Abandoning a soldier?

Question

What are your thoughts on abandoning an injured or dead soldier in the battle field, in order to save yourself? What if you went back for the one person, but 10 others died in the process?

Answer 1

When the military establishments wants to install loyalty, spirit d’ corp and romance they come up with something like “leave no soldier behind”. Take a look at WW II How many of you knew that more than 25,000 of our WWII American POW/MIAs were "liberated" near the end of WWII by Soviet Red Army troops as they advanced through Eastern Europe and the eastern part of Germany? How many of you knew that ONLY 4165 of those American servicemen "liberated" by the Soviet Red Army in WWII ever came home? (That’s less than 1/5 of those men!) How many of you knew that General Eisenhower had lists of these brave American fighting men who had been "liberated" by the Soviet Red Army at the end of WWII, and that he and top levels of the U.S. government "WROTE OFF" these men who had bravely served their country, leaving them to ROT in Soviet gulags?
How many of you knew that in the Korean War we had 7190 POWs, and that ONLY 4428 were ever repatriated? How many of you knew that there were OVER 8000 men MIA from the Korean War?
How many of you knew that there were OVER 2400 POW/MIAs from the Vietnam War, and that these men are now listed as "PFOD" (Presumptive Finding of Death)?
How many of you knew that a U.S. Army colonel serving at the Defense Intelligence Agency (Colonel Millard A. Peck, Infantry) requested to be "retired immediately" from active military service because of the Pentagon’s cover-ups of any evidence that surfaced showing our POW/MIAs were still alive? (Colonel Peck had been the Chief of the Special Office for Prisoners of War and Missing In Action.) ((NOTE: The Pentagon’s cover-up of the POW/MIA issue CONTINUES to this very day!))
How many of you were aware that CBS’s "60 Minutes" assigned Monika Jensen-Stevenson to do a segment on the POW/MIA issue; however, when she discovered irrefutable evidence that American fighting men were STILL being held in Laos, Vietnam, and the "former" Soviet Union, CBS REFUSED to air that segment! (Jensen-Stevenson quit her job at CBS and pursued the POW/MIA story on her own, later writing a book entitled Kiss the Boys Goodbye.)
quote by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: "It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it."
God Bless You and The Southern People.

Answer 2

Well, the theory is, you don't leave soldiers behind. And so far it has worked out, but I'm not sure you are thinking on the same lines. Let me explain:

In the heat of battle, you will not put yourself or others at risk to 'go get a dead or injured soldier.' Understand, if a soldier is injured and in a position where you can't get to him without exposing yourself or others to unnecessary danger, you are not going to go get him. These have been well laid traps for many years now (pulling on the emotional strings of soldiers to help their buddy, then taking him out in the process).

The objective is to ensure the soldier's safety by eliminating the threat, if there is one left, first before you can even attempt to help a fallen soldier.

If the soldier is in a reasonably protected environment, away from any threats, then of course you aid that injured soldier. Dead bodies are protected from any further damage when it is possible to do so.

Answer 3

Wow! That's a good question. In European wars of the past the enemy would sometimes leave their wounded to the mercy of their opponent in order to escape. Things have changed since then and the code of chivalry is dead as a door nail. Unfortunately there comes a time to leave the wounded or dead behind to save the others. But it is a given that this is absolutely the last choice, once all and I mean ALL, other options are used. It is the worst thing a soldier can do is abandon a comrade.

Answer 4

The army so states never leave a fallen soldier behind . This however does give you some amount of ambiguous tenure . Basically it means that we will recover our fallen as soon as possible . We don't leave them on foreign soil ,or in the middle of a battlefield and go home . If a soldier is wounded , you either get them medical attention ,or , get them out of the area of conflict . If a soldier is KIA there is another possibility , that would be coming back to recover the body after the conflict is over or has moved on . No soldier shall be left behind !!! This is what we are taught . This is what we believe and practice . As for your second part of the question , that would be very regretable , not going back for a fallen soldier , but that so many more died .
I hope this has answered your question . God bless us all .

Answer 5

It all depends on the circumstances. A soldier decideds what to do in a split second and has to live with that decision.
Was the other soldier injured bably?
Will others die trying to rescue one?
Will you die trying to rescue one, and are you certain?
Abandoning a soldier is leaving him behind. Was he alive or dead?

Many things have to be taken into consideration. During other wars, POWS were left to die. Could they have been safely retrived from harms way? No one knows. But many were still alive some not even wounded and we left them since it was costly in lives and money. These lost men have been thought about for generations. Where are they? Did they get murdered or did they die? How do you tell their families that you left them behind?

The Military trains soldiers on when and how to bring a injured or dead soldier in. Anything above that training is a decision made by each soldier and their descion lives with them forever.

Answer 6

Everything has to do with the situation. Most soldiers go out with men and women they know and there is a bond. It is very hard to leave someone behind. The men and women I work with are like a second family. I cherish them all. I would RISK my life to save someone or to get the body of a dead soldier, but I would not just throw my life away. I would also not throw the lives of my second family (brothers and sisters in Arms), but I would risk their lives if I were in command. I don't know if that makes sense or not. The Marines have their own code and I deeply respect them for it. They would not leave anyone behind.

Personally, if I were dead; I would not want anyone to risk their life to get my body. Let it be and hopefully my corpse will become disease infested and kill some more of the enemy.

Answer 7

Actually it depends on a lot of factors. Mission objective, unit cohesion, training, and who the person is are just a few.

Obviously all life is important.

No person knows how they will react in a situation until they are in it. The fight or flight mechanism when put into these situations basically determines how we will react. If you are put in the same situation time and again, and are trained to protect that person, you will find a way. If you are trained to complete the objective instead, you will do that.

If you are trained to take care of your buddy, you dont question what is going on in battle. You just do what you have to for both you and them.

Check out the story of SGT York and you will see that a decision you make at one point can be thrown away in an instant because the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. To speculate how you will react before you are trained and in the situation doesnt help determine the outcome.

Answer 8

It does no good to go after a man who is dead. A wounded man is to be saved if possible. A lot of variables go into that decision how bad is he wounded? Will he die on me? Can I get him before the enemy does? If I do get him will he stop me from getting away from the enemy? All these decisions have to be made in a second or so. Unfortunately a soldiers emotions get the best of him and he will do the heroic thing and go get the wounded man only to end up shot himself. Thankfully in the navy I didn't have to go through this decision. I would like to think I would go back for the man if possible. I won't know until I'm put in that position.

Answer 9

Nobody gets left behind. If the soldier is confirmed dead his body will remain under overwatch until it is safe to recover him.

If the soldier is not confirmed dead - we are going to go get him.

One thing that every US servicemember can count on is that if they say 'help' over the radio - interservice rivalry is discarded and the rest of us will do whatever it takes to bring him or her out.

Answer 10

Read "The rescue of BAT 21" 13 people died to save one other Airforce officer....My cousin (call sign Blueghost 39) was one of the men killed. READ IT!

I've abandoned (temporarily) a dead comrade, but not a live one and woudn't consider doing so.

Answer 11

The Marines have the right Code of Conduct on this, they never leave any Marine behind, no matter what the consequences. I totally agree with them. Honor before self preservation.