This country asked them to kill. Their hearts asked them to stop. | dG1fMC1zS3ZQYjVxRzQ
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Learn to shoot, learn to shoot, buy a car, buy a car, get a job, get a job, I joined the Army, I joined the Army.
00:11The reason why I joined the Army, I made it easy for my recruiter, I said, hey, I just want to shoot a machine gun and jump out of a plane, he said, sign right here.
00:19I was raised on American Pie, I'm a cradle conservative, I was voted most likely to succeed, most conservative, my nickname among a lot of my friends was G.I. Josh.
00:33I wanted to defend my country, I tried to enlist in the Marines right out of high school, got hurt playing football, so I joined the National Guard and then ended up going to West Point and being a commissioned officer.
00:45Uh, put it bluntly, I'm a patriotic son of a gun, I love this country, it's done some great things for me, I've had some great opportunities.
00:51Both my grandfathers fought in World War I, my father fought in World War II, I had an uncle who fought in Korea, cousins that fought in Vietnam, you know, so there's been a family member in the military since there's been a country.
01:09At some point, every soldier has to face the question.
01:15Will I be able to kill another human being in combat?
01:22This film is about killing in war, and about some U.S. soldiers who have chosen not to.
01:32The evidence is that far more soldiers refuse to kill than we might expect.
01:37In World War II, research by the official U.S. Army historian, Brigadier General S.L.A. Marshall, revealed that among U.S. soldiers in combat, less than 25% actually fired their weapons at the enemy.
01:56Even with their own lives at risk, 75% did not try to kill the enemy.
02:04Marshall wrote, the average individual still has such an inner resistance toward killing a fellow man, that he will not take life if it is possible to turn away from that responsibility.
02:20At the vital point, he becomes a conscientious objector.
02:28For more information, please visit, www.fema.org.
02:45www.fema.org.