from today's des moines register, a couple of iowans noticed that article i heard about on DU:

No, Gen. Mattis, killing is not fun

Every once in a while, you get a glimpse into the thinking of someone, and it really makes you sick (" 'Fun to Shoot Some People,' " General Says," Feb. 4). Lt. Gen. James Mattis made one of those comments.

He actually said, "It's fun to shoot some people." Anyone who thinks that has no place in our military. When it is necessary to go to war, killing another person should be something that is done out of necessity. It should not produce joy. That is sick.

Mattis is a psychopath who should be given a dishonorable discharge and a lot of time in the care of someone capable of helping him deal with his mental illness.
-Dana Barrer,
Mitchellville.

***

"It's a hell of a hoot . . . It's fun to shoot some people," said Lt. Gen. James Mattis. Not for me, general.

During World War II, I commanded a combat-infantry platoon in the Northern Solomons, New Guinea and the Philippines. My machine-gun platoon killed Japanese soldiers; I killed two with my rifle. We took no pleasure in that; It certainly was not what the general was pleased to call "a hoot."

At one point in the Philippines I led my platoon past what had been a Japanese artillery unit. Uniforms were stripped, bodies were shattered, guts were hanging out.

Mattis may have considered it a hoot. I was sickened by the sight. I led my platoon to our next engagement. I was 22 years old.
-John C. McLaughlin,
Iowa City.