Reading Response: Restrepo, By Sebastian Junger

Reading Response

Sebastian Junger, author of the book, “War” and documentary titled “Restrepo”, argues that civilians need to understand troops’ complex feelings about war and if they do not, they will not do a very good job bringing these people home and making a place for them in the society. Junger reports that he wanted to fully understand the universal war experience and accompanied soldiers to a post called Restrepo, Afganistan. The war was happening in the Korengan valley, one of the most dangerous fields to battle in. Junger reports that war is not a political endeavour but real life experience. He admits that good number of soldiers returned from this place damaged. He documents on the kind of life the soldiers experienced at Restrepo. He notes that there was nothing like running water and soldiers could go for days without showering; there are no women to give these young people company, there is no television, alcohol and so on.

This is clear evidence that war is really tough and soldiers experience a lot when fighting out there. There is a lot of psychological torture which these soldiers experience. They place their lives on the line just to fight for their nation and people. Junger recounts an experience where soldiers have to expose themselves just to save injured comrades. This is indeed a courageous act considering the fact that there are gun shots all over and any minute a bullet can land on anyone. It is indeed the highest risk that could ever be taken. For those who survive, it is simply luck. Junger notes that the soldiers look out for each other (Junger 56). The soldiers have a very strong connection with each other and it is common to hear some admitting that they could die if their comrade gets killed. J...

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...n all aspects of their life. They need to be redeemed and re-energized. There are many cases where soldiers suffer metal disorders after war. The psychological torture is normally too much to bear. Memories of dead people, broken limbs, blood oozing from the bodies of those afflicted and many other traumatizing images is not an easy thing to deal with. It is hard to come to terms with such experiences and any normal human being would admit that. Civilians might not understand what these soldiers go through during combat because they are usually not on the ground to see for themselves. Some of these soldiers find it hard to come to terms with these experiences and even blame themselves for all the terrible things that happened during the war. Junger admits that war is violent and terrible (Junger 132). It produces dead civilians and nothing can be done about it.