Brigadier General Samuel Lyman Atwood Marshall wrote that famous book that claimed “Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command, which claimed that less than 25 percent of men in combat actually fired their weapons at the enemy”
“Why this is so remains contested; Marshall argued that even with their own lives at risk, the resistance of the average individual “...toward killing a fellow man" was such that "he will not...take life if it is possible to turn away from that responsibility and at the vital point, he becomes a conscientious objector". Others argue so-called 'low fire' is a function of training and discipline, and is a positive attribute. These debates continue since understanding is crucial to overcoming them through training, as well as dealing with actual or potential combat-stress disorder.”
