re: Sky Pilot, how high can you fly

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...justified violating the commandment Thy shalt not kill.

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Not quite tracking on this.

Pretty sure that "Thou Shalt Not" commandment is talking about murder, not soldiers in a war killing enemy combatants.

Hopefully a misunderstanding of that distinction won't trouble combat vets reading it.

As you say, it's a good song and under appreciated.

As they're on our minds, here's a Sky Pilot story worth the time to read.

Fr. Charles Watters, Chaplain, 2nd/503rd/173rd Airborne Brigade (MOH)

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That commandment doesn't refer to justified killing, such as in self-defense, legal punishment, or a soldier killing during warfare

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Good point. I don't believe the intent of the song was to indict the soldiers for doing their jobs as the had no control over being ordered into combat. Juxtaposing lyrics of the song brings this to to light,

The chaplain tells them:

You're soldiers of God you must understand
The fate of your country is in your young hands
May God give you strength
Do your job well
If it all was worth it
Only time it will tell

Then:

In the morning they return with tears in their eyes
The stench of death lifts up to the skies
A young soldier so ill, looks at the Sky Pilot
Remembers the words 'Thou shalt not kill'.


Like much of the country the soldiers wrestled with the justification of fighting an endless war which their leaders inserted them into when the country was not directly attacked and there was no pending threat of it occurring. Though they were told they were soldiers of God many questioned the moral foundation of their orders to kill when they were not acting in true self defense.

Sadly they were often attacked and insulted by anti war protesters when returning to the Unite States, unlike soldiers before them who returned to heroes welcomes.

Sky King >> Sky Pilot