Platoon Argument Essay: Ethical Dilemmas

Discipline…this one word is what defines and separates civilians between United States Army Soldiers. Not only do we have standard operating procedures on discipline, but we also obtain a regulation on discipline itself as read in Army Regulation Six-Hundred and Ninety-Seven Hundred, Chapter 751. Upon reading the following United States Army regulation, AR 690-700, you will clearly see that the United States Army holds their troops up to the highest standard and will accept nothing less than the most immaculate, physically fit, mentally prepared, professional into their elite fighting force for freedom. As stated in Army Regulation 690-700 Chapter 751 Subchapter 1-1 Paragraph 1, “Discipline is a part of the daily responsibility of supervisors

The Warrior Ethos is to never leave a fallen comrade, to fight all threats of any and all Americans; both foreign and at home. When a soldier sees something wrong, a threat to the way of life, he or she stands up and takes action. Donald Trump states that U.S. soldiers “would blindly ignore their oath, their training and their conscience to follow what were clearly illegal, unethical and immoral orders.” In the article A Soldier 's View on Trump, the author Mark Hertling uses pathos, epiphany, anecdotes, and common themes to get people to agree with his opinions about Donald Trump. Mark Hertling talked about his life in the military.

After World War II, several of the Nazi soldiers were questioned about their reasoning behind the corrupt actions they were guilty of---killing hundreds of thousands of men and women, destroying families in the process, and marking their time as a dark part of history. Who on earth would do such a thing? What could their excuse possibly be? Well, to them, they were simply following orders. It’s obvious to believe that the soldiers would find their humanity and resist their commands, but they didn't.

These individuals had to follow their orders and ignore their own moral laws to prevent disobeying the law. This shows how people need to focus more on following their

“The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience” is an article written by Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton, that chronicles the story of the My Lai Massacre of 1968 and the resulting investigation. The article also contains the author's opinions on the military’s stance on following orders, specifically following orders that could be considered illegal. This is also discussed in Marianne Szegedy-Madzak’s “The Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal: Sources of Sadism”. In the article she discusses how guards will torture prisoners, because it is excused as a stress-relief tool, and were even congratulated by superiors for their actions.

I will teach you.” further emphasizes this as the draftees in the vision of the US Army should only follow their rules and should not be able to think freely, in order to avoid complications and shifts in the morale of the army later in the war. The consequence of this loss is, that the soldiers then have problems differentiating between what is right and what is not and so their personal morale takes damage from

So we should most definitely not judge child soldiers on their violent acts, because to expect them to give their own life is far too

The Uniform Code of Military Justice does not compare to civilian law. Because it deals with the safety of the nation, it has to be even more strict and detailed. Conscious efforts to leave base camp and endangering fellow soldiers should not be taken lightly. Bowe Bergdahl did not hesitate to tell Mark Boal, the interviewer, that he had mindfully planned the best time to walk away from site. According to Bowe, the sole purpose of this decision was to bring attention to the errors happening within his base.

When people sign up for the military, they recognize that “A central part of what [they] do with [their] careers is...kill the enemies of [their] country” (Evans). They do a tremendous amount of training that both mentally and physically for the harsh realities of war, although they do not truly understand the burden of murdering another person until after it is done. Whether defending others or themselves, soldiers must come to terms with the fact that their job is defense, regardless of if it costs a life. While their duty sometimes requires the sacrifice of another’s life “It tends to be the secret [they] have that [they’re] not proud of. [They] want to fight bravely, but it's hard to be proud of killing another person” (Evans).

In the article “Should Child Soldiers be Prosecuted for their Crimes?” it states, “‘... this principle might mitigate the responsibility of a child soldier who was forcibly recruited and forced, under threat of harm, to commit war crimes,’ ICRC adviser Young said”(Johannesburg). This shows that sometimes child soldiers are forced into committing a war crime which is illegal. And it would be very unfair if child soldiers were prosecuted because it is their commanders that are pushing them and forcing them to do such acts. It isn’t the child 's fault because they don’t know or understand what is happening and they don’t know they are doing something wrong because the leader told them to do it.

Furthermore, Skeptics may say they volunteered to eliminate hundreds of lives. To demonstrate, it says “Many children occupy command positions in their armed group/military and are responsible for planning or ordering the commission of war crimes and human rights abuses.” ( Dave, 2016). Although children volunteered or were told to hold these positions they had no choice. If they would’ve had said no they could’ve been killed or tortured to death.

Per Duhaime’s Law Dictionary, a war crime is “excessive brutality during war, in contravention of an international treaty or convention” (Duhaime). One such convention would be the Geneva Conventions. Per the Geneva

Every person has values that they hold close to their heart. One of the necessary steps for a group to achieve something larger than each individual is closely following a agreed upon values. For the United States Army, there are seven core principles: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage (Army). However, in every team there are almost always members who stray from this moral code. In The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien uses literary elements to demonstrate that soldiers at war often do not model certain values of the American Army- personal courage, integrity, and respect.

In the article, "Child Soldiers Should Be Prosecuted", the text says "Children are often forced into fighting and have little choice over whether or not they enlist. After that, they are following orders of adults rather than acting on their own free will. The recruiters of child soldiers also use drugs and alcohol to make children

In the movie Crimson Tide, we look to the question ethical decisions, and what someone would do when thrown into a situation that made them question themselves, and who they serve for. In this example, when serving in the United States Military, once a solider is given orders, that solider must follow the orders out and not to question them. The trust between the solider and the higher command giving orders is almost based on blind faith. The solider relies on the higher commands decision of protecting democracy, even if someone, or a lot of people are killed. Is it an ethical decision to follow a commander’s order even if it means killing mass numbers of innocent civilians?