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I think it was a sense of duty that propelled some men to both glory and foolhardiness. I am thinking of pilots like Guynemer and Berthold--whose repeated references to duty--kept them flying. Nungesser, who continued to fly and fight when he should have been in a hospital or at home resting, always seemed to me to be competing with some need to be the best. I have wondered about Ball and Voss plunging headlong into combats where long chances meant victories but also their deaths. Glory? Yes. Foolhardiness? Yes. Burned out and looking for an exit? When you consider the mishmash of emotions that propel us along then add the social forces of the day, it is indeed a muddy question.
DD
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