Military news & tribute thread

Breaks my heart.

Similar things was happening in the UK, where is the support for our servicemen when they need it. So sad at any time but this is really sad

very sad.

my heart breaks over this too.

I'm reminded of a time when the head of Public Health in Massachusetts was an emergency physician. She pushed for having gang violence treated as a public health issue. She used to tell of working in the er and seeing young gang bangers with gunshot wounds. She would talk about how surprised these kids were to find out that being shot actually hurts! She attributed this to the violence in media ... including video games, these days ... that makes being shot or blown up seem somehow painless and survivable.

I think many of our kids are desensitized to the idea of violence or armed combat. For many of them, their only exposure to death and destruction is through media that make it seem like you really can get shot and get right up and still catch the bad guy.

Then they join up, full of patriotic fervor, get through boot camp all pumped up to go out and kick tail. Then the kid next to them gets blown to bits ... and he can't be brought back to life by hitting the "new game" button. Not to mention the sheer terror of being in combat ... I've never served, so I just can't imagine what that's like.

The current wars have no corner on emotional trauma. Shell shock was a real psych diagnosis after the first and second world wars ... after korea and vietnam, it became pstd ... put that together with the less than nurturing social structure of the military (they're soldiers, after all ... not teachers or social workers or nurses) are we really surprised at the suicide rates?

I agree that it's shameful that our soldiers can be so deeply damaged and be unable to get help when they need it. It's shameful when a career military person has to go on food stamps because she/he can't support a family on military pay. At the height of the pro-war hysteria after 9/11, people were accused of treason and lack of support for our troops for criticizing the war. At the very same time, a young man joined the army and collected a bonus for doing so. He was wounded and lost an arm within a few months of being deployed to Iraq. He was medically discharged from the army and the government wanted him to give back the bonus!!!

When he couldn't, they dinged his credit report!

The nature of war and the work our soldiers are called upon to do isn't going to change ... it can't.

What's shameful is that the men and women who do that work are left twisting in the wind when we're done using them.

Shameful and immoral.

From sources in they know in my family, this has been going on at an elevated level for years and kept hush-hush. The divorce rate of soldiers has also been alarming.

I think the dissolution of my daughter's marriage last year had a lot to do with being in Iraq and living under conditions that were not exactly conducive to wedded bliss. That, and the fact that soldiers all too often marry in haste, have a child or two, get divorced, and then repeat the process a couple of times before they grow some smarts about life and love. Both Melanie and Chris know dozens of fellow soldiers in their 20s who have already been married and divorced at least once, and several who have children by as many as four ex-spouses/significant others.

As far as the suicide rate goes...........{{{{{{shiver}}}}}..........I don't even like to THINK about that, especially coupled with our family history of alcoholism. Neither of my soldiers have given any indication that they might develop issues, but then, Chris hasn't seen combat yet, and Melanie's life has been anything but happily-ever-after. May God watch over them, and ALL of our troops.........they've sacrificed their personal freedom and a 'normal' life in order to serve their country. They deserve better than this.