War is hell

[Detroitdad]

Originally Posted by Zulu451

I think about one of the greatest men that I have known who recently passed away this past year. He served 3 tours in vietnam was highly decorated and wounded several times. He has been there, done that and seen it all. I always wondered how he handled his nightmares and the ghosts of memories that haunted him? I look at his life that was completely and totally dedicated to serving other people around him, not wallowing in his own self pitty for the wounds that he sustained while defending a country that would shun him and his comrades when they returned. Somehow I think that this dedication, and "loosing himself" in the service of other people is what got him through those tough times.

My dad who did two tours in Nam said the exact same thing.

[Stumpy]

No End in Sight is the name of a documentary movie that just came out on DVD. It goes into the details of how America got into this war, and why it has gone the way it has gone. It is a harrowing look at the war from many perspectives, but it is as depressing as hades. Among the several blunders that could have turned the war in our favor: preventing the looting of Baghdad. The city was near destroyed AFTER the conflict. The dismissal of the Iraqi army - what did we think those thousands of military trained young men were going to do after they lost their jobs and had no way to provide for their families.
It is a sad depressing war for sure.

[Zulu451]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

I asked him if he's still getting help and his reply was rather vague but he seemed to be saying "if I do get help it has to come through the VA and that's a big hassle". I'm not sure, but it seems he may have been discharged from the Corps early because of all of this. He said he's no longer active duty. Will they boot a kid early who becomes too big a hassle with alcoholism and PTSD symptoms/suicide attempts?

It is usually for other things that are indirectly related to the PTSD sxs, (ie. alcohol, drug abuse, irrational and poor behavior).

We watched about an hour of training videos the other day trying to raise the awareness of this among the ranks of soldiers. Unfortunately, many of the soldiers suffering from PTSD see this a sign of weakness and that somehow they are less of a soldier for having these problems. They don't see that all the other guys around them are suffering from the exact same things and they are all afraid that they will get black listed by their command. If they would just see that they are not alone, and that many of the soldiers they work side-by-side with are going through the same thing, they would be able to access a great support group.

Steel - Encourage your buddy to go get help through the VA. It is not that big of a hassel especially with all of the media attention surrounding this issue right now.

[Zulu451]

Originally Posted by Stumpy

No End in Sight is the name of a documentary movie that just came out on DVD. It goes into the details of how America got into this war, and why it has gone the way it has gone. It is a harrowing look at the war from many perspectives, but it is as depressing as hades. Among the several blunders that could have turned the war in our favor: preventing the looting of Baghdad. The city was near destroyed AFTER the conflict. The dismissal of the Iraqi army - what did we think those thousands of military trained young men were going to do after they lost their jobs and had no way to provide for their families.
It is a sad depressing war for sure.

This really isn't a thread about what went wrong in the war. That would be a long one. Fact is that all war is depressing and miserable, in every war there are huge mistakes made. Even the ones that we won.

Personally, I laugh at the pundits (especially those politicians) who call for immediate withdrawl from Iraq. They know damn well that we cannot do that. If we did, the whole region would errupt and destablize. That is why despite multiple opportunites in Congress, they haven't taken the steps to make that happen. They pay lip service to it, to keep the moveon.org-ers happy, but they know they can't leave. That and they don't want to be the party to own defeat in Iraq.

Things are turning around over there. I can tell you just from the marked decrease in casualties that we are seeing comming from theatre. This as well as what I am hearing from the guys comming back.

It makes me happy to see that Americans hate the war. Everyone should hate the war. I hate it, they guys I see wounded hate it and the people fighting over there hate it. I dread the day when we enjoy war and killing. This was a hallmark of the decline of the Nephite civilizations and a mark of a wicked society.

[SteelBlue]

Originally Posted by Zulu451

Steel - Encourage your buddy to go get help through the VA. It is not that big of a hassel especially with all of the media attention surrounding this issue right now.

Thanks for the advice.