Quote:
Originally Posted by crich70
I don't think anyone could go through any such traumatic experience without it having an effect on them even if they don't think that it has done. Often we are not the best judge of our own selves. We are too close to the subject to be without bias.
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I can realize now that I was only touched by war when I was young. In some ways I had it very good.
There were no troop ships crossing the seas essentially training the young soldiers on the way like WWI and WWII and where the soldiers stayed for the duration unless wounded or killed.
There were no multiple deployments like today. In Nam you had to volunteer for the second tour.
I was never in an extended battle zone for months. I only investigated, analyzed or critiqued..
Yet I was exposed to and embedded in the "machine." The great war machine which was like a living breathing chained monster with established killing zones, and recycled foolishness; where there were little demigods in uniform around each corner each demanding their full due and seemingly oblivious to the real
"mission" though that word was constantly on their lips.
Milton and Churchill said that "he who stands and waits also serves." It is true. The pressure is always there. The realization of what your actions can mean even if you are not firing your weapon which can actually be kind of stress relieving.
I never saw dead bodies floating by, but I did know the numbers, and all those numbers had names, some of which I knew.