Military training is dangerous. It has always been that way. The powers that be are careful to avoid mishaps. But they happen.

I was right on top of them. It greatly improved with (separate housing). It was a big morale booster.

It's one of the reasons they opened the gates. They wanted to show the world they're not killing recruits.

The Japanese fought to win - it was a savage, brutal, inhumane, exhausting and dirty business. Our commanders knew that if we were to win and survive, we must be trained realistically for it whether we liked it or not. In the post-war years, the U.S. Marine Corps came in for a great deal of undeserved criticism in my opinion, from well-meaning persons who did not comprehend the magnitude of stress and horror that combat can be. The technology that developed the rifle barrel, the machine gun and high explosive shells has turned war into prolonged, subhuman slaughter. Men must be trained realistically if they are to survive it without breaking, mentally and physically.

The chains of military despotism once fastened upon a nation, ages might pass away before they could be shaken off.

The aim of military training is not just to prepare men for battle, but to make them long for it.