Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for October 23, 2013

For comparison, an alternative rerun: Continuing Ray’s first WIA.http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1991/02/09 Ray, WIA the first time on the helicopterMike

There will be, which is the point of this series of strips.

Just watched an old movie called I’LL BE SEEING YOU (1944) with Joseph Cotton, Ginger Rogers, and a teenage Shirley Temple. No singing or dancing to speak of, but a rather early treatment of a PTSD case trying to “recover his nerve” on leave. Chill Wills appears as a WWI vet “who is fine now” (not) … Considering when it was made, pretty good.

Just what I needed in my job search – my “advocates” describing me as a drugged out zombie.

My father had a book of comics from WWII. One was Sad Sack and that book seems to have gotten lost. He also had a Maldin book of Willie and Joe which I have now. Great stories in both but they didn’t get into the serious issues much

I’m one of those “crazed Vietnam Vets” but I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything in the world. In the long run, the experience has made me a better person, although admittedly at a fairly high price.

Save the economy! Go to war! Gen. Patton had it right, we are a nation of born warriors. War is what we do better than anyone else on earth. God bless our warriors!

Do you want to know how bad it is already? Sunday, for the 2nd time in 1 year I was involuntary committed to the local hospital. There are 3 VA hospitals in my area, but I stayed at the civilian hospital for 1 week on 1 and 3 days on the 2nd because all 3 VA mental wards were full. It is going to get a lot worse.

Maj.Gen. Smedley D. Butler published a 13(?)page booklet titled, “War is a Racket.” I believe it can be easily downloaded free from the internet. It concerns WW I but is relevant for nearly any time period. Butler, USMC, was one of 19 double recipients of the Medal of Honor. One of the ironies is that he was the product of two prominent Quaker families.

War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing! — popular tune a few decades ago.

I have known many military folks who ended up as peaceniks.

sorry to say there already is.

are you a vietnam vet or a cold war vet?

America’s good days are behind them. The Washington politicians will see to that. Too many good men without a job and their children going hungry. It’s a real shame. That’s all I got to say about that.

I would hope that the fact we have a volunteer military and many are older reservists, the PTSD cases would be fewer and not as bad. Somehow, I do not think anyone who sees combat is unaffected.

You might recall a movie entitled (interestingly) Captain Newman, MD. from 1963. It is set in 1944 where Captain Newman is running the psych ward at a military hospital stateside. He is trying to heal the patients he is sent so they can go back into combat. Excellent movie. Stellar cast as well.

A couple of days ago I read a piece somewhere written by the son of a WWII veteran. The war had messed up the father big time. He drank constantly, was mean, close mouthed, the whole deal. He finally commented something like ’"Battle fatigue,’ hell!" only more profane.

during the civil war they called it “soldier’s heart”.

My uncle and father-in-law were both in the Battle of the Bulge as tank commanders. I was in Viet Nam, crew chief and “other duties as assigned”, my son was in Iraq and ‘other places" with that part of the Navy that doesn’t ever see ships. Being “Anti-war”, doesn’t mean “pacifist”. Being in war DOES affect anyone who actually participates in actions that “civilians” simply cannot, and will not , ever understand.

That’s why any combat veteran is never really “normal” after the event, but not nearly as crazy as the chickenhawks who think war is great, as long as they make money, and never take risks themselves.

THAT is the biggest difference with today’s “all volunteer military”, and the problem. Chickenhawks are like using drones; when there is no personal risk involved, the lives of others, lose worth, and meaning.

Unfortunately, volunteer status and age probably don’t protect against PTSD. Exacerbating factors would include the length of the wars, multiple deployments and enemy combatants disguised as civilians, including women and children.