As they fight through war, it becomes a lifestyle that they are used to and can not get out of. People do not appreciate the amount of time veterans give to fight our country. Coming home from the war veterans most times feel like they are still fighting a war. When coming back from the war most people mistreat the veterans that just fought for our country.
In the poem, Odysseus by Homer, after winning the war in Troy they remain in combat mode. Odysseus and his men have to travel a long way to travel over the sea to get back home. While the men are still in combat mode as they travel back they stop at an island and let loose. In the passage, “Sailing …show more content…
The veterans are trying to fit into a normal lifestyle, that they have missed out on as they were at war. Veterans need the help of the people to keep them from acting out violently. At work, Bear suffers from remaining in combat mode, “On one occasion Bear confused a Vietnamese coworker at the post office with a Vietnamese enemy. He grabbed the man and told him he was going to cut his throat just like his comrades” (Shay 6). Like many veterans, Bear is having a hard time adjusting back to a normal lifestyle. At different times, he forgets that he is not at war anymore and acts out violently to innocent people although he means no harm. Wiry became a workaholic with jobs that were legal and illegal after he gets out of the Navy. During times he has difficulty staying himself, “In periods around Christmas and around the anniversary of Tet in March [that is, of a period of thirty-five consecutive days of fighting during the Tet offensive], he has gotten himself beat up almost every year” (Shay 9). Veterans often have a time of the year or multiple times when it is hard for them to forget a time of war. This is when they need the most help, therefore, they are not alone. Wiry every year around Christmas to deal with this he goes to the bar and gets wasted. Veterans often act out violently without knowing what they are doing. To pass hard times rather than going to get help and talk to someone they will go …show more content…
Normally, veterans come home from the war with PTSD. Coming home from the war can be hard with the little treatment from the people, veterans may begin to get even depressed as their lives change. Eric Hermes studies Psychiatry, which helped him with the knowledge of research to help veterans. In the article it shows, “There has been a continental increase in the use of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) services for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by Vietnam era veterans, even though the war ended 40 years ago” (Hermes 170). The war has ended decades ago, however, veterans can get PTSD at any time through or after the grieving process. Veterans need to get the help of others to decrease the chances of getting PTSD in the later years of returning from war. While arriving home veterans have different troubles, “Post-military characteristics were assessed by five variables: current use of alcohol and drugs as measured the Addiction Severity Index (ASI), anger at lack of support for the war by the country, anger at being made into a ‘‘killer’’, and anger at society’s lack of understanding of the Vietnam Veteran” (Hermes 171). Most of the country does not have the support they should for the veterans that are out fighting in a war. As the veterans return home, they still remain with loads of stress from war. Some have been gone for so many years they forget how to live without