At captainsjournal I read a very interesting post. One of the comments struck a cord and is posted below in its entirety:
In the 70′s I asked my grandfather about 3 bullet scars he had on his chest. He told me they were from the war and wouldnt say more. I knew he was from Germany but little else. He never talked much about his past. Some years later I joined the Marines. He was horrified but wouldn’t say more.
In the 90’s He opened up and told me he was a police officer along with most of his family before the war then was put into a reserve army unit during the war. He had dealt with all sorts of criminals but had never drawn his gun. One day his brother came to talk to him and told him about horrible things the army was doing to other germans. He didn’t believe him and one day his brother and mother left. He didn’t see him for a year. Then there was a school bombing. His police unit was sent to get people who were believed responsible for the bombing. They raided many places and killed many criminals They were told that they had lots more explosives and were planning to bomb more schools. One night they raided a warehouse and killed everyone inside. There were at least 50 people there and there was a huge fire fight. Then they went home to sleep.
A few days later he went to visit his best friend who was also his supervisor and saw some photos on the desk. He recognized it as the building that he raided the night before. He also recognized some of the faces n the photos belonging to the mentally disabled kids his mother took care of. Then he saw his mother and brothers faces in the photos. All dead.
He confronted his friend who told him that these were bad people and they deserved to die. My grandfather pointed out that his mother and brother weren’t criminals. His friend said nothing. The next day my grandfather decided to leave germany but was caught by other police and sent back to his unit. His best friend then shot him in the chest 3 times and had him thrown in the landfill. He woke up a few hours later and stumbled into the forest where he was found by some other people trying to escape and they treated him and got him on a boat to sweden.
He never imagined he would ever hurt anyone, yet he did. So don’t believe for a second that soldiers or police wont kill you in a heart beat. They do what they are told.
To which I posted the following heartfelt advise that I now share with you all:
I’m afraid most people do what they think is right based on the information they are given. Like Joe16′s Grandfather(I pray he is at peace). Our police are not any different. NOW is the time to get to know them. Know your local LEO, Hell buy them a cup of coffee. The time is fast approaching when they have orders to look down their sights. Will they see the enemy they were told about or will the see YOU? Be they guy they know.
No need to talk politics, about your preps( OPSEC is vital as you kno) or about .gov, but just be a known friendly face that they will remember when G-d forbid the time comes. Talk weather and sports, hell even the price of tea in China, just make connections to ensure you, your families and your communities safety. Would you find it easier to shoot an unknown whom you are told is a bad guy or the guy you know to be a good guy?
