The stories “For Many Returning Vets, ‘Moral Injury’ Just As Difficult” written by Rachel Martin, who got her information through Timothy Kudo, “Where Have You Gone, Charming Billy?” written by Tim O’Brien, and “A Horseman in the Sky” by Ambrose Bierce point out the psychological effects war can have on a person. These stories are very different from each other but they also support each other on a psychological aspect. These stories also give multiple examples of these long term mental effects. “For Many Returning Vets…” by Rachel Martin is a very good example of mental strife, provided by Tim Kudo, we learn that during a war there are very important decisions you must make for instance, deciding whether or not to save your group or let a…
These casualties were particularly felt by the soldiers fighting in the war. With the soldiers living in trenches and having to fight alongside each other for survival, close friendships were formed, but tragically lost. In addition to this, once the war was over, many families were left without loved ones. Before the war, the historical perspective was that war was a good thing, a good time for the boys and a way for them to let off steam. After World War One, the perspective on war drastically changed. It was now seen as a terrible notion, and the people that were sent off to war were largely pitied. The war front majorly consisted of volunteer soldiers, with little training. Once the number of soldiers had become critical, the need for conscription…
Boyd talks about how everyone was very eager to volunteer to join the military to have fun and to make some money and it seemed to be very easy because the war was expected to be very short. Things started to look a bit different even when, the volunteers got to the first destination to be sworn into duty. They started to wonder why they were being sworn in to service for 3 years when they all thought the war was going to be very short. Boyd and the rest of them figured that the government must know something more than everyone else knows. Even during the beginning of the service the conditions for the service did not look as good as they had expected, and the officer had seen that the volunteers started having second guesses about doing it so they put them into more comfortable quarters to keep them from going home. During the war most of the time the conditions were horrible. There were many problems with the soldiers during the war. Many died from being wounded, being shot, and the worst of all was the disease. The conditions were so horrible that many men couldn't get enough sleep and even when they did get sleep they were sleeping in the rain or in the snow.…
The number of dead in Vietnam was 58,000 and wounded is estimated to be around 300,000. Countless Vietnam veterans were psychologically scared, while other was embittered by poor treatment the public gave them when they came home. Regardless, whether the war was right or wrong, we should support our troops. After reading The Things They Carried and watching Forrest Gump, Full Metal Jacket, my perspective has changed considerably about the Vietnam War.…
In the end, war is crucial and hard for many. No two people are alike when it comes to the effects of war. Some have horrible flashbacks imprinted on their minds that only very few can see through. In addition, others have physical wounds that everyone…
After being contained in prison camps, once veterans were released they couldn't find any source of support. They had difficult times finding jobs and usually lived on the streets. Since they lost the war, the southerners were angry and treated them badly. They were no hero to the South. Some veterans found it easier to self-exile themselves from the nation, going to countries such as Canada and England. The biggest effect on them had to be the fact that the North won, and not them.…
Once the war had started and people had begun to see the effects of being in total war, the opinions of the citizens changed. They weren’t as confident in winning as in the beginning and they…
First, many soldiers came back from the war not fully together literally and figuratively because of shell shock. Millions of veterans arrived home missing limbs, blind, deaf, or mentally broken due to being shot at with guns, chemicals, and mortars, the death of their comrades, and other experiences in the trenches. Other veterans had much shorter lives because of the effects of poison gas like chlorine which burns you inside, mustard gas which burns any moist area on your body and collects in your lungs as a yellowish substance, and other gases that incapacitated you like phosgene, and injuries due to blast, with collapsed lungs. Others came home in one piece, appearing normal, but with such serious nervous/mental conditions that they could not work, and were confined to asylums for the rest of their lives. In addition, some were known to flashback to combat zones in their normal lives. An example is when a man dove to the ground for cover when a boy rattled a stick on the fence. The veteran had thought it to be machine gun fire.…
War is one of humanity’s oldest vices. The keystone elements in human history are how soldiers respond to armed conflict and the stress of the war. The harsh conditions of war puts serious pressure on soldiers. Fighting a war is not a typical job that most of us go through. The soldiers are putting a very high risk to their own life and that is the biggest factor causing stress. They are not aware if the next bullet has their name of it. The knowledge and guilt of killing someone is not the same as watching a war movie with gory details on TV. It takes a lot of mental strength do it every day as part of your job and still move on. The expectations of the nation and family are high. They carry the expectations of many on their shoulders and do not want to face defeat at any cost. The loneliness and isolation from staying alone for months together away from family at war. The harsh living conditions for soldiers at war has deep impact on…
I thought that the war was going to go on forever and never end. I remember seeing pictures of burning people and thinking how horrible it was. I was glad that I was not personally affected by this. It made me confused and in disbelief on how Americans dealt with others.…
If a soldier was not killed, it was very likely that they were at least severely injured or wounded. “It was nearly impossible to escape the war without some kind of injury or decline in health” (Kinder). Not only that, but it was 224,000 or more Americans that were wounded from fighting in the World War, not just temporarily, but majority in permanent injuries. The war left more than 200,000 soldiers disabled for the rest of their lives. Injuries have impacted not only the soldier’s lives, but the families as well, leaving their loved ones needing help at all times. Being crippled could mean being incapable of doing things physically, or even mentally. Wars such as this have also been known for leaving many emotionally unstable.…
John Morton Blum retiree of Yale University depicts “combat soldiers as largely disconnected from the geopolitical goals articulated by President Roosevelt.” Each soldier had his own individual motivation entering into the war but all had the same reason to win the war, to make it home. Home was what encouraged the troops to fight. The Saturday Evening Post ran a series asking soldiers what they were fighting for, they were quoted saying “I am fighting for that big house with the bright green roof and the big front lawn”...“that girl with the large brown eyes and the reddish tinge in her hair.” Blum describes the GI as a homely hero, the common good man and the peoples' hero. The soldiers had no visible purpose but winning the war so that he could return to comfort.…
Zachary Scott-Singley wrote an essay called “A Soldiers Thoughts”. His essay was based on his inner thoughts and questions, how he should and shouldn’t feel about war. Is war right or wrong? Are these people truly the enemy? What would you do to stay alive? I feel war leaves these questions open to discussion and defiantly can change based on the person and the involvement; but the work of war can change a person’s values and morals.…
I appreciate the veterans because when the wounded workers come home the veterans come to help all the way until they workers feel better throughout their surgery and rehab. The veterans do very good things like fundraise, do campains, and collect money. The veterans have a lot of American pride for the country and the us armed forces. They are the best people associated with the army.…
‘Saving Private Ryan’, directed by Steven Spielberg is a film set during World War II. During an invasion of Normandy, two brothers are killed followed by a third when fighting the Japanese. US Army Chief of Staff, George C. Marshall sends out 8 men with a mission to find the fourth brother, James F. Ryan to lift some of the grief of the mother. This core of the film is about the journey of this unit travelling across dangerous Nazi territory in the impossible search of Private Ryan. During this mission, the men question the reason of risking 8 soldiers’ lives for the small chance that this one brother is alive and why he should get a free ticket out over the rest of them.…