RGK;
Good morning to you sir, I trust the day in your part of the world has started as peaceful, bright and clear as it is up here just across the medicine line from Washington State.
I wanted to say thanks to you, Dirt Farmer and the others who've added the information from personal interaction and the thread when Col. Askins granddaughter participated. It adds perspective and we tend to loose our grip on it anymore these days - or so it seems to me.
Very vividly I recall a conversation with a Canadian WWII vet - I'm 54 and grew up in an era when about half the adult males were vets - anyway this gentleman actually talked in some detail to me, which I'll note was relatively rare in my experience as I wasn't a fellow vet.
While I can't recall his exact phrasing, he said that the overriding regret he had from his wartime tour was finding out he was good at combat. While he was cognizant that skill had ensured he and many of his brothers in arms were able to return home, it still had a profound effect on him knowing he'd been born that way.
"What a terrible thing to find out you were good at" is how I recall him putting it. He followed by saying if he'd never have gone, he'd never have known - or that was his belief.
As mentioned, I believe that Col. Askins was relatively unique in that he'd talk/write about his personal experiences in combat.
Lastly we had family friends who were in several African countries doing mission work from 1959 until they retired some 30 years later. As far as I'm aware their children are still there.
We visited them in Kenya in 1975 and truly it was quite "civilized" then - all things taken into consideration.
That said, unless one has been there a fair bit or known folks who have, it's difficult to wrap our western heads around what passes for "civilized" there. I'll just leave that one there if that's alright.
Anyway thanks again to you and all who've made the thread an interesting read.
All the best to you all in the remaining days of summer.
Dwayne
