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30 Historically Speaking September/October 2006 Letters War Lovers In his informative essay on future war, "The Unhappy Warrior" (Historically Speaking, March/April 2006) Christopher Coker writes: "The true warrior is different from an ordinary soldier because of his greater capacity to deal with fear." That is true, but there is much more to it, which presents bigger problems for manipulators of DNA and designers of pharmaceuticals. Although he mentions Patton, Coker ignores the warlovers—the mavericks for whom war is a sport. William Broyles, a Marine in Vietnam and later Editor -in-Chief of Newsweek, was one of them, and explained why: War is a brutal, deadly game, but a game, die best there is ... . But if you come back whole you bring with you the knowledge that you have explored regions of your soul that in most men will always remain uncharted .... The love of war stemsfrom the union, deep in our being, between sex and destruction , beauty and horror, love and death .... One of die most troubling reasons men love war is the love of destruction, the thrill of killing .... I always thought napalm was gready overrated .... I preferred white phosphorus, which exploded with a fulsome elegance .... I loved it more—not less—because of its function: to destroy, to kill .... War is, in short, a turn on. [Italics mine]1 General George Patton's famous comment (paraphrased by Coker) seems mild compared to the above, but echoes the same thought: "Could anything be more magnificent .... Compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance . God, how I love it!"; Many, if not all, great (not merely competent) combat commanders have been war ¡overs and mavericks . That is not to say that they were bloodthirsty; they simply knew the game and how to win, like great football coaches. John Madden did not take the Raiders to Superbowls by kind and genüe instruction . Coker observes that diese days "no general dare confess" to loving war. True. They serve a society that exalts peace. However, Patton—serving America at the height of her bellicosity—should have kept his moudi shut on that and other issues. If he had, he might have headed die D-Day invasion, instead of commanding one army (die Third) under the colorless Omar Bradley. In die current war or those of die future, it is difficult to imagine winning widiout the war lovers. As Michael Evans points out in his "Of Arms and die Man" (Historically Speaking, March/April 2006), war is still a contest of wills, and "-oldiers must be "spiritually motivated to risk [their lives]." War lovers are made for emergencies, and in war throw away plans and fight by instinct, as winners always have. They inspire soldiers to fight—by example, if needed—no matter how terrible the situation. However, they are almost never mindless brutes. Broyles was bright enough to become editor of Newsweek. Patton was "Old Blood and Guts" to his British World War I poster. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [reproduction number, LC-USZC41125 ]. troops, but in his personal life was urbane, Frenchspeaking , and well read, especially in ancient history. Neither a Broyles nor a Patton would be likely to reject advances in military technology. Coker also notes the large percentage of Special Operations Forces in the present Gulf War. They are all volunteers—officers and men—who are attracted by dangerous duty. The United States has finally stopped dissolving elite units after every war. There will be more of them in die future, and you can bet they will be led by mavericks who love war. Owen Connelly University of South Carolina ' Vietnam Reader (Routledge, 1991), 57. ! This was not made up by some screenwriter for the movie Patton , but is quoted from a letter to his wife by Colonel Charles R. Codman, Patton's senior aide, 1943-45. See Codman, Drive, (Little Brown, 1957), 159. Christopher Coker Replies Owen Connelly is right to suggest that some soldiers see war as a sport. It has been so for centuries. In The Politics v/e find Aristotle discussing five main ways by which men live by their labor. We find die ones we...

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