"to kill people and break things" (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Wilson Gray]

>From 'Fifties Basic Training:

Sergeant's Call: WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE BAYONET?!!

Trainees' Response: The Purpose of The Bayonet Is To Kill!

SGT: SOUND OFF LIKE YOU GOT A PAIR!!! WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE BAYONET?!!!

EM: THE PURPOSE OF THE BAYONET IS TO _KILL_!!!

Members of the training cadre used what was (is?) called "command
voice" when addressing the troops. You had to have been there to
appreciate its effect, not to mention the affect that it gave its
users. It was as though those sergeants were fucking INSANE!!!

Well, the cadre consisted entirely of combat veterans and anybody
who's been through combat is bound to be a little crazy, no doubt.

-Wilson

On Mon, Aug 25, 2008 at 5:54 PM, Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
<Bill.Mullins at us.army.mil> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>
> Subject:      Re: "to kill people and break things" (UNCLASSIFIED)
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> From Newsbank:
> "Writer who's also Reservist ready to serve if summoned"
> The Tampa Tribune - February 10, 1991 p. 19
> Author: LANCE VAN AUKEN, Tribune Staff Writer
> "The purpose of an Army in peacetime is to maintain the peace. In war,
> its purpose is to kill people and break things."
>
> From Google Books:
> "Energy and Water Development Appropriations for 1981: Hearings Before a
> Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of
> Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, Second Session "  Gov Printing
> Office 1980
>
> [Testimony]
> "Mr. SEWELL.  Any [deleted] explosion is going to create [deleted] of
> damage and knock down buildings and kill people and break things out to
> a given range."
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: American Dialect Society
>> [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter
>> Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2008 7:32 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: "to kill people and break things"
>>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
>> Subject:      "to kill people and break things"
>> --------------------------------------------------------------
>> -----------------
>>
>> 1993 USENET: Somolia - soc.history (Oct.
>> 13)[http://groups.google.com/group=
>> /soc.history/msg/afdaa0ab181eed1c]: The purpose of the
>> military is to kill = people and break things (I know that's
>> what Rush says - he's quoting somebo= dy but I don't know
>> who.) =A0 I must have=A0heard this=A0quote two dozen times on
>> TV (my guess is only si= nce 2001) and maybe even=A0seen a
>> bumper sticker.
>> =A0
>> So it's a proverb. Almost always pro-=A0killing and breaking.
>> =A0
>> JL=0A=0A=0A
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
> Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



--
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Mark Twain

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org