Value of the Body

My two childhood best friends joined the marines after high school. When we were growing up they would always play their war video games and toy soldiers and intense versions of capture flag and all those typical boy things. I remember also that as we got older, while they did understand that the war going on, and war in general, was more serious than just "blowing up some terrorists" and "shooting up those terrorists mother f*ers", i can tell that they still thought that war was going to be like their video games and our hardcore water gun fights in the woods. Even though these two guys are very smart and kind people, they still would refer to the killing of the "bad guys"-- whoever that may be-- as something fun and that they would do with joy. It's been a few years now and they have been overseas. They have seen war and they have seen death. And although they've never told me explicitly, I have pretty strong reason to believe that they were responsible for death as well.

The reason I am even thinking about this is because I have been responding in other blogs about how people value the body in different contexts. I find it interesting to compare the attitudes that my boys have towards death from their pre-marine life to their post-war life. Before they were so amped to kill those bad guys. Now, they never talk about it. They get snippy with me if I make jokes like about hurting myself or wanting to kill someone. They say things like, "don't ever say that Reg" whereas maybe 5 years ago they'd say something like "i'll go get my bebe gun". (Joking of course but still). It is interesting to see how they value the body differently after witnessing and participating in violence. I am not saying that they are totally changed, of course if they get drunk and have a night out with the guys they will joke around about violent stuff that boys do. But since I know these people on a very personal level, and they let that male bravado down with me and aren't really worried about being somber or vulnerable. It's evident to me that their values have changed. I see that, to them, the body, one that is threatening or benign, is no longer just some thing that can be mutilated and destroyed nonchalantly.