How come in past wars in past centuries men were willing--sometimes eager--to go off

[raccoon]

To fight in wars and nowadays most wouldn’t be? (I certainly wouldn’t blame anyone for that.)

Not only that, but in previous wars, even as recently as World War I and II, men from the upper classes went into actual combat and that rarely happens anymore since WWII, not in this country anyway.

I know what I’ve written is vastly oversimplified. Surely there were men in previous centuries who didn’t want to go to war but were drafted or went because of peer pressure. Or because their homeland was invaded.

We can’t time travel so we can’t really know how the average soldier of previous centuries felt about going into combat. All we have to go on are writings from that time.
So a lot of what I have written may be just the way it is presented to us from the writings of the time, as well as how it’s presented in Historical fiction, movies, and television.

I’d like to hear some of your thoughts about this.

[tonyt53]

1. Pride of country and humility in oneself. Most rich kids have neither. They weren't raised that way.

[democratisphere]

2. The wars are rarely fought on American soil and Americans are

insulated and detached from the actual horrors of war. If a war was to be started on American soil, I think people would be very engaged in battles. The political and military elite have always been and are far behind the front lines.

[Nitram]

3. Raccoon, there are still many young men who enthusiastically sign up for military service looking

forward to the "excitement" and "challenge" of combat. And there always will be. Some of them grew up in a family where the men in every generation served in the military, and others just have a romantic motion of "manhood, courage, and honor." Some even come back from service in a war zone with those idiotic notions reinforced. From what I've read I'd guess Chris Kyle, the guy the movie "American Sniper" was about, was one of those.

[SimpleC]

4. I joined to get away...

I joined to get away from an abusive and dysfunctional family, but that's a different story...

It worked out though... after my upbringing, boot camp to me was a joke, and I did extremely well in the Military. Circled the globe at least three times and been involved in 2 wars.

The Military is not just a job, it's a lifestyle and a commitment. I'm overall glad for the experience and I learned a lot from it.

People like trump wouldn't have done well in the military, bullshit doesn't get you far and your peers and commanders would not only see it, they'd make his life hell.

Part of what gets under my skin about trump is I've met the personality type that he is, and in a fight trump would run like a bitch.