Soldiers, upon coming home from the battlefield, are regarded as heroes and are awarded with medals and achievements. However, these soldiers do not see these things as apt compensation for the things they have seen and done in the battlefield. Their lives which have been embroiled in active battle have warped their personality and view of the world that some fail to adjust to a normal life. Though some people exhibit more severe cases of PTSD, the cause of this can be rooted out as the result of their killing people and of seeing other people get killed.
The illusion of heroics and of the chance to serve the country for a good cause is one factor that has motivated people to enlist in the military. Though these men know and prepare for the moment that they will go to battle, the gaping difference between training and live combat disillusions them. Quoting Angelo Craspey as seen in the film Wartorn: 1861-2010: “Many was the time that I saw things that will be remembered until death” (War Torn: 1861-2010). Craspey fought in the Civil War and recounted of how he saw friends, comrades, and enemies fall to their deaths in front of him. He considers the war and the battlefield as increasingly isolating and lonely, going as far as to question how many young men have been ruined by the war. Craspey’s statement is one of the many statements reflected by people who suffer from PTSD in the battlefield and upon coming home.
Stigma is one of the primary disadvantages of seeking mental health care in that even the psychiatrists call out their patients as faking and to suck things up (Stecker et al 1359). As Gen. Raymond Odiero states, these people have been trained to become mentally and physically tough. This means that no one of them would willingly admit to having mental health problems which is seen as a sign of weakness not only by people from the Army but also outside of it. This results in a disconnecting and ignoring of the symptoms that do exist. As the WWII veterans stated in the documentary, these labels are something that you do not want to be put in your record as this reflects badly on your future career as well.
A return to normal life then is impossible not only due to the stigma but also to the fact that something has in fact changed within these victims. Due to their time in the battlefield, their instincts of fight or flight remains active even when there is no longer any need for it. People laud these soldiers as heroes for fighting for their country, but the soldiers themselves do not think in such a way. Noah Pierce’s words in his suicide note reflect this viewpoint: “I am not a good person. I have done bad things. I have taken lives. Now it’s time to take mine” (War Torn: 1861-2010). Murder and killing other people, despite being done for a cause is still viewed as such by these soldiers who do so. There are no individuals who remain unscathed after experiencing battlefield unless that person has become so detached to his humanity that he has lost all his compassion for human nature. Noah Pierce’s description of the war as similar to hell is something that only the people who has experienced it firsthand can truly fully experience. The problem then is that even after the war and coming home, and these symptoms become worse when they have the peace and quiet to think about it.
“Physical wounds sustained during combat contribute to both physical and psychological burdens” (Grieger et al 1781). This should be expanded to include not only the wounds that the soldiers incurred directly but also the wounds that they have seen happen to other people. The psychological burdens that results from PTSD can be seen in how its victims can exhibit episodes of violence which they are unaware of. After being in a battlefield for too long, these people have become habituated to always be aware of their surroundings. They have become unable to relax due to the chaotic nature of their past environment in the battlefield. This further isolates them and further worsens their PTSD. As depression is one of the symptoms of it, their being alone and isolated gives more time to think about the things that they have seen and committed. Although some find ways to block out the negative and haunting details of their past through more destructive means, it slowly kills them inside and makes them feel hollow and empty.
The horrors that they have seen in the battlefield continue to haunt these soldiers even in their dreams. These hauntings are uncontrollable and may or may not manifest itself as quickly as some do in other soldiers. William Fraas Jr.’s statement then further reflects this: “Something happens, it just happens inside. I can’t stop it. It just takes over. I don’t know how to stop this” (War Torn: 1861-2010). Fraas Jr. is talking about the instances wherein their battle instincts kick in and they unconsciously act as if they are back in the war zone. These soldiers have killed people and despite their being considered as heroes, they treat themselves as murderers for they feel that they have taken something which they had no right to take. Fraas Jr. further questions how people downplay his murders by stating that he was simply doing his job and that he should just get over it. The problem here is that those people who can easily such things have never seen the horrors that these soldiers went through. The job of a soldier should have been to protect people and was never just to kill people.
Death whether it is as viewed in killing enemies or in having casualties is still something that traumatizes soldiers if they survive. It is equally more traumatizing then should the person be the one to do the killing. These soldiers, having been plunged into the battlefield, will first and foremost think of their survival. This adherence to survivability means that some will do anything to survive, no matter how atrocious and horrific these actions may be. For this reason, some people like Fraas Jr. continued to store images of his deployments in his computer despite it being for the better that he deletes them. His act of using these images as reminders of his actions serves to show that the feeling of guilt and remorse is present. The isolation and trauma from having killed other people manifest itself in the veterans who seem to be viewed as having spiritually killed in the battlefield. Though some soldiers fear to share and talk about the most atrocious deeds they have committed, this still haunts them and worsens their PTSD as time goes by. Some soldiers upon coming home and finding that things have changed differently for them, then feel stuck at trying to become normal and act like everything’s the same.
PTSD in soldiers is a result of these people having seen death in the battlefield. This death could be through their having killed other people or their having seen their comrades dying by their sides. Although ordinary people consider this as them simply doing their job, the very act of having to kill people is something that still traumatizes and leaves a huge impact on them. Despite other soldiers not claiming to suffer from PTSD, it is equally telling that every soldier who has returned from the battlefield do not return unscathed emotionally and psychologically. Something in them changes in order to accommodate the more chaotic nature of battle wherein they need to kill or be killed. These instincts, honed in the battlefield, remain active even after, causing problems not only for these individuals, but also for the people around them. PTSD in soldiers then is the recurrence of their lives and of their deeds in the battlefield.
Works Cited
Greiger, Thomas et al. “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Depression in Battle-Injured Soldiers.” Am J Psychiatry 163 (2006). 1777-1783.
Stecker, Tracy et al. “An Assessment of Beliefs About Mental Health Care Among Veterans Who Served in Iraq.” Psychiatric Services 58.10 (2008). 1358-1361.
Wartorn: 1861-2010. Dir. John Alpert and Ellen Gooseberg Kent. Prod. James Gandolfini. HBO, 2011. DVD.
