Re: Experience and Training

Japanese are civilized people?	Right?	I think so, I mean, in spite of
not cooking some of their fish. (That was a joke, I actually like some
sushi.)

During WWII during the island hopping part of the war, a Corpsman
(medic) heard someone call out "Corpsman!" (pronounced "Core-man" for
those who Hooked on Phonics).  The medic (the guy telling the story,
incidentally) shoulder's his bag and runs toward the voice to see a
japanese soldier smiling and getting a bead on him from right where the
voide HAD to have come from.  He was lucky in that a fellow marine saw
this and got in position to shoot the japanese soldier before he got his
shot off.  That corpsman carried a carbine obtained from one of our
fallen soldiers for the rest of his service.

This happened when America was "taking the fight" to the Japanese... so
the japanese were losing ground and the war.  When you're losing, and
you believe that you are on the "right side" of the war, everything
seems okay if it will help you win.  Losing a corpsman was a hard blow
to a fighting unit, because even casualties had a higher potential of
becoming casualties, and the increased urgency of moving the wounded to
the rear for stabilization diminished the units fighting ability until
the corpsman could be replaced.

It was not uncommon for medical support elements to be targetted
directly.  I can't imagine why it would be any different today or in the
future once one side starts to lose and has the capability to
selectively target those resources.

--Flak

On Mon, 31 Dec 2001 11:15:22 +1100
Beth.Fulton@csiro.au wrote:

> G'day,
>  
> > It also depends on who you're fighting.  If you're
> > going up against a civilized army you don't need to
> > issue medics with rifles.  
> 
> Hopefully. 
> 
> Beth
>  

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