War is Heck

Normally, I am not prone to write about the hottest topic of any given week because much has already been addressed. But this week’s story of GI’s urinating on enemy corpses has caused me to make an exception. Yes, I’m retired Air Force and no, I did not participate in any hostile theaters (in after Nam and out before Gulf War 1). Nevertheless, as a reasonably intelligent observer, I feel qualified to render an opinion.

Have you seen “Platoon” or “Apocalypse Now”? Granted, they are Hollywood interpretations of war, but the brutality depicted is representative of the duty involved. War isn’t hell, I’d say. It’s worse. In the wars from Viet Nam through today,  young soldiers have been asked to successfully combat a force comprised of men, women, and children. These enemy combatants wear no identifiable uniform so they cannot easily be separated from more normal, non-threatening civilians.

Regardless, it falls upon the soldier’s shoulders to quickly identify and neutralize any threat. This would be hard enough when fighting an organized, uniformed opponent. How can one succeed in today’s arena and emerge unscathed? It is no coincidence that more and more returning troops suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

But can’t these same soldiers suffer from PTSD at the end of a fire fight? Or after seeing friends and comrades dismembered or killed by roadside bombs and the like? Is it too far a leap of faith to believe that some internal trigger is pulled shortly after the shooting stops and the animal we needed them to be a few minutes ago lives on for a few more?

It is now common practice to embed reporters with troops in the hope of bringing the true nature of war into every living room. But, as Jack Nicholson’s character in “A Few Good Men” stated: “You can’t handle the truth!” And neither can we if we are to single out similar good men for falling prey to the hellish nature of war.

Do you believe that atrocities occurred in the Civil War? Or WW I or II? How about Korea? I do. They weren’t covered as they are now and politicians and generals are quick to condemn such acts and their perpetrators as anomalies when, deep in their hearts, they know that the monsters they created are simply victims of that training.

War is a 24/7 monster. It never sleeps and, due to its very nature, is an atrocity as soldiers are expected to kill other folks with whom they have no quarrel in the name of national security or national pride or for a safer world. Are there just wars? I think so, but that doesn’t make them any more civilized or immune from acts of seemingly atrocious behavior.

Instances that apparently run counter to the high standards of our armed forces should be acknowledged and dealt with. Perhaps those involved should be removed from the battle field or even removed from the service. Their fate, however, is best left to peers within the military who are intimately familiar with the emotional toll of combat. For society-at-large to condemn their behavior while politicians demand court-martial and incarceration, though, shows nothing more than a hypocritical, feigned innocence on the part of those that know better. And that is the greatest atrocity of all.