I wasn't so concerned about honor, I was concerned about the military itself. I'm pretty sure that a marine isn't supposed to make apologies and/or admissions to a captor but I'm not so sure why. Jacobs says they're only supposed to give their name, rank and serial number, but that seems overly strict. Clearly, they shouldn't give out information that might hurt their fellows, but it's not so clear why they shouldn't admit to something if it can help them in some way.
I don't know, maybe I've just watched too many WWII movies. Like I said, I'm not nearly as rabid as most of the critics of these kids, but my first gut reaction to seeing those videos was "what the hell do they think they're doing?" It just seemed like the sort of thing a marine isn't supposed to do.
If anyone reading this has been in the military and knows what rule I'm thinking these kids broke, I'd like to know. I'd also like to know what the rationale behind that rule is and whether it's been relaxed to any extent in recent decades. Further, I'd like to know if the rule is different when dealing with a captor with whom one is not at war.
For the record, I'm thrilled the kids are home and I don't condemn what they did (especially since I'm not so sure I wouldn't have done the same thing). But I don't want to completely condone what they did either, at least not until I understand more about this.
W.W.E.D.?