Yes, this is another of those Iraq/Vietnam references. The details of the story are ugly, but the quote is funny.
Posted by Jason at January 3, 2005 10:21 AMJames Wolcott: "Kind of a Shame": "There's a Peter Cook-Dudley Moore routine, one of their woolgathering dialogues, where Dud asks Pete, 'So would you say you've learned from your mistakes?' and Pete replies: 'Oh yes, I'm certain I could repeat them exactly.'"