Marine Corps. I went to Paris Island in 1985. We would chant every night. Ready to fight, Ready to kill, Ready to die, but never will. That about sums up our mind set at the time. We had an agreement that we would not be captured. I was a Reconnaissance Marine. We usually went out in squads of 5, 7 was a big team. Gathering intel, observation posts behind enemy lines, sometimes to blow stuff up, sometimes prisoner grabs, among other stuff, we never believed we would die. My experience was nothing like WWII or Nam. I'm sure theatre and era has a lot to do with it.
My dad did the same in WWII, in Patton’s Ghost Troops. He had some great stories of those “behind the lines” jaunts. He was the radioman and had to report in every 15 minutes. If you didn’t report, your squad was assumed captured or dead.
Thank you for your thoughts on that mindset. My dad was a forward explorer, radioman, artillery soldier, temp MP, and a POW, who fought up the “bloody boot.” He once said Monte Cassino was the worst thing he ever saw. I’m still trying to understand him.