A new Generation of the American Veteran is born
There is a re-occurring phenomenon happening across the United States. Recently it happen after World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and now it is happening again after September 11th, 2001. Have you really considered what that means for this generation and the next? Well sit tight because here is some Honest Talk:
I skipped over the first Gulf War on purpose. I have nothing but respect for those that served in the original version of the Gulf War, but our current experience in the Middle East is much different. Like the first, there are people experiencing combat. Unlike the first, those that are in harms way are far more numerous now. More lives are at risk and it doesn’t matter if a soldier is on what the media considers the front lines or the rear, they are still in harms way.
What the US is creating for itself is a new generation of the war shocked, men and women that understand that you can survive without what their communities consider the basic necessities. These people know what it is like to expect to commit what may be a brutal but required act of taking another’s life. Worse, many will have taken that step.
These are people that will watch others carefully, like in combat but now at their local grocery store. Some will count the number of people that they pass, like they did when they were on patrol. Many will have dreams of rifles and mortars, bombs and apprehension. They will have dreams of strangers with missing limbs showing up in wheel barrels. They will have memories of the same.
These people will fade into the backdrop of society and disappear. Some questions will be asked regarding the mental peace of these people, but when the soldiers don’t know what trauma they will face, they won’t be able to convey this to those in power.
As a new generation of veterans is created they must be cared for. People that have been to the current wars should be the ones that prepare for the return of the veterans. These people need to know what the US service members have been through, what it is like for them after ten months in the desert.
I skipped over the first Gulf War on purpose. I have nothing but respect for those that served in the original version of the Gulf War, but our current experience in the Middle East is much different. Like the first, there are people experiencing combat. Unlike the first, those that are in harms way are far more numerous now. More lives are at risk and it doesn’t matter if a soldier is on what the media considers the front lines or the rear, they are still in harms way.
What the US is creating for itself is a new generation of the war shocked, men and women that understand that you can survive without what their communities consider the basic necessities. These people know what it is like to expect to commit what may be a brutal but required act of taking another’s life. Worse, many will have taken that step.
These are people that will watch others carefully, like in combat but now at their local grocery store. Some will count the number of people that they pass, like they did when they were on patrol. Many will have dreams of rifles and mortars, bombs and apprehension. They will have dreams of strangers with missing limbs showing up in wheel barrels. They will have memories of the same.
These people will fade into the backdrop of society and disappear. Some questions will be asked regarding the mental peace of these people, but when the soldiers don’t know what trauma they will face, they won’t be able to convey this to those in power.
As a new generation of veterans is created they must be cared for. People that have been to the current wars should be the ones that prepare for the return of the veterans. These people need to know what the US service members have been through, what it is like for them after ten months in the desert.
posted by Zanla | 9:55 AM
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