ABSTRACT
This study is based on the author's observations of American soldiers in combat made during two separate stays in South Vietnam, during the first field trip in 1965. He asserts with some confidence that the findings reflect a set of beliefs widely shared by American combat soldiers throughout Vietnam during the period of the field work. The most popular notion of how men are brought to kill and be killed in combat has to do with the presumed national character of the soldiers. Different national armies perform better or worse according to the putative martial spirit of their respective citizenries. The author's own research among American soldiers in Vietnam has led him to question the dominant influence of the primary group in combat motivation on at least two counts. First, the self-serving aspects of primary relations in combat units must be more fully appreciated. Second, although the American soldier has a deep aversion to overt political symbols and patriotic appeals.
