PTSD Series: Modern Warfare

Veterans of Middle East Wars

I put my arm around and talk to him when ever I could.

Kevin brown

In the Middle Eastern Conflicts of the twenty-first century, soldiers face the same stressful, traumatic experiences as the previous veterans. As with the previous wars, soldiers relied on each other, they aided one another and helped to cope with the circumstances.

In his interview, Colonel Kevin Brown, a veteran of Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Persian Gulf described an encounter with a soldier who was part of a traumatic event. A bullet hit a soldier’s femoral artery, ricocheted out, and hit the Platoon Sergeant in the chest. The medic save the soldier who was shot in the femoral artery, the Platoon Sergeant did not survive.

The wounded soldier who survived suffered from survivor’s guilt, a condition caused by surviving a life-threatening, traumatic event in which others died. Without knowing of the soldier’s experience, Kevin Brown, sensing something wrong, began talking to him whenever he could. As a result of his experience and of Kevin Brown asking him if he was o.k., the surviving soldier wrote a book and became a motivational speaker for those dealing with trauma.

However, soldiers also have access to much more resources than ever before. One such resource is the Theater of War. Since the Vietnam War, the military has taken a serious step to aid troops in the field to help manage internal conflicts that will cause PTSD down the line. Unlike the various PowerPoint presentations that describe the symptoms of PTSD and other forms of trauma.

The Theater of War performed readings from Sophocles, a Greek general over 2,000 years ago. The readings dealt with battle fatigue, injuries, suicide, the loss of friends, and the feeling of being an outsider, relevant issues in today’s armed forces. These readings not only show that militaries in the past dealt with the same questions and issues, but also provide soldiers a way to make sense of the chaos they were surrounded by.

The stories help the families of the veterans to cope with tensions as they become aware of what tormented their love one(s). The stories read aloud offer healing through the reinsertion of humanity back into the soldier, providing care and understanding. These stories show that they are not alone in the struggle, that soldiers thousands of years ago faced similar circumstances.

The Theater of War is only one resource available to soldiers. Since Vietnam, the United States has become more considerate of victims of trauma. At home, veterans have growing access to various amount of resources including Chaplin visitation, suicide prevention, emotional support animals, PTSD program for both veterans and for family members. there are a number of websites and programs; government, and non-profit, that aid families of veterans and the veterans themselves. The programs are open to veterans of all wars; e.g. Second World War, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf Wars, Iraq, Afghanistan.

From this collection of Connecticut Veterans, a distinct change in how America handled its troops is seen. The horrors of war caused much distress among families and veterans, recent changes within the health and psychology have aided the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.