Both factions do it.
I was on a gunboat in Nam at Danang. While we did have firefights sometimes most of it was boring nightime patrolling.
I’d see the Marines in the field in their worn and tattered ODs and worn gear. Then I’d patrol upriver past the 3rd Marine Amphib Force headquarters and see the personnel there in their fancy new Camos and new M16s. Those are my ideas of REMFs. Or the O-3 on the radio screaming “Get closer!” from 10 miles away.
Keyboard warriors screaming “Kill (insert subject here)” are even lower on the scale.
As has been observed: the further from the front, the more enthusiasm for combat.
“As has been observed: the further from the front, the more enthusiasm for combat.”
I agree that those who have not seen the elephant, are the ones most eager to do so.
But, really, isn’t that more a condition of youth and naivete? Youth thinks it is immortal; always has. But, once it sees some carnage and mangled bodies it generally develops a different mindset. Unless it is just plain stupid.