Leaving No Warriors Behind
The Ancient Roots of a Modern Sensibility
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2340450 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elizabeth D Samet (Carol I National Defence University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 623-649 |
| Publication date | 2005-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Armed Forces & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0095-327X • E-ISSN: 1556-0848 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0095327x0503100409 |
| OpenAlex | W2156798414 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 24 |
The ethos of leaving no one behind has traditionally animated military forces distinguished by elite status, closed cultures, and frequent operational isolation (e.g., the French Foreign Legion, US Marines, and US Army Rangers). With the recent approval of the Soldier's Creed, however, the exhortation to leave no one behind has been formally disseminated throughout the US Army. This creed, embraced by the media and further popularized by Hollywood cinema, dates back to ancient Greece, specifically to the literary models found in Homer. However, profound changes to the nature of warfare as well as to the structure of the force and the society it serves have dramatically altered the moral and political significance of retrieving the fallen for the US military. Renewed emphasis on returning for not only the wounded but also, more provocatively, the dead, reveals the enduring appeal of aristocratic sentiment to a democratic force. This article traces the roots of this gesture back to the classical epics of Homer and Virgil in order to evaluate the implications of its recent reemergence in popular and military culture. The analysis extends to contemporary film ( Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down) and to recent US operations in Afghanistan and Iraq
Appeal · Art history · Creed · Democracy · Elite · Ethos · Hollywood · Political science · Politics · Sensibility · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · History · Law · Military History and Strategy · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
Archaic Greece
On the Iliad
Virgil's Aeneid
Hoplites
The Identification and Retrieval of the Hoplite Battle-Dead
The Identification and Retrieval of the Hoplite Battle-Dead
The Iliad, or the Poem of Force
Black Hawk down
Epic and Empire
Time, Tradition and Society in Greek Archaeology
The Mortal Hero
Time, Tradition and Society in Greek Archaeology
Homeric and Mycenaean Burial Customs
Contesting the Past
Shame in Ancient Greece
Early Greek Land Warfare as Symbolic Expression
Sanity and the Myth of Honor
The Ephebes' Song
Greek Hoplites, Warrior Culture, and Indirect Bias
Death
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.17 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2017 (10) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |