Just sharing a pair of random thoughts.
I don't know if you've seen "
boom headshot", or whatever the name of the video is. Either this guy is a total gamer freak or an actor with a future in the business. There's something interesting in what he says, though.
"Army's just like fps but with better graphics
but if it lags there I'm dead"
In the middle of madness, a hint of sanity.
And all things considered, the true nature of your work is killing and/or dying for your country. That's the main reason for the existence of the military. Is it difficult? I don't know. I didn't kill anyone in my life, and of course I didn't die.
My grandfather had a little more experience, since he fought in two wars. He was one of the few Italians who could say he wasn't a loser in each of them, the first world war and the civil war against fascism. The second world war was fought by grandpa being a declared political opposer and organising the Resistance.
I remember my father saying that if the Nazis discovered what my grandfather did they would have burned his house with him and all his relatives locked inside. Nice times, you know. (Every war has his horrendous crimes, you know. And if you take a close look you'll see that the winning side has its good share of crimes.)
And I recall that I asked him once "What did you do during the war?"
"I shot."
"And did you ever kill anyone?"
"No, killing a man is like melting the snow on the mountains."
Melting the snow on the mountains. A friulian motto, it means doing a stupid, useless and enormous task.
I was a child at the time. I didn't know my grandfather lied to protect me. In an outburst of rage my father talked about those times, clearly stating that my grandfather put to death a lot of traitors. I have no doubt they deserved it. He was a shy man, he didn't like having any kind of power, and he put dignity and individual freedom above all. He was tremendously respected as a wise and brave person, although he didn't like the attention.
My grandfather, for sure, didn't like killing but he had to do it, and didn't like the idea of dying but accepted the possibility, even for his whole family. Tough choices, you know.
Nevertheless, he chose to lie to his grandchildren. I understand why he did it. That's why I respect his decision.
What I mean to say is just,
don't underestimate the task. It has enormous personal costs if you respect and value life. If you don't, it's much easier.
Take for instance the Iraqi insurgents: they're not afraid to die. They crave their death. They're happy to die in the name of Allah. They crave heaven. Life must really be hell, for them. No wonder they die in scores. Oh, and they never stop dying, there's always plenty of'em. If they don't kill but just die, they're happy all the same. Dying, for them, is more important than killing.
(I hope you get the idea: even if they lose, they've won. You
can't win a war against this kind of "soldiers". There's no higher reward than their own death, for them.)
What I mean in all this confusion (and I could go on for ages) is that you have to try to tell her that in real life it's not easy being a soldier. It's not like boom headshot. And if it is, there's something scary.
Try to see if she understands that it's a question of being prepared to kill, die or both. For what, and at what costs? Her choice. The best thing? Be
extremely informed. You may survive, but you never know what hidden price you could pay in the future. Such as being dishonest with your grandchildren to protect them. For an honest person, it may be a big price to pay.
Edit: apologies for the endless post.
