[Gay State Conservative]

I've never been anywhere near combat so I can't speak from personal experience.But I've read...more than a few times...that “friendly fire” mishaps occur in even the best trained,best disciplined armies.Unless the soldier involved was an habitual screw up I'm not sure that he can be “blamed” or should feel “guilt” for what happened.Of course the opinions of those who *have* served in combat would be far more noteworthy than mine.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Knowing that it happens even with the best trained forces doesn’t make it any easier to live with when you are the one on the trigger.

[Monterrosa-24]

There is a scene in the German film STALINGRAD in which a young German soldier kills his friend in a close quarters factory fight. Later he is consoled by a veteran who says, “happens all the time”.

[BwanaNdege]

One night my platoon was up on a ridge line north of Danang. We were looking down on the bridge guarded by another company in our battalion. A firefight broke out and we could hear the chatter on the company tactical radio freq.

We could also see the tracers from both sides of the firefight... all orange! US ammo tracers are reddish-orange, AK-47s are greenish.

So we called ‘em up and said, “Cool it guys, you’re shooting at your own patrol.”

Thankfully, no one was hit. It is terrible when someone is wounded or killed, especially by friendly fire. But, it happens.