I owe you both an apology on that one. I had forgotten that passage of his book, and I remember reading it some years ago and thinking, "That's just stupid." You are of course right. We haven't used live-fire exercises in that manner since early in the Vietnam War.
Yeah, when I read that statement in his book, I was thinking of just how many men would really be dead if what he said was true.
I mean they don't know how to avoid it right away!!
Actually, I'd say that what we do is a reflection of who we are. Being big enough to publicly post an "oops" when it would have been easier not to; and as opposed to continually trying to justify your original statement or disappearing/ignoring the erroneous statement (like a few others who shall remain un-named at this time); says a lot about who you are.