Quoted:
.... living on the edge crazy SOB's" in it's armed forces.
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Striker,
every military in the world including yours has those same characters.
Check out a few stories about your folks on June 6, 1944. You'll find the same characters -only the names will be different. (eh !)
Many and probably most are thoroughly rotten peace time soldiers/sailors. Non-conformists, discipline problems you name it and if they didn't do it, they simply didn't think of it.
But somehow-someway when the "buggle-for-battle" sounds these same folks are transformed.
Almost as if they've finally found there purpose for "being."
Maybe one of the better examples on the U.S. side was General George (Georgie) Patton. It is best that Gen. Patton died shortly after WWII as the peace-time military, for which he was completely unsuited, would have surely killed him - slowly.
Gunny Hathcock is truly one of our American heros.