Return Veteran Problem

Problems for Returning Veterans

an essay by Matthew Bissonnette

After World War 2 and Europe lay in ruin, American psychiatric healthcare providers where flooded with returning veterans who all had been severely troubled by the pressure of real war. For such men the war did not stop when the hostilities ceased and the war they came to know was a battle against their own inner demons they incurred from combat. After Vietnam a lot of American soldiers spent the rest of their lives grappling with the horrors they had seen. It is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition which can negatively effect the disposition of the person inflicted and is a result from the non-stop stress of warfare. Now it seems with conflict heating up across the middle eastern region; and again American soldiers return home with battle scars both physically and mentally and can make it difficult for them to integrate into civilian life. There are several cases of men returning from either Afghanistan and Iraq having complete break downs and in one case violence resulted. When the call goes out to those who want to defend their country even if it means their own lives; from what I seen it is mostly those with nothing who answer the call; or I mean at least much of the armies ranks are made of men and women from poor back rounds. It is, in my opinion, good to feel an obligation to serve your nation in times of war. Though I will not speak about the morality of the Coalitions actions in the middle east, the soldiery is a profession and troops on the ground have nothing to do with policy makers. The Army should take better care of its personnel, have people with proper scientific credentials study what factors lead to Post Traumatic Disorder and how best to limit the impact training and the battlefield has on a man's psyche and get them home and to their families so they can resume a normal life. The government should take care of its own.