Monday, March 16, 2009
Elliot Horovitz
My step-grandfather on my mothers side fought in the European campaign in WWII. He was originally motivated to join the Air Force because he loved flying and he saw it as an opportunity to do what he loved. As he entered the war he quickly found out that there were many strings attached to this opportunity. For instance the part where he had to bomb targets in Germany and its outer limits. So I thought that I would ask him how he felt about killing people who he didn't know and who he had no idea what they had done to deserve to die. He said that the army didn't tell him exactly what every person did but they made it clear what it was that we were targeting. I couldn't wrap my head around it so what he did was he said that he felt that it was his job to bomb the military bases from the air and the marines would liberate the camps from the ground. I felt that what he did was obviously the right thing to do but part of me still thought that it might have been for the wrong reason, so was that right? Honestly, I have no idea....
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Kyle,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting story. You are lucky to know someone who has experienced so much in one lifetime. If you would like check out my Oral History because my great uncle has somewhat of a similar story except he was never actually able to fight for his country. The moral dilemna that you are struggling with is whether or not bombing innocent civilians to rescue dying Jews is justified. I can't answer that question either. I may not be right on the moral dilemna if not tell me and explain.
the question you pose is one that id love to think about for a while. In the end this question falls under the umbrella of "was it the right thing to do" type of questions. these are the worst in the sense that they are the most important...yet they are always left unanswered.
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