Here is an issue:
"If an officer had come up with something like this during the war, I'd have considered fragging the crazy son of a bitch unless he had a real good track record." (p. 535)
Would Tom really have considered this? A man who had fought in World War II told me, "There was one officer who was such a bloody nuisance we had to get rid of him ourselves. He would have got us all killed."
Do soldiers in combat make this pragmatic decision: to kill an incompetent officer who otherwise would get them all killed, including himself? I will leave that question with the moral sensibilities of blog readers while I go for a family meal in my daughter's and granddaughter's flat. (I am glad that I am unlikely to be involved in any armed conflict.)
7 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
An interesting question, "fragging." I've never been in the military, so I'm a bit hesitant on the question of whether it can be right to kill an incompetent officer in emergencies. Normally, of course, that would call for court martials and hanging for any convicted of killing a superior officer.
I do have a couple of ex military online friends: one British and one American. I'll send them this blog piece and ask for their comments.
Sean
Sean,
Thank you! And I expect David to say something.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I thought of David as well and I hope he comments.
Sean
Paul and Sean:
The term "fragging" dates from the Vietnam War, but the practice has occurred more-or-less throughout military history and in all militaries. Nor is it always to do with getting rid of an incompetent before he "gets all the rest of us killed."
The poem "Infidelity" by Robert Service is about a British soldier in World War I who discovers that his wife slept with his sergeant when the noncom went back to England on leave.
"Well, next time when we makes a big attack,
As soon as we gets well across the top,
I'll plug 'im (accidental) in the back;
'E'll cop a blinking packet in 'is spine,
And that'll be the end of 'im, the swine."
Despite being a service veteran, I'm not a COMBAT veteran, so I'm not the best positioned to judge this, either ... but if someone poses a clear and present danger by gross incompetence, his subordinates may not be able to send a request that he be investigated and relieved of command up through proper channels soon enough. In that case -- well, I'm very glad I never had to make such a decision, or even know or SUSPECT that anyone in my unit had.
I DID once overhear some of the lower-ranking officers talking about our battalion commander: they predicted that if the Soviets invaded West Germany, the colonel would be one of the first casualties. This particular colonel also on one occasion rejected a briefing on what our intelligence indicated the Soviet battle plan would be. He wanted us to change the REAL estimate of enemy intentions to match HIS plans....
Hi, David!
Again, interesting! And the conclusion I drew from the poem you quoted was that fragging can take more forms than one. In fact, the poem reminded me of how fragging can be found in the Bible, in the story about King David and Uriah the Hittite. The king had slept with his loyal soldier's wife, and to cover up the embarassment, put Uriah at the front of the battle with the hope the enemy would kill him (as indeed happened).
And I can understand the case you outlined, that in combat situations, there might well not be enough TIME to remove an incompetent officer by regular means. So, an incompetent might end up dying in murky circumstances.
I'm only a civilian, but even I know a battle plan HAS to conform to what is known of an enemy's forces and plans. The colonel you mentioned was dangerously foolish rewriting what was known of actual Soviet battle plans to fit his PREFERRED views and plans.
Sean
Sean,
Most things are in the Bible or Shakespeare.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, altho I was surprised to realize the story of King David and Uriah the Hittite was an example of fragging!
I remember reading of a writer declaring that Dante and Shakespeare, of all poets, divide the world between them. That is, they are the two most UNIVERSAL poets to be found.
Sean
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