>I still have nightmares about EMS calls I had from 20 years ago. I cannot >even begin to imagine what it is like for these guys when they come home (or >when soldiers in previous engagements came home). > >Stress makes you do fucked up shit. Most of us will never have one day >where the stress would come close to that of some of our soldiers, much less >have that level of stress every day for an extended period of time. >
The closest I ever got was 4 months peace keeping duty in a fairly quiet area, Cyprus. That was bad enough. I cannot even imagine what it was like. My father enlisted in 1940 and was sent over to England almost immediately. From 1942 on he was more or less in combat the entire time. I just cannot imagine that amount of stress he went through. It left a mark on him that lasted for the rest of his life. One thing that is very different then to now is how fast people get home these days. Literally within a few days you go from combat patrols in near Kandahar to roaming the streets of Columbia Maryland. After the 2nd world war and Korea, it would take weeks for the soldiers to return. It allowed for a far less abrupt transition to civilian life, and as importantly gave people a far better chance to spot those who were having trouble. I think if something similar was used these days, lets say a 6 week transition period, there'd probably be less PTSD and other psych traumas. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:294550 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
