GDG- George Will Editorial (II)

[George F]

What I was trying to say - in general terms - was
as follows:

Most units today - even Reserve and National
Guard units are not made up of bothers, fathers
and sons, neighbors and such.  I know there are -
and have been exceptions to this.

The America of 1861 would be a very strange place
for the majority of us to observe in almost every
way.  I wont dabble at demographics - but most of
us dont grow up on farms or in small towns. We
are a suburban society for the most part.
Families are spread all over rather than with a
couple of miles from where they were born (if not
immigrants - a whole other dynamic here...).

But when many of the men in their late teens and
early twenties who enlist, train and fight
together are from the same town or geographic
area, the motivation goes beyond taking care of
your buddies to stay alive.  It has to do with
the potential of going home after the war and
living with these same people. Or if wounded or
killed, what the survivors will tell you family,
friends and neighbors about how you performed
while under fire.

Did the dynamics change as the war wore on
post-1863.  Probably.  Recruits and replacements
came into the ranks as the new guys - and where
perhaps views with the stand-off "FNG" label that
has been touched on in many books and later films
about warfare in the 20th century.

I am not disputing that some elements of this
exist today - but not to the degree or extent
that they did - especially with more rural and
small town units - north AND south from
1861-1865.

Finally, leadership is essential and key. BUT I
wanted to point out that there were factors above
and beyond leadership that motivated men to do
the things that they did.

I am not an as much of a student of World War I
and World War II so I cant commment on those. But
I do seem to recall that studies were done on how
men perform under fire after both wars to
understand how to make them more effective at
doing their jobs in future wars.

Respectfully,

George Franks
Bethesda, Maryland



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