Robert S. Johnson about the act of killing

[Onebad]

This is a bit from an interview with Robert Johnson, a P-47 ace credited with 27 victories on the Western Front.

In the air, combat was not man-to-man, face-to-face, as it can be on the ground, like in the infantry. It was an airplane-to-airplane contest—impersonal. We didn't know the people we fought. We had no idea who they were. We did know they were going to try to kill us and we knew that we were going to try to prevent them from doing that—and in very few cases did I ever want to kill somebody. The only times I wanted to kill were when I saw enemy aircraft firing on our parachutes and in another case, when I saw a bunch of people on the ground who took one of our pilots and literally tore him limb from limb. They tore off his arms and legs with their bare hands. That was war, then.


WHAT. THE. FUCK?

[Grumpy]

Your turn soon, Onebad. Welcome to the Eastern Front, fascist dog!