Re: Ashamed of it .... now

[<SDonell73@aol.com>]

In a message dated 10/10/02 3:27:40 PM Pacific Daylight Time, swan@haysco.net writes:

>    I stopped telling this story when I found civilians weren't amused by it. Even those

   who asked, "Did you ever kill anybody?"
>

Bob,

I think that it's sad. However, I did similar things, not so harmful, as did some of my buddies when we were in Japan. I think that it is typical of many 18 or 19 year olds especially in a country which is seen as of lesser status. I'm not proud of it, in fact, in retrospect, after thinking about it through a prism of almost 50 years, I am downright ashamed of it. But, I would imagine that it was/is done by some in every army in the world, in a similar situation. Teenagers are the least sophisticated of any age group in any society.

When I worked in Kuwait, after the Gulf War, I was the only American among a bunch of Brits. I was at least 20 years older than the oldest of them. Their attitude toward the Kuwaitis made the picture of the Ugly American, look mild indeed.

As an old German saying goes, "We get too soon old, and too late smart."

Sandy