Posted on Sep 27, 2015
Do you agree that War Is Hell, and the Hell Rubs Off?
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Do you agree that War Is Hell, and the Hell Rubs Off?
PTSD contributes to violence. Pretending it doesn’t is no way to support the troops.
In the picture above a soldier gets emotional during President Obama's remarks at a memorial service at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, on April 9, 2014. Earlier this month Army Spc. Ivan A. Lopez killed three and injured 16 others at Fort Hood before taking his own life.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/04/ptsd_and_violence_by_veterans_increased_murder_rates_related_to_war_experience.html
In September 2007, at the height of the Iraq surge, I spent two weeks with the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry in Dora, one of the deadliest neighborhoods in Baghdad. By that point in the war, I had embedded with a dozen-odd infantry units, and 2-12, the “Lethal Warriors” from Fort Carson in Colorado, was one of the best I’d seen. Cocky, aggressive, and competent in all the right ways, they exuded an indifference toward death that was hard not to admire. The dangers they lived with for months are impossible to describe with any justice, but one image stays with me, the thing I saw the first time I walked into 2-12’s command post. On the wall in front of me were 16 framed photographs, one for each soldier killed in-country.
At the end of their 15-month tour in Iraq, the Lethal Warriors returned to Fort Carson with an impressive battlefield record, having cleared one of the worst parts of Baghdad, in some cases digging up IEDs with little more than screwdrivers and tire irons. Unfortunately, the Lethal Warriors achieved a kind of notoriety that was less for their battlefield exploits than for the battalion’s connection to a string of murders. In December 2007 two soldiers from the unit, Robert James and Kevin Shields, were killed, and three fellow soldiers were charged with murder. The killings were part of a larger pattern of violence extending back to 2005, including 11 murders, in what was the largest killing spree involving a single army base in modern U.S. history.
PTSD contributes to violence. Pretending it doesn’t is no way to support the troops.
In the picture above a soldier gets emotional during President Obama's remarks at a memorial service at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, on April 9, 2014. Earlier this month Army Spc. Ivan A. Lopez killed three and injured 16 others at Fort Hood before taking his own life.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/04/ptsd_and_violence_by_veterans_increased_murder_rates_related_to_war_experience.html
In September 2007, at the height of the Iraq surge, I spent two weeks with the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry in Dora, one of the deadliest neighborhoods in Baghdad. By that point in the war, I had embedded with a dozen-odd infantry units, and 2-12, the “Lethal Warriors” from Fort Carson in Colorado, was one of the best I’d seen. Cocky, aggressive, and competent in all the right ways, they exuded an indifference toward death that was hard not to admire. The dangers they lived with for months are impossible to describe with any justice, but one image stays with me, the thing I saw the first time I walked into 2-12’s command post. On the wall in front of me were 16 framed photographs, one for each soldier killed in-country.
At the end of their 15-month tour in Iraq, the Lethal Warriors returned to Fort Carson with an impressive battlefield record, having cleared one of the worst parts of Baghdad, in some cases digging up IEDs with little more than screwdrivers and tire irons. Unfortunately, the Lethal Warriors achieved a kind of notoriety that was less for their battlefield exploits than for the battalion’s connection to a string of murders. In December 2007 two soldiers from the unit, Robert James and Kevin Shields, were killed, and three fellow soldiers were charged with murder. The killings were part of a larger pattern of violence extending back to 2005, including 11 murders, in what was the largest killing spree involving a single army base in modern U.S. history.
PTSD
Violence
Domestic Violence
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Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 28
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs - Mikel; About the only thing that the article doesn't say that I have been saying for years is that "War damages EVERY soldier - some more than others.".
One of the problems is that the military (and society) HAS TO "pretend" that it doesn't or there would be no way that anyone of any moral/ethical rectitude at all would be able to advocate war for any reason (as long as there were troops [from "their" side] directly involved).
"Fortunately" technology has progressed almost to the point where we can now "cloud source" our wars and let the gamers on the Internet fight them for us in the most lethal and violent manner possible simply by not telling them that they are actually controlling real machines that are killing real people.
One of the problems is that the military (and society) HAS TO "pretend" that it doesn't or there would be no way that anyone of any moral/ethical rectitude at all would be able to advocate war for any reason (as long as there were troops [from "their" side] directly involved).
"Fortunately" technology has progressed almost to the point where we can now "cloud source" our wars and let the gamers on the Internet fight them for us in the most lethal and violent manner possible simply by not telling them that they are actually controlling real machines that are killing real people.
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I was never in combat but as an 18 year old Pfc I was in a Guard Company at the Boston Navy Yard in Charlestown MA & got to know some of the "Frozen Chosin" Marines. Most would not discuss the Chosin but one guy did after a few beers. I doubt if anyone really knows what these guys went through up & around the Chosin Reservoir in 1950... I also noticed the guys who were at the Chosin seemed to hang out together & didn't seem to mix with others much..
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SPC Margaret Higgins
I HATE that combat has done this to you: SSgt Terry P.. You don't have to commit any farther; Staff Sergeant.
You given your all to combat.
THANK YOU FOR PROTECTING AND DEFENDING THIS COUNTRY; STAFF SERGEANT.
HOW I HONOR and RESPECT YOU.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AND GREAT SACRIFICES; STAFF SERGEANT.
With My Love in HIM, Margaret
You given your all to combat.
THANK YOU FOR PROTECTING AND DEFENDING THIS COUNTRY; STAFF SERGEANT.
HOW I HONOR and RESPECT YOU.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE AND GREAT SACRIFICES; STAFF SERGEANT.
With My Love in HIM, Margaret
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War can certainly be hell; but, sometimes the "peace" can lead to hell for many as well COL Mikel J. Burroughs .
Neville Chamberlain's statement "Peace for our time" spoken on 30 September 1938 ushered in the destruction of millions in Nazi work and death camps.
The millions that died in the Soviet Union and in Cambodia's killing fields dwarfed those killed in war last century. That being said for those who endured the fire bombings and those sinking on troop.
ships either as troops embarking for war or as POWs war was certainly hell.
By definition hell is the complete absence of God's presence, people who are hellions whether in uniform or out of uniform can rub off on those around them.
Neville Chamberlain's statement "Peace for our time" spoken on 30 September 1938 ushered in the destruction of millions in Nazi work and death camps.
The millions that died in the Soviet Union and in Cambodia's killing fields dwarfed those killed in war last century. That being said for those who endured the fire bombings and those sinking on troop.
ships either as troops embarking for war or as POWs war was certainly hell.
By definition hell is the complete absence of God's presence, people who are hellions whether in uniform or out of uniform can rub off on those around them.
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SPC Margaret Higgins
LTC Stephen F., I just wanted to say Something to you; as you are so SPECIAL to me.
You are very, VERY INTELLIGENT- if not BRILLIANT.
Your response is replete with information; that I did not know.
I can only but imagine that your truism: "...hell is the complete absence of God's presence,..." is MORE THAN REAL.
May the good LORD bless you and keep you, LTC Stephen F..
Sincerely Yours, Margaret
You are very, VERY INTELLIGENT- if not BRILLIANT.
Your response is replete with information; that I did not know.
I can only but imagine that your truism: "...hell is the complete absence of God's presence,..." is MORE THAN REAL.
May the good LORD bless you and keep you, LTC Stephen F..
Sincerely Yours, Margaret
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To make it simple War and PTSD are hell, and it does not rub off.
Think of War as the heavy red clay mud on your uniform; once it gets ground in real good ... what's left after cleaning it is PTSD. No matter how hard you try you never get all of the mud out, it just becomes less visible
Think of War as the heavy red clay mud on your uniform; once it gets ground in real good ... what's left after cleaning it is PTSD. No matter how hard you try you never get all of the mud out, it just becomes less visible
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I have PTSD andbitnis what it is. My temper is volatile, I don't drink, pop pills or smoke weed.
My aggressions are aimed at extensive lawn care and the shooting range.
We are all trained to close with, engage, and exterminate the enemy with extreme prejudiced.
Does it mean we have to, no,
Is it a day to day to day struggle, yes
With the help of therapy, medication, meditation, I manage. It doesn't take the want of causing destruction to the triggers but I don't. I won't because of Family and the discipline that was instilled in me by the Corps
My mission is being a leader for my family, training my kids for success, and the simple fact that we never stop being parents or a loving spouse.
SEMPER FI
My aggressions are aimed at extensive lawn care and the shooting range.
We are all trained to close with, engage, and exterminate the enemy with extreme prejudiced.
Does it mean we have to, no,
Is it a day to day to day struggle, yes
With the help of therapy, medication, meditation, I manage. It doesn't take the want of causing destruction to the triggers but I don't. I won't because of Family and the discipline that was instilled in me by the Corps
My mission is being a leader for my family, training my kids for success, and the simple fact that we never stop being parents or a loving spouse.
SEMPER FI
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War is War and Hell is Hell. Hell has sinners. War takes the Innocents and the Good as well. Chews them up and spits them out.
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War is hell. the fact that many of walk away alive is in itself a miracle. But I think the worst part is knowing that our brothers and sisters the made the ultimate sacrifice, are not coming home. How can anyone just rub that off? To do so is a slap in the face to anyone who has ever fought and died for this country. Those of us who make it back are never the same, and no matter how much treatment we go through or how many pills they shove down our throats, it will never replace the memories we have of our fallen. My brothers and sisters who suffer from this, know you are not alone and we need to have each others backs.
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The cost of WAR....human-losses-second-world-war-animated-video
http://www.thinkinghumanity.com/2015/06/human-losses-second-world-war-animated-video.html
http://www.thinkinghumanity.com/2015/06/human-losses-second-world-war-animated-video.html
The Human Losses Of The Second World War In An Animated Video
This amazing 18-minute documentary was created in Vimeo by Neil Halloran, who searches about Second World War's human cost and compares it to other wars in history including the recent conflicts. The video includes graphic and statistics.
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Of course it is! Look at the Pending Affects it has on Soldiers! If you need a WITNESS check the Suicide Rates! Brain Injuries have far more of an impact that the Physical Injuries do! Its harder to detect what you cant see! Unless you have a Genuine Concern for your Battle Buddy and Pay Attention to their Transition!
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