Ted Wagner wrote:
Why oh why do "the" Americans (apologies to those who don't) have such
high esteem for fighter pilots, killing and war?


Who wrote this?!

I'm a 43 y/o American who's met a whole lot of other Americans, many of them
soldiers and airmen, and I have yet to find one who holds killing in high
esteem.

I've only met one who liked war....


I assume that you were never in the military. I've seen plenty of those
guys. During my basic training, we had a guy who'd been in the Air Force
and had spent a year in Vietnam. He didn't have enough "fun" in the Air
Force so he quit and joined the Army - so he could go back and have some
real fun ("I love that ****" - his exact words). I had a company
commander who did a 'Nam tour flying medevac helicopters and the last
thing he wanted to be was a stateside company commander and was pulling
all the strings he could to get back and get more action. I'll stop here
but I have many more examples. I never understood those guys, I had no
desire to go.

The US Marines Corps used have a recruiting commercial that ended with
the slogan "Nobody likes to fight, but somebody has to". I understand
that the last part is true. I know that the first part is bull****.

Sorry for being off topic.

Tony V. "6N"