he should have known when to keep his mouth shut; keeping his lips sealed would have done wonders. yet, at the same time, he still didn’t feel like he needed friends… let alone one’s that were actually willing to put themselves on the line for him. “i need…” he sucked in a deep breath before letting it out slowly, “…to do this on my own. anyone else is just dead weight.”
heroism is hard to study in soldiers because they invariably claim that they acted like any good soldier would have. among other things, heroism is a negotiation of the self – you’re prepared to lose your own life for the sake of others – so in that sense, talking about how brave you were may be psychologically contradictory. ( try telling a mother she was brave to run into traffic to save her kid. ) civilians understand soldiers to have a kind of baseline duty, and that everything above that is considered “ bravery. ” soldiers see it the other way around : either you’re doing your duty or you’re a coward. there’s no other place to go. // war – sebastian junger
Hellfirebound 