male civilian and turn him into a soldier with all
the right reflexes and attitudes in only a few weeks. Their recruits usually
have no more than twenty years’ experience of the world, most of it as
children, while the armies have had all of history to practice and perfect
their technique. This stage in an adolescent’s psychological and social
development is a crucial period in which the individual establishes a stable
and enduring personality structure and sense of self.
Shell
Shock Battle Fatigue – Brave
New World
Atrocity by Violence, Atrocity by Policy
Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer, 2010, Excerpts
Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the
Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning, 1993, Excerpts
A Clash of Kings
No comments:
Post a Comment