Justified killing by Soldiers on the battlefield will be explored from a Christian perspective. Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman, U.S. Army (Retired), author of On Killing, explains, "only 15 to 20 percent of the American riflemen in combat during World War II would fire at the enemy. Those who would not fire did not run or hide . . . even when faced with repeated waves of banzai charges." Grossman posited the reason these men did not fire was because "there is within most men an intense resistance to killing their fellow man. A resistance so strong that, in many circumstances, soldiers on the battlefield will die before they can overcome it." The nature of the problem investigated is drawn from this study and others like it. Did at least some of these Soldiers fail to fire their weapon because innately they feared the threat of eternal judgment for disobeying God's command to not murder (Deut. 5:17) more than the threat of their own death or even the deaths of the friends and comrades who stood by their side?

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