Unfortunately there are a few too many young men who think that all looks “fun.” They’ve been playing at all those scenarios in video games their whole lives, and now they want the real thing.
The thing about games and movies is they never talk about what you eat or where you shit it out. Hell, even history classes omit that information and I think that even just those two things alone would really curb a lot of the “appeal” that war and stuff has.
I enjoyed reading John Keegan’s “The Face of Battle” bc among other things it talked about 3 different battles as they must have been experienced by the common soldier. iirc the night before Waterloo they slept in wet fields and ofc didn’t have time to change, before Agincourt they likely had to “relieve themselves” right where they stood and many had diarrhea (and some couldn’t even take off their armor to do so!) soldiers were often hungry and thirsty and exhausted, etc.
Most casualties and deaths, especially during the age of trench warfare (1850s-1910s) were caused by bad hygiene and conditions for soldiers. Who knew living day in, day out, in humid mudholes with rationed food could be problematic?
Unfortunately there are a few too many young men who think that all looks “fun.” They’ve been playing at all those scenarios in video games their whole lives, and now they want the real thing.
The thing about games and movies is they never talk about what you eat or where you shit it out. Hell, even history classes omit that information and I think that even just those two things alone would really curb a lot of the “appeal” that war and stuff has.
I enjoyed reading John Keegan’s “The Face of Battle” bc among other things it talked about 3 different battles as they must have been experienced by the common soldier. iirc the night before Waterloo they slept in wet fields and ofc didn’t have time to change, before Agincourt they likely had to “relieve themselves” right where they stood and many had diarrhea (and some couldn’t even take off their armor to do so!) soldiers were often hungry and thirsty and exhausted, etc.
Most casualties and deaths, especially during the age of trench warfare (1850s-1910s) were caused by bad hygiene and conditions for soldiers. Who knew living day in, day out, in humid mudholes with rationed food could be problematic?