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Personal effects of war on soldiers
Personal effects of war on soldiers
Mental and physical consequences of war for soldiers
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On account to the short passage "Combat High" the main purpose Sebastian Junger wrote this article was to inform people of what American soldiers had to, and still to this point, go through while stationed in war. He wants to inform those, who have no clue that going to war is not just fun and games, but how they are affected once they are back to their "normal" lives. A main reason for the soldiers at war to be concerned is that they don’t know about the political reasons for being placed in combat. As far as the civilians they would need to question the government because what any decision the government decides to make, the outcome will affect the people. A way to help our soldiers who go into combat is by questioning the ability of knowledge
There is an obvious need to ensure that all soldiers act according to military orders rather than their own personal political motivations. At times, the military’s need to protect military order supersedes a soldier’s right to political speech. There is a delicate balance between protecting military interests and a soldier’s right to freedom of speech. Interests of the military, including protecting national security, promoting order and discipline within the military, and safeguarding military secrets must be balanced with a soldier’s right to tell his or her story and the public’s right to know the truth about the war on terror.
His goal is to tell the stories of the individual soldier, and his experience. The primary focus of the book are the realities of the war. Fussel doesn’t agree with the often romanticized, systematically sanitized and Disneyfied picture of the war. He criticizes the literature, news and other media that presented the war in better light than it actually was. Fussel opposes the notion of the “good war” and tries to make people understand that war was messy and very cruel, it was by no means a good thing. He shows the everyday reality of the soldiers that fought in this war, including errors and fear that they were trying to numb by extreme alcohol consumption and sex. He emphasizes the negative influence of the war on the mental state and intellect. He talks also about the loss of individuality and becoming just a faceless soldier. The author focuses on the psychological effect that the war had on the American soldiers. It is especially apparent in this quote:
Have you ever thought about what it was like to live during World War 1, or what it was like to fight at war? At first glance of any war piece, you might think the author would try to portray the soldiers as mentally tough and have a smashing conscience. Many would think that fighting in a war shows how devoted you are to your country, however, that is not true. According to All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque, the reality of a soldier's life is despondency, carnage and eradication at every bombardment. Living every day is not knowing if they will eat, see their families, or even if they will awaken the next day. Demeaning themselves from heroes to barely men without their military garment or identity. Remarque conveyed how
...ome aspect of war, from battling with enemies to how battle spiritually destroys young men. The one positive point of this novel is how friends cared for one another when going through tragedies and stressful experiences. It also portrays how strong a soldier needs to be, in order for them to be in the war.
The reality of war changed many soldiers' lives because of nightmares from firefights and small skirmishes to bombings and atrocities. Many places from Saigon to Khe Sanh are filled with stories from many veterans. A letter from a marine fighting in Khe Sanh said to his Parents "Since we began, we have lost 14 KIA and 44 men WIA. Our company is cut down to half strength, and I think we will be going to Okinawa to regroup. I hope so anyway because I have seen enough of war and its destruction." From the death of close friends any person's emotions would crumble. A normal everyday business person in the shoes of this soldier wouldn't last a day. The experience a soldier goes through will change his view on life forever. This is just showing how it affects people. Seeing death and killing on a daily basis. The random occurrence of death would truly disturb any person. Seeing the death of friends and mangled bodies of South Vietnamese villagers left by Vietcong guerillas, the soldiers were left with the vivid visions of the bodies.
Wars affect everyone in some way, especially soldiers who fight in them, like those in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. O 'Brien concentrates a lot on the psychological trauma that solders, like himself, confronted before, during, and after the Vietnam War. He also focuses on how they coped with the brutality of war. Some were traumatized to the point where they converted back to primitive instinct. Others were traumatized past the breaking point to where they contemplated suicide and did not fit in. Finally, some soldiers coped through art and ritual.
Throughout “How to Tell a True War Story,” the author clarifies that in order for someone to really feel as if they are actually there in the war, specific stories will be exaggerated to create the vivid, realistic imagery. “War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead” (O’Brien, “How to Tell a True War Story). O’Brien employs descriptive tone so that people will be able to understand what the soldiers are going through. He encourages people to see the true colors of war the soldiers, primarily teenagers and young men in their early twenties, had to endure. They soon find themselves in the midst of an intense war feeling nothing but uncertainty and fear. They hate it, but they love the fear and adrenaline that run through their skin and bones, and it serves as a crucial part of their young lives that changes the way they see their own world. Even though this unemotional tone, O’Brien is still able to bring forth the true raw emotion of the soldiers because the words implemented to describe the war are mind boggling. He arises the realization that anything can happen at any minute and anything can change at any moment. In order to implement that realization, sometimes stories seem over exaggerated: “In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. … Often the crazy stuff is true and the normal
"What it is Like to Go to War" is a hard hitting portrait of the experience of war and its effect on the human psyche. When an author of Marlantes' stature rubs elbows with Joseph Campbell and Robert Bly, the end result is an eloquent, articulate, and psychologically astute punch to the gut.
The Civil War, World War I, the Vietnam War, World War II, and the conflict in the Middle East are all wars that have been fought over the difference of opinions, yet come at the cost of the soldier 's fighting them; Humans killing other humans, and death is just one of the many emotional scars soldiers of war face. Why do we go to war when this is the cost? For many it is because they are unaware of the psychological cost of war, they are only aware of the monetary cost or the personal gains they get from war. Tim O 'Brien addresses the true cost of war in "The Things They Carried". O 'Brien suggests that psychological trauma caused by war warps the perception of life in young Americans drafted into the Vietnam War. He does this through Lieutenant
In conclusion the soldiers use dark humor, daydreaming, and violent actions which all allow an escape from the horrors they had to go through in Vietnam. These coping mechanisms allowed the men to continue to fight and survive the war. They wouldn’t have been able to carry on if it wasn’t for the outlets these methods provided. Without humor, daydreaming, and violent actions, the war would have been unbearable for the men, and detrimental to their lives going forward.
In the novel, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, in two of his stories, “How to Tell True War Story” and “The Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” O’Brien writes about surreal events that are unknown to the average citizens that have never experienced war. Soldiers are forced to go through events that people who have never experienced war could never imagine going through. Soldiers have to risk their lives every day that they're at war to protect U.S. citizens. To defy that, soldiers also spend a lot of their time playing games and joking around. Between playing games, joking around, and facing the obstacles of war come many surreal events that people would think are unconscionable.
Every American soldier endured rigorous training to become the soldier they are today, but throughout all this training, there are a few things that a soldier can't simply learn. Training and development is treated as preparation for war situations, and much like ordinary grade school, they are tested to see how well each soldier does in each area (Huerta, 2014). Even after all this organizing and teaching, a soldier's mind is still just as human as it was before seeing action in battle. Once a soldier learns to control every situation imaginable, they are sent overseas to put all their training to use; but simulations can only get you so far. At some point, there is a moment when a soldier will step out of his or her body and truly realize how far from home they are, and that the violence of war is just a way of their new daily life. At this point "a soldier is considered dirty" (Phillips, 2014). Although for a soldier this sounds like a step in the right direction in this particular line of work, it's really a step down a dark path, and part of the soldier will never return. Now American soldiers are haunted by the negative psychological effects resulting in the harsh symptoms of PTSD (Posttraumatic stress disorder) as seen in Jarhead's main character Anthony Swofford.
This book adds to our historical knowledge because it gives a great firsthand account of the war from a man who served in the trenches. Not only that, but Jünger participated in many major battles throughout the war. Due to this, Jünger’s experiences give an unprecedented look into the life of the average soldier. This perspective also shows how the soldiers were effected by and perceived the changes and events that occurred we have discussed in class on a broader front. However, Jünger rarely expresses his opinions of the war as a whole or dwells on broader concepts such as the justification of the war. Overall Jünger’s assessment of the war is very detailed and interesting, but it lacks in explanation.
He has not seen the blood or heard the screams of suffering soldiers. He has not watched his best friend die in his arms after being hit by enemy fire. He is an onlooker, free to analyze and critique every aspect of the war from the safety of his office. He is free and safe to talk about ethics and proper war etiquette. The soldier, immersed in battle, fighting for his life, can think of only one thing.
One of the article’s many main points state that men and women who have served in combat often have side effects such as mental health from experience of the war. It does not matter if they did serve in active duty or only served in military occupations, either way they are still affected. In this article Mr. Hoglund and Mrs. Schwartz perform multiple polls and research that help sustain their point of view to compare the men and women who suffer in it and to the civilians’ mental health. With these three comparisons of choice it helps to open the audience’s eyes, such as experts or even a general audience who have loved ones serving, about the side affects that come with war. Studies of military personnel deployed veterans of war have investigated gender differences in the association between combat exposure and/ or war zone deployment and...