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From: ded@aplvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Ripping women to bloody shreds
Message-ID: <198@aplvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 20-Jul-83 13:05:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: aplvax.198
Posted: Wed Jul 20 13:05:17 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 21-Jul-83 17:35:34 EDT
Lines: 25

I agree, women should have the right to be ripped to shreds by flying pieces
of metal.  But I don't think this right should be extended to ALL women.  
As a veteran, I've run into this issue before.  And believe me,
during my tour in the Air Farce I met many women who would have made 
excellent cannon fodder.  But, by and large, men are more suited for 
this purpose. 

Combat is an experience which strips people of their imaginary selves,
reduces them to the basic psychological conditioning of a lifetime.  It is
very important to understand that -- an understanding which is often missing
in discussions of this issue (one person has already suggested that 
nursing is equivalent to armed combat, which is hardly the case).

SOME women, sure; but if we insert women willy-nilly into our combat forces 
out of some compulsion to achieve "equal treatment", a disaster could result.
Real combat is nothing like tv.

Rather than getting women into our combat forces, maybe we should concentrate
on getting men out.


					Don Davis
					JHU/APL
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