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Originally Posted by Heibges
This goes back to WWII where the army discovered that, in an infantry unit, only 15% to 20% of the infantryman in the unit (meaning not counting cooks and supply clerks, but only guys with rifles) actually took aim and fired at the enemy. It seems that in the 1940's young American boys were much more afraid of killing someone than they were of being killed themselves.
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If I am not mistaken, it was Richard Bong that had shot down a record number of Aircraft in WWII (awarded CMOH), before he actually found out that he was actually killing pilots. For some reason, he just kept thinking that he just shot down the planes but the pilots would return.
After finding out this information, he was unfit to fly because he was shaken up so bad with grief. He later became a flight instructor then a Test Pilot for Lockheed. Died in a P-80 test flight after ejecting shortly after take off.