Many of the results of physical pain were due to the oppressed environment and the very nature of war. The emotional injuries were encountered through the soldier’s constant struggle for survival. Soldiers were sent home after their tour of duty but many experienced post traumatic war syndrome; mentally and psychologically scarring these soldiers. In a war it is evident that wounds always remain for those who have experienced it. Physical pain is a primary ‘stereotypical’ effect of war which most people understand of being the broad result of war.
Many people believe we win wars, when in actuality, no one does, especially those who serve in the armed forces (Suicide Wall, 11-10-2000). The Vietnam and other wars have mentally and sometimes physically dismembered many veterans. Another factor that plays a role in a war-related suicide is the addition of many on-site diseases such as defoliants, Agent Orange in particular. Made up of equal parts N-Butyl Ester 2,4,-D and N-Butyl Ester 2,4,5,-T, Agent Orange made many Vietnam soldiers go insane (Vietnam Veterans, 11-10-2000). This atrocious chemical lead and still today leads to death, deformation, and diabetes.
To truly understand what I live with, my demons of torture I need to explain what I go through daily. Many people who have day to day contact with me aren’t even aware that I deal with PTSD. In fact many of those people aren’t even aware that I am a combat veteran. I do not broadcast that particular information because I don’t think of myself as a hero. I went into combat as a naïve 20 year old and came out of combat a little damaged.
Instead of being treated as returning heroes, they were hated and spat on. By the early 1980s, the situation was not much better. The majority of Vietnam veterans were suffering from physical injuries sustained during the war or emotional and mental trauma from killing, seeing friends killed, and nearly being killed. As a result, many could not maintain steady jobs and often became part of America’s homeless population. The Vietnam Memorial reflects the veterans’ circumstances in the stone’s darkness.
Jake handles the war injury as well as anyone could. “What’s the matter with you anyway?” “I got hurt in the war”(24) Even though he turns to alcohol and feels lonely every once in a while he passes that by confiding in new friends and making memories with the old ones as well. Brett Ashley was another character impacted by the war. Her husband had died in battle and it was extremely tough to get through. “During the war.
In Hemingway’s first novel, The Sun Also Rises, distinctive characters convey the theme of the story, sense of moralities of the lost generation during the post war. Almost all characters in this novel are injured somehow physically and psychologically. They are not able to live their own lives and show the lack of morality in many ways. Four characters, Jake, Brett, Count, and Mike each have a different code of morality or immorality. Their way of living should not be respected, but it is true that each of them is somehow struggling with their lives The antagonist and narrator of the story, Jake Barnes, experienced World War I as a soldier.
The mark left on them will always be there whether it be physically, emotionally, mentally,or all of the above. Once war touches someone, engulfs them, or merely brushes past them it sticks to the person never allowing them to move on and return to the way it used t be before they were put through such an experience; once that happens there's no going back. Ernest Hemingway's writings such as The Sun Also Rises, "Soldier's Home", and "In Another Country", reveals to the readers the struggles in which Veterans face after the war. The main characters feel alone in the world because society does not understand them nor do their families. They feel as though that the only other people in the world who can understand them are other war veterans.
Xxxxx Xxxxx Ms. Xxxxxx Xxxxx HST221-E1 7 April 2009 In Country (1989) Vietnam Myths It’s difficult to have a discussion about the Vietnam War without invoking statistics. The fact that it was our longest military conflict and almost 60,000 Americans died there is common knowledge. The four to six million Vietnamese and Laotian deaths are not as well known. Unfortunately, other bits of common knowledge are erroneous and have even solidified into damaging myths: most American soldiers were addicted to drugs, guilt-ridden about their role in the war, and are a danger to society. In reality, according to Harris, there was and is no difference in drug use between Vietnam Veterans (VV) and civilians, the vast majority are proud of their service (most would even serve again knowing what they know now) and most importantly, VV have for the most part, made a successful transitions back into society and are less likely to be in prison (1980).
The effects of war left a lasting impression on several members of the armed forces. These effects continue to echo for those who have recently retired or resigned from service. Several individuals suffered emotionally traumatic experiences while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Others experienced such severe disruptions in their family life due to being deployed that it is difficult for them to reconnect with their loved ones upon returning home. Many veterans reported that normal life felt “alien” due to being disconnected from family, lack of support from institutions, lack of structure and purpose once returning home (Ahern et al,
Impact of War on Families Throughout history wars have contributed to cultural, political, and social diversities within a country. However the impact of war on the common veteran families is perhaps the most destructive fact of a war. Families have to cope with emotional stress that comes with having a loved one either in training or off at war. Most American families, that have a loved one that is or has been in battle, lose certain aspects of daily life due to their loved one either being wounded at war or emotional scared by the terrors of war. This possible physical and mental trauma that occurs in most cases of war veterans causes families to deteriate.