Well, one of my grandfathers went through Dunkirk, D-Day and the liberation of Holland, and in all these battles, he said his view was that he had "taken the Kings shilling" (he was a professional soldier), and he was honour-bound to do the job he signed up for.

The only time they all hesitated was at the battle in Caen, where the SS used children (the Hitler Jugend) in the fighting. The adjutant (in the British Army, the officer in a batallion responsible for discipline) made it clear that anyone who did not obey the order to fire on the enemy would be shot out of hand. In that instance the only thing both sides could do was fight to the death.

I hear Caen is very pretty, but I'll never go there.

ever see band of brothers? i like that quote from that one LT. "the only way to function in combat is to realize you're already dead."
i haven't been shot at yet, but i have a feeling it's only a matter of time. i'll let you know.

well at little big horn there was no point to give up. the yanks knew that they will be killed anyway, so they took as many indians as they could.
NOTE: i'm being politicaly incorrect with the names to create the feelings of that time

If men know that they are going to die...
...Why do they keep fighting?

I believe the key to this is "If men know that they are going to die."

I believe it was Sun Tzu who said "A cornered enemy does not route." I'm not sure if it was him or those were the exact words, but the meaning holds true.

Just like how a cornered animal would strike out, so would people.

Looking at the Vietnam war and the ferocity of how the people fought even though they were dieing by the millions.

They knew they were going to die, why not die for a cause?

kinection stated the same point as i did. Take down as many of the enemy as you can. It is so true of russia especially in WW2

"the last thing your going to be thinking of when your getting shot at is the code of conduct and honor..."

I'd agree with that, I can't really see anyone reciting that kind of stuff either when things get a bit hairy. A lot of expletives maybe, but "must die honourable death, must make country proud"? Errr... no.
More like " you "

And Sun Tzu did indeed say "do not press an enemy that is cornered"- amongst other things, if you're interested you can find a translated version of The Art Of War at www.sonshi.com. Over 2,000 years old but will probably never be out of date thinking, the whole thing still holds true regardless of technology.

military men fight and die because they learn to fight and die

And because that's what they're paid to do!

And... when I said route, I actually meant rout.

And because that's what they're paid to do!

I'm sure that's one of the last things you would be thinking when you're about to die.

ok now i'm gonna get shot...CRAP! i didn't get paid for this month yet. Gotta live gotta live, atliest until tuesday...lol