In Damage Control school (Treasure Island, across from San Francisco) we were taught how to protect the ship and how to protect ourselves. We were taught about nerve gas and other biological war agents. In the event of a real nerve gas attack, we were taught to inject atropine into our thighs first and then inject the rest of the crew.
Since I was the class leader, I was the first person to stand in front of my classmates and take a tube of fake atropine with a syringe needle that looked like the size of a 16d nail. (OK it really wasn't THAT big) and stab myself in the thigh. And then I had to squeeze out the tube of fake atropine (saline water) before I removed it. This was not a fun activity.
This book deals with my own awakening to the reality of war and the moral questions that war raises. Fighting in war is a messy and bloody business. We face a moral dilemma with our first kill. We are all taught that hurting people and certainly killing people is wrong. When we are put into a position where killing is "necessary", our moral compass goes haywire and we have to deal with it, not only in that moment, but for the rest of our lives.
Author's Bio.
- MUSHROOM MONTOYA
- Mushroom Montoya circumnavigated the globe aboard the USS Trippe DE1075 after killing soldiers, woman and children in Viet Nam. Now, as a shaman, he heals the planet one person at a time. Mushroom Montoya has an active shamanic healing practice in Long Beach, California and he teaches at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Cal State Univ. Long Beach.
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