Michael Anderson is a homeless veteran. He served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1972. When he came home he turned to drugs and violence as a way to cope with his war-related problems. Michael was sent to jail on domestic violence charges. During his sentence Michael wrote, “Where Broken Soldiers Go.” He is not a famous poet, but when CNN caught wind of his poem, they created an article on his piece. Michael Anderson not only caught the attention of a News station but many veterans and veteran programs reacted to his piece. Michael’s poem intrigued and troubled many. The poem has shown the underscoring troubles homeless veterans face coming home from war. Thus his poem have made many people want to start more veteran programs, or donate to the already …show more content…
existing programs. Michael Anderson is just one veteran of many who turned to poetry and has shed light on the troubles homeless veterans can face.I have selected the poem, “Where Broken Soldiers Go” because I found it relatable not only personally but also in today’s society. The poem discusses the side effects of war from a Vietnam Veteran. Although this is only the view of one veteran, it gave me an insight into the real price of freedom.
My uncle is about to be deployed back into the Middle East, and while I know it is his job, I am afraid. I am afraid for what all the troops deployed around the world face. While, I choose to believe that most will return in one piece, no one really knows how hard it is to survive being a soldier. The mental and physical hardships faced by soldiers worldwide are unimaginable. The bombing of Syria, and the terrorist attacks today makes this world, a very dangerous time indeed. Even though, we may think life is tough, being a soldier is just as challenging. As a result I wanted to share this eye-opening poem as a way to show my gratitude and to spread awareness. Because, American veterans and active soldiers today have faced excruciating obstacles for our freedom and yet those who do get hurt are not helped. I personally would be livid if my uncle or my father did not get the help they deserve for serving our country and us. The freedom that America has is because of its soldiers and this poem expresses a side of war that I hold to be important to understand and to share.“Where Broken Soldiers Go” is a saddening poem about a man recounting his military
experience. More importantly Michael Anderson’s poem is about the war damaging him in a way he knew not how to get help. A quote from the poem explains this condition, “But the fight is not over, it’s just begun. The demons within have started exacting wars.” From this quote, one can see that Michael needed help. For the war left permanent scars that still render fresh in his mind. Therefore the poem is about Michael leaving the war, but the war never leaving him. It is about the condition of how war will leave a person.
Tina Chen’s critical essay provides information on how returning soldiers aren’t able to connect to society and the theme of alienation and displacement that O’Brien discussed in his stories. To explain, soldiers returning from war feel alienated because they cannot come to terms with what they saw and what they did in battle. Next, Chen discusses how O’Brien talks about soldiers reminiscing about home instead of focusing in the field and how, when something bad happens, it is because they weren’t focused on the field. Finally, when soldiers returned home they felt alienated from the country and
The heart wrenching tale of Jason Poole is an evident picture of the lost potentials of all the heavily injured veterans who came back to an entirely different “home”. Grady shows us that life as a veteran, who has put their life on the line to protect their country, after coming home is like having to start from scratch. “‘Jason was definitely a ladies’ man’, said Zillah Hodgkins, who had been a friend for nine years.” (5, Grady) Grady utilizes this quote by previously showing us the current state of
PBS’ Frontline film “The Wounded Platoon” reviews the effects the Iraq war has had on soldiers as they return home and transition back into civilian life, focusing particularly on the rise in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among American military members from Fort Carson Army base (Edge, 2010). Incidents of PTSD have risen dramatically in the military since the beginning of the Iraq war and military mental health policies and treatment procedures have adapted to manage this increase (Edge, 2010). In “The Wounded Platoon,” many military personnel discuss how PTSD, and other mental health struggles, have been inadequately treated (if at all) by military mental health services. Reasons and Perdue’s definition of a social problem allows us to see inadequate treatment of PTSD among returning United States military members as a social problem because it is a condition affecting a significant number of people in undesirable ways that can be remedied through collective action (Reasons & Perdue, 1981).
Wallace Terry has collected a wide range of stories told by twenty black Vietnam veterans. The stories are varied based on each experience; from the horrific to the heart breaking and to the glorified image of Vietnam depicted by Hollywood. Wallace Terry does not insinuate his opinion into any of the stories so that the audience can feel as if they are having a conversation with the Vietnam Veteran himself. Terry introduces the purpose of the book by stating, “ Among the 20 men who portray their war and postwar experiences in this book. I sought a representative cross section of the black combat force.”(p. XV) Although the stories in this book were not told in any specific order, many themes became prominent throughout the novel such as religion, social, and health.
His months in Vietnam were filled with bloodshed and human atrocity, and from this, no man could feasibly return the same person. Yet beneath what John endured throughout the war, he suffered many unkindness’ and tragedies that shaped him into adulthood. It was not only the war that made John Wade, but it was John Wade’s existence; his whole life that made him who he was. John Wade craved love, admiration and affection. All his life, all he wanted was to be loved, and his father’s constant taunting hurt him immensely.
Tim O’Brien served in the Vietnam War, and his short story “The Things They Carried” presents the effects of the war on its young soldiers. The treatment of veterans after their return also affects them. The Vietnam War was different from other wars, because too many in the U.S. the soldiers did not return as heroes but as cruel, wicked, and drug addicted men. The public directs its distaste towards the war at the soldiers, as if they are to blame. The also Veterans had little support from the government who pulled them away from their families to fight through the draft. Some men were not able to receive the help they needed because the symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) did not show until a year
...of the struggle over how the war would be remembered. Blanketed by the discourse of disability, the struggle over the memory of veterans and the country alike would be waged with such obliquity as to surpass even the most veiled operations of Nixon’s minions. While Nixon’s plumbers were wrenching together the Gainesville case against VVAW in the spring of 1972, mental health and news-media professionals were cobbling together the figure of the mentally incapacitated Vietnam veteran. More than any other, this image is the one that would stick in the minds of the American people. The psychologically damaged veteran raised a question that demanded an answer: what happened to our boys that was so traumatic that they were never the same again? As it came to be told, the story of what happened to them had less to do with the war itself than with the war against the war.
Trauma can be defined as something that repeats itself. In The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, trauma recurs in soldiers for different reasons. However, although their reasons for trauma are different, the things they carried can symbolize all the emotions and pasts of these soldiers. One man may suffer trauma from looking through letters and photographs of an old lover, while another man could feel trauma just from memories of the past. The word “carried” is used repeatedly throughout The Things They Carried. Derived from the Latin word “quadrare,” meaning “suitable,” O’Brien uses the word “carried” not to simply state what the men were carrying, but to give us insight into each soldiers’ emotions and character, his past, and his present.
America is the land of opportunity and the land of second chances. People come to America to live a better life, but it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. When Veterans come back home, all they want is a second chance at life again. They want to come back and be able to start from where they left off. But the government has done very little to help these veterans. The government believes they have done enough with the programs they have created, but it hasn’t had much of a change. The purpose of this essay is to discuss my opinion and what I know about this issue, to benefit The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, who are my intended audience. If the government were to put a lot of effort, like they do for pointless issues, there wouldn’t be many struggling veterans. If the government does more to improve every aspect of the reintegration process of veterans, so many benefits would come out of this action. There are a couple of reasons for why we should work toward improving veterans lives. First, there would possibly be a decrease in the veteran suicide levels and a decrease in the substance abuse aspect. Second, less veterans and families will have to worry about living and struggling with mental illnesses. Third, by improving the economical aspect for these veterans, more will find jobs and less will end up on the street homeless. And lastly, the reintegration process won’t be as hard for these veterans, and they will be able to resume a normal life. This essay is not meant to offend in any way, its purpose is to provide a new perspective over this issue, to cause a change for the better.
An emotional burden that the men must carry is the longing for their loved ones. The Vietnam War forced many young men to leave their loved ones and move halfway across the world to fight a ...
Envision a man that sat on a grimy concrete block, as nightfall began to crystallize before his eyes. His hair, charcoal-grey, was matted and straggly, as if he had ever known the pleasure of a hot shower or comb except when he was in the war. His once shimmering brown eyes were know hollow and cold. His eyes, that were once filled with the upmost blissfulness, now sagged like the bulky bags underneath his eyes, consumed by the loneliness and despair he felt for himself, for his lack of purpose in life. This man did not bare a smile, only crinkles where one used to be. He wore his only faded blue jacket with a tan shirt tucked underneath it. He wore cruddy worn out jeans that barely seized his thin waist and boney legs. His only pair of shoes that were once white, we're now grungy. His finger nails were bitten and dirty. This man, like many other homeless veterans, struggle everyday of their lives.
Living in a time of war is not easy for anyone, and the expansive nature of the current war can make it even harder. Though many people in America may not feel as if they have been effected by the ongoing war, it is likely that everyone has in some way, shape or form. One group most effected are those who have loved ones serving in the military. People with family members that are serving have to face significant hardship and challenges as they cope with a person they care about being in danger. Being away means that family members often don’t have as deep of emotional relationships and while technology can sometimes make that easier, it can also be more frustrating. I don’t know where my uncle is now, and millions of others have the same issue. War truly is hell, for the people fighting and the families back at home. It effects everyone.
Murray, and Deborah are among some 50,000 veterans who are homeless, or 1.4 million who are considered at risk of homelessness on any given day, due to poverty, lack of support networks, and marginal living conditions in substandard housing, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. They, and all those who put on the uniforms of our nation 's armed services, sacrifice so much to defend the freedoms that we all enjoy and take for granted. Far too many, however, come home unable to defend themselves from the ravages of combat.” (Cole, 2015, Para. 23). Cole also goes on to continue stating “Providing shelter to our female and male veterans is not enough; it is simply one step. The transition from soldier to civilian is often the most difficult part of a veteran 's life. Yet the hardships of going from combat to job application, mortgage payments and working a typical 9-to-5 job, far too often are after-thoughts on the post-military agenda. It is no wonder that long after their active tours, many veterans continue to fight to reclaim their health and well-being.(Cole, 2015, Para.
Veteran homelessness must be attacked at multiple levels in order to ensure that it does not turn into a revolving door. So beyond simply providing temporary housing support we will also have to improve our veteran’s lives for the long-term. This entails treatment for their PTSD by providing them with access to health and wellness clinics, recovery resources, peer support groups, and individual counseling. (Note: Key information from HYPERLINK "http://www.voail.org" http://www.voail.org).
As men and women serve this country we often forget the importance of what they did and how we give back to them for what they have experienced. Through student surveys that have been gathered, it has been proven in the course of knowledge that 80% of all thirty students surveyed that say they know of someone who is or was a veteran and only 57% of those Veterans receive help. Richelle E. Goodrich stated, “Have you ever stopped to ponder the amount of blood spilt, the volume of tears shed, the degree of pain and anguish endured, the number of noble men a...