The man's job was to drop bombs and kill the people the US government says he should kill. If one is a little cynical, one would say that a fighter pilot is little more than a gadget pushing murderer/assassin hired by a government to do its dirty business.
Just had to say that to counter all the "for gof and country" stuff
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Freedom is secondary or tertiary. Nice to be fighting for freedom, but that ain't his job.
Also, I would say that if I chose to fly a danish F-16 fighter and was accepted yadda yadda yadda, I'd fly for ME mostly, not for my country. i'd fly because it'd be the hottest ride in town, not because I am a great patriot.
I think the vast majority of fighter pilots elect to be fighter pilots because of the pucker factor, not the patriotism factor
Bah, patriotism is the last refuge of the scrouge
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I find him being alive unlikely, especially as the Iraqis weren't that eager to hold on to prisoners of war. Even allowed McNab's SAS dudes to get away.
To me it seems like either a cruel trick played on the relatives of the pilots, or a last ditch effort from them to keep up some kind of hope.
At any rate, I don't think one can really justify calling him or his family *frauds* because of what the military decides to do.
Gotta respect him for having a dangerous job and doing the best he can, and his family for coping with it.
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StSanta
9./JG 54 "Grünherz"
"I am the light at the end of your sorry little tunnel." - A. Eldricht
