A very good column indeed!
This shared risk is crucial glue. There are no jobs in the service that are absolutely safe. On Pelelieu Marine Lt. Col. Chesty Puller asked for replacement infantrymen. He was told there were no more infantrymen; the only men left were cooks and bakers and messengers. “Send them up,†Puller answered. “The ones left alive tomorrow will be infantrymen.â€
Amen!
A much better opining on the subject and day than mine.
Many are called, few walk into harms way, but from my experience the clerks and cooks serve as well. Someone has to make sure the grunts get fed, someone else has to make sure the bullets, MRE's, and toilet paper makes it to the line. We may have cursed them, made fun of them, even looked down on them a little. But, withouit them we would never have survived. Age and experience makes me see what I missed when I was young and full of piss and vinegar.