Ethics of pilots fighting for the sides in WWII

[engarde]

Originally Posted by Avimimus

I don't really feel like discussing this. But, I'm deferring to the judgment of the community and posting the reply in this new thread.







The war shouldn't have happened. Following orders didn't help.

I recognise that the difference between one person fighting for their life and another isn't that great. Many people on the allied side were fighting for the wrong reasons as well (even though the side was the one that needed to win for humanity's sake).

But it doesn't change the fact that a lot of good people and innocents were killed by German pilots fighting the war. It also doesn't change the fact that they were fighting on behalf of a nation which had a horrible and inhumane regime that was simultaneously conducting horrible crimes.

Does that make sense?




I agree that Triggaaar is right that there were choices btw. Not easy ones though (especially for patriots or people who cared about what other's thought).

One can look at the treatment of draft dodgers or people who went AWOL in the past decade - in America - during wars of lower intensity, less ideology and less risk to the home country.

Ethics?

This is a useless topic as there is no way you can accurately determine what a totally different society, including the society of fighter pilots in a particular squadron etc, had as their values in days gone by.

Might as well post a question as to the Boer soldiers attitudes.

You'll get replies, but what worth opinion?