Did he become a "squishy Leftist" before or after his experiences in the Second World War? It's not a rhetorical question; Army NCOs as a rule aren't known for being "squishy Leftists", and it's fair to think his experiences in February 1945 had something to do with this.
Little of which has any bearing on what he said concerning Allied air attacks on Dresden in February 1945. Was it unpleasant? Yes. Horrifying? Yes. Messy? Chaotic? Yes and yes. And whatever unpleasant adjectives you care to add.
I'll add "murderous" and call it a night.
“Did he become a “squishy Leftist” before or after his experiences in the Second World War? It’s not a rhetorical question; Army NCOs as a rule aren’t known for being “squishy Leftists”, and it’s fair to think his experiences in February 1945 had something to do with this.” [Captain Walker, post 200]
I’m not 100 percent familiar with Kurt Vonnegut’s personal journey through morality, ethics, nor ideology. A prototype college slacker: at Cornell, he opposed American involvement in WW2, in writing, though he was in ROTC. Couldn’t keep up his grades and left one step ahead of the boot. Enlisting before he could be drafted, he was in training programs at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and University of Tennessee before being sent to an infantry unit. A few months after arriving in the European theater, he was captured.
After the war he enrolled in a hybrid undergrad/grad program at the University of Chicago, but failed to complete it. Shortly later, he lied about his educational status to get hired by General Electric.
So it’s a safe guess that Vonnegut’s harrowing experiences in Dresden didn’t change his basic philosophical outlook all that much.
You seem anxious to claim him as a validator of your moralistic take on things.
After meeting thousands of military personnel, working closely with hundreds, and knowing a few dozen fairly well, I can say you lend greater significance to Vonnegut’s experiences and his worldview (especially any changes to it) than it deserves.
“As a rule” has no meaning; members of the military are not nearly so one-dimensional as you have assumed. They change their minds all the time, for a million and one reasons. They sign up for uniquely personal reasons, and leave the service for yet other personal reasons. Despite a presumed uniformity of training and indoctrination, it’s common to find two members enduring exactly the same experience, who react quite differently in the moment, and draw markedly differing conclusions later.