How do war veterans recover their humanity ?

Question

So I read a lot of book like STANGER TO MYSELF and other accounts by veterans who admit that they lose their innocence while at war. Reading thier diaries I watch them explore or develope a dark and horrible essence. So I wonder, how is it that once you know how ugly and repulsive life can be (or in some cases how repulsive you can be) how do you go home and hug children and love anyone again ? Any books on this very subject ?

Answer 1

Yes - we know how ugly and repulsive the 'real world' is. And that is why I did my part to make sure that the 'real world' stayed over there.

And I did this so I could love an hug my family.

I have PTSD from Iraq. I have not lost my humanity. You do know that it is entirely possible to lose your innocence yet stall remain a decent person?

And just like most other people with PTSD, I lead an ordinary life and unless you know exactly what to look for - the only people who know I have PTSD are the ones I choose to inform of the fact.

Please lose those prejudices and remember that you treat everybody as an individual - not a stereotype.

Answer 2

You must think Freedom is Free. I'll tell you from experience it is not. The Soldiers in our military today are all volunteer warriors. They know the possible cost to them when they take the oath to defend our country and our freedom, but they are WARRIORS. They have the best equipment and the most lethality of any military force in the world, and damn well know how to use it. I served in the Army for 20 years and then as a DA civilian for another 20. I served in Vietnam with the 101st and earned a Green Beret when I returned in 1968. I worked as a Force Protection Specialist before, during, and after 9/11. Now I am an old man, but I still have the warrior attitude, mentality, and the knowledge I have accrued throughout my life. There will always be those that want what we have or just want to kill us for what we are. We must have the balls to stop that from happening. The present casualties are sad but read below for what Freedom has cost us in the past. Rest assured, if I were a young man again, I would be in Iraq now. God bless our WARRIORS, and peace through fire superiority...
___________________________-

Things that make you think a little:

a. FDR led us into World War II.

b. Germany never attacked us; Japan did.
From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost ...
an average of 112,500 per year.

c. Truman finished that war and started one in Korea. North Korea never attacked us.
From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost ...
an average of 18,334 per year.

d. John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us.

e. Johnson turned Vietnam into a quagmire.
From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost ..
an average of 5,800 per year.

f. Clinton went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent. Bosnia never attacked us.
He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.

g. In the years since terrorists attacked us , President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.

Our Commander-In-Chief is doing a GREAT JOB!
The Military morale is high!

The biased media hopes we are too ignorant
to realize the facts

Answer 3

I never lost my humanity. I knew I had a job to do and did it. I made damn sure my squad was coming home with me. It took me a few months to decompress from the adrenile rush. The only time it hit me was when a kid asked how does it feel to kill someone and my response was The only thing I felt was the recoil of my Rifle.

How do cops recover their humanity? They leave it in the street, I left it in Bagdad.

Answer 4

WE DON'T

Severe PTSD actually causes biological changes within the brain. I was part of a magnetic resonance study with the VA. It tracked the actual changes in the brain.

You adapt to living within a lot of limits. Not going shopping in crowds, not buying things if the line is too long. etc etc

Answer 5

It is simple. By being shown love and support by your family, friends, and your countrymen. No one in our military wishes to be put into harms way, or to experience that of which war provides, however, the men and women of the armed forces willingly put their lives on the line. They continually do so in honor of all that have come before them to provide the civil liberties that are afforded to us all today. They do so for the men and women that stand next to them in uniform. They do so for the men and women who are citizens of the country they love - regardless of whether those men and women appreciate them. All they ask for in return is love and support.

"It has been said truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom he abuses to burn that flag." - Zen Miller, US Senator (Dem. - GA)

Answer 6

Why do you feel a warrior has lost his humanity simply because he has seen and participated in combat.

War solves problems, it's an honor to be a problem solver. Get a grip.

Answer 7

They will never forget it, however, the support of family, friends and their government makes them feel acceptable and purposeful

Answer 8

40 years after the fact, I can assure you that a person never forgets having taken a human life
Now you tell me, what could possibly be more humane than that!!!!!!!

Answer 9

I just came home and moved on with life.

Answer 10

yes most of us do, some of us just get so messed up by what we've seen that it screws with you but you fight so that you can come home and love someone again or to hug your kids.