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top 200 commentsshow 500

[–]jaxxon 944 points945 points ago

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For a minute, I thought the legs of the chair were his shin bones.

[–]the_television 333 points334 points ago

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Yeah, I was wondering why he wasn't receiving immediate medical attention

[–]ShizWhiz 288 points289 points ago

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OH MY GOD HIS LEGS OH CHRIST

...

slowly pulls out camera

[–]Drgn_nut 99 points100 points ago

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You know you're a redditor when...

[–]SilentEchoX 147 points148 points ago

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...you buy a cat just for the karma.

[–]whatwhywhy 1 point2 points ago

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Or adopt one out of nowhere

[–]PumpValve 29 points30 points ago

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Or "find" one on the street

[–]OverAllGENIUS 2 points3 points ago

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Or borrow a friends

[–]freshyrocks 25 points26 points ago

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I was certain of it, until I saw your comment.

[–]Rabble_Arouser 2 points3 points ago

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Same here. It was actually a more shocking picture when I thought the legs of the chair were his shins.

[–]spazmodic- 36 points37 points ago

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I thought they were shin bones and then I was reminded of that krokodil video where they're "amputating" that person's foot; of course, "amputating" is used in a loose sense here as it was already black and dead with the flesh completely disconnected/absent in the region between the calf and foot and the only thing they had to do was saw the shin bones and let whatever was left fall into a bucket.

[–]dergster 8 points9 points ago

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oh god, bucketman

[–]TheRedFacedAvenger 1 point2 points ago

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WTF are you talking about? I‘m not sure if I even want to search for the video...

[–]ThatWhiteRabbit 1 point2 points ago

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I believe it was from where a russian dude had injected his leg with some "new drug" which actually ended up rotting and fucking up his leg.

Shit was nasty, the bone was cut through with a piece of string like it was butter.

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]emergencyaccount 46 points47 points ago

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Landmine.

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]emergencyaccount 61 points62 points ago

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Are you correcting me or claiming the land as yours? In the latter case, you'd better have a flag.

[–]rawbdor 53 points54 points ago

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You can't claim us. We live here.

[–]Sheather 49 points50 points ago

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No flag, no country.

[–]tehpatriarch 43 points44 points ago

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Those are the rules..that I just made up.

[–]endlegion 26 points27 points ago

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And I'm backing it up with this gun.

[–]Chemistrees 18 points19 points ago

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Which was lent to me by the National Rifle Association.

[–]jstaahl 12 points13 points ago

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Well.. have you got a flag?

[–]Num_T 1 point2 points ago

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[–]tosss 5 points6 points ago

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No flag, no country. Those are the rules...that I've just made up.

[–]vonadler 5 points6 points ago

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They are backed up by this gun I loaned from the National Rifle Association.

[–]Pagan-za 21 points22 points ago

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Land mines are designed to kill or maim.

The psychological effect is much greater than if you just killed enemies.

The US at least stopped making them in the 90's. But still has one of the biggest stockpiles in the world. And refuses to sign the ottawa treaty.

[–]noprotein 13 points14 points ago

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Same, but it got a single dry heave outta me and an oh my.

[–]kromem 15 points16 points ago

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An uncle was an anesthesiologist in Vietnam. Did a mini-documentary on him and slides he had from his time there. One was of a guy on the table with two bloody legs and splintered shin bones.

But somehow the most visceral slide was the one of his shoes, with the feet still inside.

War is fucked up. WTB future of aggressive diplomacy based on gentleman's agreements and rounds of Starcraft weighted by national GDP.

[–]whiteknight521 7 points8 points ago

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I hope you speak Korean then.

[–]Runding 1 point2 points ago

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Kromem doesn't understand that we'll lose every single debate. However, we might catch em off guard with a 2 gate on a random stroke of luck every once in a while.

[–]crave_you 3 points4 points ago

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I did too and I was like "Oh my god! How is he able to stand that pain?! Holy crap!".

[–]CrimsonKevlar 4 points5 points ago

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I thought the same thing, and made some odd guttural noise that started with "ghna!"

[–]ramblerandgambler[S] 300 points301 points ago

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Context:

“We sit in a muddy puddle for hours on end, waiting to jump out and scream and shout, cold and miserable – but then you remember these guys are heading for something far worse. Every amputee is vetted and put through specialist training beforehand to see if they are up to the job. For some it is too close to the mark, too realistic. The last thing we want to do is traumatize someone, stymie their rehabilitation.” John Pickup, of Amputees In Action.

Source

[–]wastelander 156 points157 points ago

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So he's an amputee but the wound is a mock-up. How does this prepare soldiers? Is the goal to desensitize them so that they don't freak out when they encounter the real thing?

[–]ramblerandgambler[S] 159 points160 points ago

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In a way I suppose so. I'm not sure how much good it does, but every little helps i suppose. I think if you had to carry a guy who just had his legs blown off, you'd be freaking out even if you spent your life preparing for it.

Does firing their rife at a target prepare them for firing at a man? Not really.

[–]Syptryn 62 points63 points ago

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Well, the Japanese used live people for Bayonet Practice to prepare their soldiers: http://www.historywiz.com/bayonet.htm

[–]mchengl 69 points70 points ago

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I'm Chinese and my great uncles were actually bayoneted as children. :'( Never knew them but it still sucks.

[–]Tankenstein 23 points24 points ago

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Holy shit...

[–]uiet11 10 points11 points ago

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This is awkward

[–]abngeek 16 points17 points ago

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Heh...and I thought bayonet training was one of the more intense parts of basic when I went through.

Holy fuck.

[–]jimrooney 9 points10 points ago

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I can't imagine. WTF.

[–]Skulder 9 points10 points ago

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That is a picture from the Nanjing massacre. I don't think that it was "practice" at this point.

[–]Barneey 5 points6 points ago

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THE FUCK

[–]Pinslate 30 points31 points ago

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The hardest part about having a gun, is the mindset to use that gun.

[–][deleted] 27 points28 points ago

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I've killed several ... paper targets and felt immense guilt afterwards.

[–]skediddlehopper 6 points7 points ago

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I used to shoot skeet but grew tired of having to notify next of kiln.

[–]WeaponsGradeHumanity 42 points43 points ago

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The hardest part of firing a gun is my penis.

[–]crod242 31 points32 points ago

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You're supposed to use your finger.

[–]WeaponsGradeHumanity 28 points29 points ago

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Well shit. No wonder I was shooting blanks.

[–]Condhor 70 points71 points ago*

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The hardest thing about having a gun, is the recoil after using that gun. FTFY

EDIT: It's a joke guys, calm down

[–]cac2976 3 points4 points ago

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We civilians will never know what mindset is appropriate there. I could imagine, however, feeling less than sympathetic when taking out someone who would shoot me without a second thought. Redditors find it difficult to remove themselves from behind the keyboard, probably why you got downvoted.

[–]2Weird2Live2Rare2Die 5 points6 points ago

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What's interesting is that a study was recently posted to Reddit which demonstrated that snipers have both a greater respect for life and a greater degree of acceptance of their role as life-takers than infantry, on average. It's suggested that this is because of the intimacy developed by watching targets from a relatively safe distance. Where infantry tend to dehumanize the people they kill with terms like 'subject', 'target', or even 'machine', snipers are more likely to refer to them as human beings. Because of the undeniability of this awareness snipers are more likely to confront and come to terms with the realities of their duties than other soldiers. Most likely that sniper feels only recoil not because he's some heartless monster, but because he's already felt, confronted, examined, and accepted his true feelings on the matter.

[–]Condhor 1 point2 points ago

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Yeah, I also made the mistake of posting the quote before the joke. People didn't know what I was alluding to, so I then inserted the edit. Being an EMT, I have a twisted sense of humour that people--and in this case Redditors--don't always understand. I don't mean to make light of the death of a human being. It's just an unexpected one-liner I find hilarious.

[–]Addyct 3 points4 points ago

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That, or maybe it's the whole "I came here to kill people and chew bubble gum, and I'm all out of gum" attitude.

Most of my friends are or have been in the marines. I've got a buddy who's in Afghanistan now. I myself have had to use a gun in self defense (protecting those same buddies, actually), so we've all had either training or real-world experience with taking human life. It's not something you joke about.

[–]I_have_a_dog 1 point2 points ago

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Unless it's a cheap DA revolver, then it's the trigger pull.

[–]VRFour 53 points54 points ago

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Does firing their rife at a target prepare them for firing at a man? Not really.

Why do you say that? The military changed their training after WW2 to make troops more willing to fire at the enemy... human silhouette targets and quick fire drills replaced the typical 'bullseye' paper targets and consequently, the military has seen a rise in troops actually firing at the enemy.

And I don't think the goal of this training is to 'desensitize' anyone but it's to give troops an idea about some of the horrors of war they might face... when you've got people's lives on the line, the last thing you want is for people to freeze up because they're so freaked out by something they've never seen before. Your title explained it perfectly... they're mentally preparing them for things they might encounter.

[–]Owan 25 points26 points ago

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You're right, They need to be exposed to the horror to some extent so that they can respond appropriately when it happens for real. You'd rather have the troops giving first aid immediately and handling casualties effectively than freaking out. That can save lives

[–]Waelsleahta 5 points6 points ago

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I remember hearing that among U.S. troops who actually saw combat in WWII, only 1/4 actually aimed their shots. A lot of firing blindly around corners and over cover. The training you mention was implemented to improve this statistic.

[–]an_faget 1 point2 points ago

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This is also the reason that the US military has been hesitant to put full-automatic weapons in the hands of most soldiers.

[–]masterdebater88 1 point2 points ago

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If you're interested in this, see On Killing by Dave Grossman.

[–]purpaderp 6 points7 points ago

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It's supposed to give a little bit of instinctive reaction opposed to a more common 'shock' reaction. The US has realized that a large amount of combat deaths could have been avoided if the first responders' treatment was sufficient.

I've recently been through this training and I must say that I feel a bit more prepared than I was before the training. The live action exercises were very intense, and you have to treat all of the 'wounded' that you come across.

[–]Z3phyrus 6 points7 points ago

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Actually, yes it does. Starting with Vietnam I beilive, the United States transitioned over to using human shaped targets for their target practice. This was to get Soldiers, Marines, Airmen etc. used to the idea of actually killing and shooting at an actual target. Extensive research has gone into exactly what it takes to get a normal man to be able to willingly kill, and then walk away from the situation with a clean conscious. Why do you think Marines say "kill" instead of "yes"? It's all about desensitization of the act. If you want a really wild read check out On Killing or On Combat by Lt.Col. Dave Grossman.

[–]newagefunvintagefeel 11 points12 points ago

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You obviously didn't comprehend most of what the book was trying to say. After 60 days of continuous combat 98% of soldiers are psychological casualties.

People without psychopathic traits are and always will be affected in a very negative way when killing someone.

[–]theyangist 2 points3 points ago

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I get a borderline score for the "Dark Triad" on all of those self-assessments for psychopathy. Maybe I won't be so badly affected by battle.

EDIT: But I score highly for Machiavellianism, which probably doesn't foster the killer instinct.

[–]the_raptor 14 points15 points ago*

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Extensive research has gone into exactly what it takes to get a normal man to be able to willingly kill, and then walk away from the situation with a clean conscious

No there hasn't. The training change that started after WWII has solely to do with getting more soldiers to shoot at the enemy (instead of "near", which is often good enough). This doesn't make the psychological repercussions of killing any easier. In fact there is some argument that it makes it worse because the training over-rides the individuals own desires to a degree.

Most combat vets do not have a clean conscience. Especially in a war like Iraq and Afghanistan where civilians get caught up in the fighting so easily.

Up until recently the military has solely been concerned with making effective soldiers. If some of those soldiers in later life couldn't deal with what they had done the military really didn't care.

[–]rcsheets 8 points9 points ago

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conscience

[–]brehm90 1 point2 points ago

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Yea, I feel like you misread the book, though. He never said you can come away from killing with a clean conscience, he said you can now get the men to kill but you still cannot train a man to feel no shame from killing.

[–]Krushed_RED_pepperR 1 point2 points ago

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Came here to plug that book.

[–]ManicParroT 1 point2 points ago

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Well, that's why they shoot at sillhouettes of human figures, to try and prepare them to shoot at human beings.

Of course, this doesn't do anything for any PTSD or whatever, but at least they shoot the people when they're told to!

[–]Raias 6 points7 points ago

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This sort of moulage is designed to help combat medics learn how to treat actual amputations while under fire, which is something very hard to simulate in training. It's not for desensitizing soldiers, it's for helping them save lives.

[–]bennn30 15 points16 points ago

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Yep. As cold as it sounds, our government doesn't want someone to lock up at the sight of a man's legs being blown off, or worse, to the point he can't perform his job. The US' armed forces are phenomenal, but how can something like this surprise you?

[–]Redemptor 18 points19 points ago

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More to the point i think its to make sure that they can remain effective enough to possibly save the guy who had his legs blown off.

[–]theAmberTrap 5 points6 points ago*

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This is the reason right here. Well, that was why we trained the way we did while I was in the Navy, but we focused on NBC (nuclear/biological/chemical) attacks and flight deck (LHD, not CVN) accidents. Thankfully, none of what I would have seen in an attack was landmine terrible.

[–]treebeard189 2 points3 points ago

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I am not sure I would call it cold. It makes sense. If you see it and you freeze up the guy who just got his legs blown off could die. Or you could die. Or you could get on of your buddies killed while you stand there doing nothing. The US isn't forcing the amputees to do this they are according to OP volunteers.

[–]Bodoblock 1 point2 points ago

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I imagine they'd get seriously injured if they did choke in the battlefield though. War's an ugly, ugly thing. I've never been in the military but I would think that they'd value keeping your wits about you no matter what.

[–]dokuhebi 10 points11 points ago

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When I was preparing to go to Afghanistan as a contractor, the DIA put us through a one week preparation class that included cultural training, danger awareness, and combat first aid. The last day of training was a live demo with two different casualty scenarios, one in an office building, and one in a HMMWV caravan. The DIA had paid actors playing the part of the casualties, and had some very realistic simulated wounds.

The point was to make sure that the trainees understood that trauma care in combat situations is much different than "normal" first aid. There's still a potential for ongoing danger, there are decisions that need to be made on how to quickly assess and triage the victims, and a strong need to get people out of danger and to an area where the professionals can attend to them. We weren't expected to go around "saving lives" so much as understanding that if shit happened, that it would be just as traumatic for us, but that we needed to stay calm and help.

For the actors who were playing the casualties, they were also trained on the various ways that casualties respond to wounds, from no response, to trying to get back into the battle with an arm missing. The amazing part was once they blew the air horn to indicate the scenario was over, the actors went right out of character and were able to help the assessment as to how we did.

[–]ConsiderTheLobster 1029 points1030 points ago

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And that's why you always leave a note.

[–]Forgototherpassword 304 points305 points ago

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'Mobile Infantry made me the man I am today

[–]TheRoachOn12 158 points159 points ago

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RICO'S ROUGHNECKS

[–]supermegaultrajeremy 119 points120 points ago

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I'm from Buenos Aires, and I say kill 'em all!

[–]DJ3XO 90 points91 points ago

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"Come on you apes! You wanna live for ever?!?"

[–]deathsythe 43 points44 points ago

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The only good bug is a dead bug!

[–]McGarnigle 24 points25 points ago

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IT'S AFRAID!!!!!

[–]right_meowr 24 points25 points ago

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I only have one rule. Everyone fights. No one quits. You don't do your job, I'll shoot you myself. YOU GET ME?!

[–]sevennationsarmies 12 points13 points ago

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WE GET YOU SIR!

[–]islaydragons 8 points9 points ago

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MI does the dying. Fleet just does the flying!

[–]WatchYourTone 70 points71 points ago

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Would you like to know more?

[–]FederalNetwork 6 points7 points ago

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no, would YOU like to know more?

[–]stony_phased 6 points7 points ago

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I miss Denise. It was seeing her in her tight sweaters in that film that made me 100% sure I was straight.

[–]Ricos_Roughnecks 8 points9 points ago

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sup

[–]aherco 109 points110 points ago

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And that's why you don't yell.

[–]DrPalmerMickle 22 points23 points ago

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thats why you read titles before clicking. NSFL GO BACK GO BACK!....oh.

[–]Bad_Badger 5 points6 points ago

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I nearly choked on my cough drop with pleasure due to this comment. I thank you.

[–]prezjordan 8 points9 points ago

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And that's why you never teach your son a lesson

[–]kidkevin 9 points10 points ago

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I knew watching that show would pay off eventually.

[–]bootselectric 1 point2 points ago

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"And that's why you don't use a one armed man to teach your father a lesson."

[–]lillyjb 20 points21 points ago

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I saw this on TV a few weeks ago. It helped train soldiers of what to expect in battle. Some of the recuits started to puke after the saw the missing limbs. They also had a make-up artist put broken glass into some of the wounded soldier's faces. It's very realistic.

[–]sgtcasey 7 points8 points ago

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Participated in such an exercise at Fort Bliss in the mid-90's. Simulated plane crash at the airfield. After getting all made up and given our particular injuries it was off to WBAMC. Quite a scene in the ER to have a busload of stretchers come in.

[–]Kuby 376 points377 points ago

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IDEA:

make all politicians capable of starting war go through on of these exercises.

[–]Jumala 13 points14 points ago

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IKEA: make chairs for these people? I don't know why I saw 'IKEA' - maybe because it's ALL CAPS...

[–]DoubleTapThat 307 points308 points ago

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But then liberal-centric Reddit would realize that John McCain would have made a great president.

[–]bobartig 447 points448 points ago

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But then they would have remembered that his vice presidential pick made him unelectable.

[–]ThePain 111 points112 points ago

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I'd say the fact that for years he was one of the staunchest anti-torture people in our government, let alone his party, due to... you know BEING TORTURED FOR YEARS and then changing his stance to be pro-torture to try and be more electable to Republicans made him completely unelectable.

A man who was tortured for years, suddenly selling all he believed in for a few votes, and people still think he wouldn't have been a shitty president?

Also, all the stuff this guy said http://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/px6l9/amputee_volunteer_helping_troops_prepare_mentally/c3t04li

[–]TheRealBramtyr 10 points11 points ago

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Just don't put McCain on an aircraft carrier. He'll burn that fucker to the waterline.

[–]Arctiidae 12 points13 points ago

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Not to mention that he was sabre rattling with Russia during the campaign trail over the Ossetian war.

[–]FeierInMeinHose 21 points22 points ago

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I really wish most conservatives would've allowed him to pick Lieberman as his running mate, as that would have won him the election. Too bad they were too put off by the fact that he was pro-choice.

[–]zyxwvutsr 52 points53 points ago

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You're delusional. The 2008 election was between Obama and Hilary Clinton.

The democratic party could have nominated a convicted rapist and still beaten the republicans.

[–]Hardass_McBadCop 1 point2 points ago

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False. I don't believe felons can be elected president.

[–]FeierInMeinHose 12 points13 points ago

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Doubt it, a lot of democrats would have acknowledged McCain as a possible candidate if he had Lieberman since Lieberman is a Democrat.

[–]Xaxxon 25 points26 points ago

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Old McCain yes. 2008 McCain? Hardly.

[–]SteveIzHxC 3 points4 points ago

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So you mean young McCain then?

[–]mmb2ba 2 points3 points ago

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woah.jpg.

[–]alsoathrowaway 53 points54 points ago

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Lieberman is a Democrat.

Ahahahaha

Hahahahahahaha

Hahaa.. oh, that was good. Tell it again, tell it again!

No, Joe Lieberman has done his best to stab the Democrats in the back at every turn. He lost the nomination for reelection a while back and created his own party to funnel money into in order to defeat the candidate the Democrats did in fact nominate. Why they continue to let him caucus with them is a mystery to me.

[–]zyxwvutsr 7 points8 points ago

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It wouldn't be proper delusion if you accepted it.

[–]bvanmidd 2 points3 points ago

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Not GW was the goal of most Democratic voters.

[–]dallylamma 25 points26 points ago

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"Hi. I'm President John McCain. You've probably been hearing a lot about torture in the new lately. Well let me tell you, as a former guest of the Hanoi Hilton I've gotta say that shit really works. I mean, hell, they got me to sign an anti-American confession in no time flat. Shit, I woulda sucked old Uncle Ho's dick tip to base, I'm talking balls deep, to get them little yella bastards to stop.

But enough about that...let's get on with this here State of the Union address..."

[–]SpiritoftheTunA 10 points11 points ago

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if he were that good of an orator he might've had a fighting chance

[–]RandomMandarin 18 points19 points ago*

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A great president? He, unlike any other presidential candidate I can think of, got tortured... and later somehow got on the Bush-Cheney "torture is okay!" bandwagon.

Which is just about the ultimate example of how a career in politics can warp a man's mind and sense of values. Holy crap.

Edit: Let's just say his condemnation of torture has been inconsistent, equivocal, and not the thunderous rejection you'd expect from a man who had been subjected to it.

[–]zyxwvutsr 9 points10 points ago

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When was McCain okay with torture?

[–]alsoathrowaway 3 points4 points ago

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Well, he was okay with quote-unquote "enhanced interrogation techniques".

[–]OptimusYPrime 11 points12 points ago

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You're misinformed, I think. To my knowledge, McCain has (understandably) been fully against torture, repeatedly citing that the information acquired under its use is rarely accurate.

EDIT: Relevant passage:

McCain called the techniques – implemented by CIA interrogators during the George W. Bush administration and later barred by President Obama – “indisputably torture,” and said waterboarding amounted to a “mock execution.” “I do not believe they are necessary to our success in our war against terrorists, as the advocates of these techniques claim they are,” he said.

-ABC news, after the capture of Bin Laden

[–][deleted] ago*

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[deleted]

[–]DoubleTapThat 4 points5 points ago

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As a conservative, I will stand my ground and say Bush made some good decisions. These were, however, overshadowed by his incredibly stupid ones. I don't hate Bush, but I don't like him either.

[–]maxmcd 6 points7 points ago

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Yeah, but not to weigh in politically, your statement doesn't make a lot of sense. A president is going to make some good decisions, unless he actively tries to fuck up. You're basically saying nothing more than "He was president and made decisions". Not disagreeing with you, but you're lacking substance.

[–]DoubleTapThat 1 point2 points ago*

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You're right, so I'm going to make clearer statement.

BUSH (AND SEVERAL OTHERS) MAKES US REPUBLICANS LOOK BAD

EDIT: I was referring to the fact that his bad decisions outweighed his good ones significantly in my previous post.

[–]LNMagic 1 point2 points ago

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I'm a liberal who believes McCain would have made a great president - in 2000. I still believe it was Palin that did him in, though.

[–]Waelsleahta 4 points5 points ago

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The Bush campaign team pulled all kinds of awful stunts against McCain in 2000. I'm surprised McCain could be in a room with Bush without choking him.

[–]LNMagic 1 point2 points ago

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Man, fuck Karl Rove.

[–]Delfishie 1 point2 points ago

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I'd prefer fucking Karl Rove to be an unknown unknown.

[–]p-static 1 point2 points ago

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Yeah, same here. It was outright depressing to see him changing as the election season went on. :(

[–]Wilawah 8 points9 points ago

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The vote was surprisingly close, he would have won with a different VP running mate.

[–]persistent_illusion 14 points15 points ago

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[–]cyberslick188 4 points5 points ago

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This seems to always surprise republicans, but, you know, winning the east coast is way more valuable than winning the fly over states.

Which is why I absolutely love people like Romney and Gingrich shitting on the coastal states because it just dooms their election.

[–]naked_ditchdigger 89 points90 points ago

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I was gonna say, that guy's fucking hardcore to just be sitting there like that.

[–]ramblerandgambler[S] 39 points40 points ago

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Yeah, if it had been taken soon after an injury like that and he was just sitting there smoking, it's either be the craziest or most bad ass thing ever. You have to force yourself to believe that it's fake but it looks so badass.

[–]alatare 19 points20 points ago

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Also smoking + open wound = massive blood loss, as cigarettes thin your blood

[–]ramblerandgambler[S] 117 points118 points ago

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Mop up that water on the deck of the titanic, someone could slip!

[–]alatare 25 points26 points ago

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touché!

[–]0xffff0 32 points33 points ago

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Yeah, if it had been taken soon after an injury like that and he was just sitting there smoking...

...he would have been absolutely, 100% dead before the smoke cleared enough to snap the picture.

[–]ramblerandgambler[S] 23 points24 points ago*

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Sad as it is, people get their legs blown off all the time and survive. Whether it's a soldier in a warzone, an industrial accident or a child stepping on a landmine.

[–]0xffff0 85 points86 points ago*

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Only with swift medical attention. Without immediate action to stop bleeding, the injuries presented by the actor would result in loss of consciousness in under a minute, and death in about 2-3 minutes tops.

Source: I'm a former combat medic.

[–]PilarTernara2 3 points4 points ago

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Actually, it wouldn't be all that weird. The brain is merciful after such trauma, and might actually suggest to you that if you just sat there for a minute and had a cigarette, you'd be alright, even with your legs blown off. Shock and awe.

[–]suitski 1 point2 points ago

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Well, outside of having about 5 minutes to live on the account of open arterial bleeding, many soldiers (or people) with massive injuries initially dont feel a thing on the account of shock.

Stories abound of people walking around looking for their missing arm or people trying to get up and falling because their leg is missing.

[–]Captcha_Imagination 1 point2 points ago

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Of course he's sitting...what else is he gonna do?

[–]tamat 1 point2 points ago

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In a couple of months we will see in Facebook this image with some caption saying - This guy saved the life of 5 afgan kids and lost his legs steping on a mine, but he waited like a champion till the troops rescued the kids. Humans are amazing -.

[–][deleted] 23 points24 points ago

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Real life is much worse than that that can be made up.

2nd ACR

[–]polerix 33 points34 points ago

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You are not going out there to shoot and respawn if you fuck up. The dude abides.

[–]The_Dude_Abides23 6 points7 points ago

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yes he does.

[–]Snapperhead 7 points8 points ago

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This is at Fort Irwin in California. It is a desert warfare training site for the US and allied military. They have tours.

[–]aoskilinn 7 points8 points ago

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Well, shit. I was just in the place of the photo last week. It takes place in a fake Afghani village at Fort Irwin. They train troops with false bombings and IEDs in this village. I spent the better part of two weeks in it, though far away from most of the action because we were on a separate project. I was told then that they had volunteers like the guy in the picture. They have an ambulance rush up to the scene of the bombing afterward and take these guys off, they make it as realistic as possible.

[–]ValuableDan 65 points66 points ago

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If only we can get one of those in front of every recruiting office.

[–]mightybird 36 points37 points ago

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relevant name.... lieutenant dan. http://i.imgur.com/v3kkD.jpg

[–]RR-- 7 points8 points ago

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Did you also watch forrest gump the night before last on prime?

[–]nerdyogre254 4 points5 points ago

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Fuck yes I did.

[–]Yougotredditonyou 1 point2 points ago

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Did you two just become best friends?

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points ago

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If we had no volunteers we would have to rely on the draft. Then you wouldn't have a choice anymore.

You should thank the people who volunteer for this duty, so you don't have to be conscripted.

[–]StrangerInTheRye 4 points5 points ago

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If we had no war, however..

[–]sgtcasey 10 points11 points ago

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How about in front of liquor stores? Or the DMV? Car dealerships? Life is dangerous. If you're going to alter what you do because you could be injured then you should stay indoors and take your chances with a possible house fire.

[–]nyuncat 36 points37 points ago

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To be fair there's a bit of a gap in danger between driving a car and fighting in a war.

[–]ValuableDan 11 points12 points ago

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Ideally there would be a little Afghan amputee child, too.

[–][deleted] ago

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[deleted]

[–]0xffff0 13 points14 points ago*

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I'm a former medic who was stationed at NTC/Ft. Irwin. This level of makeup is typically only used for training scenarios focused specifically on . Your average grunt might be tangentially involved, but they wouldn't be up close with the casualties most likely.

Basic training, and even the vast majority of my medical training, doesn't go to anywhere near these lengths of realism. These training scenarios are quite time consuming and expensive to set up and execute. At NTC we had full teams of Hollywood makeup artists that spent an hour or more doing the makeup for one 30-45 minute exercise.

[–]Hackematt 7 points8 points ago

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As a medic that has been to NTC (national training center) and to Afghanistan after that, these guys do one hell of a job. thank you.

[–]Expodryerase 2 points3 points ago

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I went through this training in '07 at 29 Palms. The objective of the exercise was not mentally preparing for battle. The main objective was being able to apply first aid in a stressful environment and doing it correctly.

[–]america_is_fascist 2 points3 points ago

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I am stationed at the National Training Center and sometimes work along side one of these amputees. They are paid actors. The one I work with is quite a spectacle when the training gets to his part, I think it's quite effective. It gives the first responders experience in dealing with a hysterical individual.

[–]abngeek 2 points3 points ago

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"I will twist, twist, twist until the bright red bleeding stops!"

Went through basic training in '97. A lot of stuff has faded from memory, but some things they made us memorize I don't think I'll ever forget. I imagine if I ever have to apply a tourniquet I'll be unconsciously yelling this sentence at the victim, heh.

Pretty awesome these amputees are involved in this. I think this sort of training would be invaluable.

[–]imjustadude90 2 points3 points ago

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And then you have people who amputates his leg and keeps it as a trophy.

[–]ChromeFuture 2 points3 points ago

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Wow, a lot of people really don't get this picture. He probably got his legs amputated from wounds years ago. And now he's a volunteer, showing recruits what their fellow soldiers could end up looking like in the heat of battle. Trust me, if his legs were bleeding like that, he wouldn't look so calm, and there'd be way more blood.

[–][deleted] 7 points8 points ago

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As gruesome as this simulation may seem it actually benefits soldiers by adding realism to training, and can help offset potential PTSD cases in soldiers.

[–]Peter89 4 points5 points ago

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They don't show you such pictures in the recruiting office.

[–]thewayitgoes 4 points5 points ago

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yar me father was a tree

[–]Pravusmentis 4 points5 points ago

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I've got a bright idea, what if we didn't kill each other?

[–]IDlOT 4 points5 points ago

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Humanporn? Seriously isn't that just, you know, porn?

[–]DrSlickDaddy 1 point2 points ago

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You must be into some weird shit...

[–]welker 3 points4 points ago

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War never changes..

[–]dsigned001 1 point2 points ago

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That is really, really realistic looking. I was wondering how on earth he would be just sitting there smoking -- it took me a while to register it as makeup. Upvote for the guys chipping in.

[–]cinghialino 1 point2 points ago

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To me, it's a reenactment, and that blood it's just a prop. I find it difficult to see somebody with his feet vaporized stay like that.

This doesn't mean that I approve war or I don't like the photo.

[–]imatat 1 point2 points ago

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My question is how the hell you prepare mentally to the point you feel comfortable volunteering to relive the events that made you an amputee to begin with.

[–]kevdeath666 1 point2 points ago

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I had to read this like 3 times to realize what the fuck was going on.

[–]Abscheu 1 point2 points ago

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That, is one of the darkest things I have ever seen.

[–]pwoody11 1 point2 points ago

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I helped carry a guy whos leg got lopped off by a catchwire on the flight deck of a carrier. Im not so sure anything could have prepared for what I saw.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points ago

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This is for a mass casualty exercise for an army training event in california. Tourists actually pay to go up on this big bridge and watch. One of only good changes they've made to this training over the years was adding these awesome actors. They also hire iraqis to plaay other roles.

[–]griffith12 1 point2 points ago

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Wow, that seems painfully real.

[–]piece-o-crap 1 point2 points ago

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[–]Code347 1 point2 points ago

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Lieutenant Dan, what are you doing here?
I'm here to try out my sea legs.
But you ain't got no legs, Lieutenant Dan.
Yes... yes, I know that. You wrote me a letter, you idiot!

[–]atomic-playboy 1 point2 points ago

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I'll just leave this here.

[–]Agivith 15 points16 points ago

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All of the people trying to defend this:

You should really just admit that the goal is desensitization. It doesn't sound as pretty, but that is is exactly what the purpose of this is.

[–]axearm 42 points43 points ago*

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100% correct, you are trying to desensitization them to one of their comrades having their legs blown off so they can continue to do their job and try to save that man's life as well as their own in case they freeze up

In terms of purpose that seem alright to me.

[–]rcsheets 10 points11 points ago

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There's desensitization as an end in itself, and there's desensitization as a means to allow people to do their jobs effectively in combat. I would argue that the goal is not desensitization. The goal is a military that does its job effectively.

[–][deleted] 8 points9 points ago

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How is that goal wrong? The purpose is desensitization so that soldiers can treat wounded comrades, civilians and enemy combatants. Physicians go through similar training.

[–]emergencyaccount 10 points11 points ago

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Of course it is desensitization, what else would it be? What do you mean "trying to defend this"? You are not making sense.

[–]rhonage 2 points3 points ago

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HOLY SHIT I THOUGHT THEY WERE HIS BONES

[–][deleted] ago*

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[deleted]

[–]lickBallZ 2 points3 points ago

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He is passing the message: Guys if you don't die in war, have psychological scars which will torment you for the rest of your life, well, you can always end up like me, limbless, now take your pick

[–]PoniesRBitchin 6 points7 points ago

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Uh, NSFW tag?

[–]emergencyaccount 28 points29 points ago

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The areola is not visible, it's ok.

[–]Atario 1 point2 points ago

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He's at least 18, so it's ok

[–]mitchstanton 3 points4 points ago

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Hardcore to the hardcore. Brave SOB. I salute you