Reply #64

soldiers have been behaving like this before combat like forever, serious.

Ok, there were no photos in Roman times, but you can bet your dying ass that the troopers of the Tenth legion joked and smiled as well... before they marched to Massada. Or the second Legion, before guarding the Hadrian Wall, (On and that one, from ostraca we know the life of the roman legionaire was just as boring and of complaints of the usual suspects, as any modern military)

There are no photos of Greece either, but I am willing to bet that soldiers at Marathon did something similar before combat.

Read some Shakespeare, he captured this well in prose that we all love to quote to this day... so did Herodotus by the way.

What we need is for people to realize that before combat troops around the world will behave in ways like this.

It is, I think, a way to avoid thinking that perhaps you are mortal... and for the 19 year old soldiers, and the 20 somethings junior officers, that is a hell of a reality check. Oh don't worry, those who are exposed to combat, regardless of national army, will have a few nightmares for the rest of their days... if they do not buy the farm... and in some cases will not be functional. That is the horror of war.

Oh and that has nothing to do with what national uniform you wear either.

Just check the photos I posted from other wars, going back to the Civil War.