I'm kinda curious what some of you here would think about this... You guys are, most likely, a far cry from the chest beaters I know and work with.. I'm not busting on my brethren as I am one of them... and I love them like the brothers they almost are....but:
I just finished watching the movie 'Brothers' with Toby Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal... It's rare that a movie can connect with ye ol' sneaky uppercut like that, but this one did.. and easily.. If you're not familiar with it I will say this much without giving it away: One brother is a Captain of Marines and goes to war, and the other brother is an eff up who doesn't.. The Captain is pronounced KIA and the eff up slides into his brothers role... In order to return, the Captain who is actually a POW and NOT KIA, does something he can't forgive himself for (and it's presented as difficult for the audience to as well).. He does return.. The meat of the movie is the Captains adjusting to the world to which he returns.
The impact of the deed performed by the Captain, it's my comprehension, is to allow the audience to empathize with the horrors of war in short order- and it's pretty effective for those not intimate with war I would wager. The guilt of his actions are laying waste to what the Captain had before he left, and carving a very difficult trek through despair for him to navigate 'home'.. Of every movie I've ever seen involving this subject, this is the one I would direct folks to for a better understanding of war related PTSD.
Anyway, back to my crew.. We are all former or current snake eaters, and have several tours under our belts.. It is NOT ACCEPTABLE for any of them, in any way whatsoever, to admit the lingering effects of some of the things they have seen or (God help them) done. The attitude of bravado isn't what you would think though- it's more tucked away in professionalism, and viewed as a occupational hazard that none of them 'make it out' without.. It's part of the culture.. And that is the question I am poking around, soliciting you guys with....
"What, in the opinion outside of this family, would you do to facilitate the acceptance of help?"
Understand folks, this isn't something I would EVER even allow any of the guys to know I was considering- but I KNOW some of these guys are forever changed by the past eight years.. How do you recapture that innocence? My God, the things we ask these guys to do is stupefying.. All the bravado, all the 'esprit'.. it's all bull +$@# and we learn that too late.. Is there a solution? (and I'm not talking a big picture, geopolitical, make-love-not-war thing, I'm talking the single tree that's part of the forest..)... I write songs, I hammer on the poorpoor guitar, I have an outlet.. I'm not in the same category as the guys I'm talking about anyway.. I'm fortunate like that.. Most of them aren't.. They just submerge themselves (and yes, that is the word I wanted to use) into the 'culture' and concede they will be outcast and different.. Is there a way out for them?
and here is the hard questions I'm (and I KNOW they want to know as well, but they are smart enough not to poke around places frequented by folks who aren't familiar with the culture) dying to ask: What do folks think of them? Do they wave the flag and pat them on the back and that is the end of it? Do they say "it's okay, you don't have to speak of anything, ever.." in effort to keep them from speaking and because THEY really don't want to know or because they truly are allowing 'passage' for the things that effed the veteran up?
Understand, I am WAY out of line even breaching this subject, and would be alienated for doing so if they were to find out I did.. You guys SEEM like the type of crowd that thinks a little deeper than yesterday and tomorrow and may be seeking higher understanding.. maybe I'm wrong there.. I trust my instincts and my instincts tell me this is a good place to ask- that and it is pretty safe to say it won't sneak up behind me..
fire away?
I just finished watching the movie 'Brothers' with Toby Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal... It's rare that a movie can connect with ye ol' sneaky uppercut like that, but this one did.. and easily.. If you're not familiar with it I will say this much without giving it away: One brother is a Captain of Marines and goes to war, and the other brother is an eff up who doesn't.. The Captain is pronounced KIA and the eff up slides into his brothers role... In order to return, the Captain who is actually a POW and NOT KIA, does something he can't forgive himself for (and it's presented as difficult for the audience to as well).. He does return.. The meat of the movie is the Captains adjusting to the world to which he returns.
The impact of the deed performed by the Captain, it's my comprehension, is to allow the audience to empathize with the horrors of war in short order- and it's pretty effective for those not intimate with war I would wager. The guilt of his actions are laying waste to what the Captain had before he left, and carving a very difficult trek through despair for him to navigate 'home'.. Of every movie I've ever seen involving this subject, this is the one I would direct folks to for a better understanding of war related PTSD.
Anyway, back to my crew.. We are all former or current snake eaters, and have several tours under our belts.. It is NOT ACCEPTABLE for any of them, in any way whatsoever, to admit the lingering effects of some of the things they have seen or (God help them) done. The attitude of bravado isn't what you would think though- it's more tucked away in professionalism, and viewed as a occupational hazard that none of them 'make it out' without.. It's part of the culture.. And that is the question I am poking around, soliciting you guys with....
"What, in the opinion outside of this family, would you do to facilitate the acceptance of help?"
Understand folks, this isn't something I would EVER even allow any of the guys to know I was considering- but I KNOW some of these guys are forever changed by the past eight years.. How do you recapture that innocence? My God, the things we ask these guys to do is stupefying.. All the bravado, all the 'esprit'.. it's all bull +$@# and we learn that too late.. Is there a solution? (and I'm not talking a big picture, geopolitical, make-love-not-war thing, I'm talking the single tree that's part of the forest..)... I write songs, I hammer on the poorpoor guitar, I have an outlet.. I'm not in the same category as the guys I'm talking about anyway.. I'm fortunate like that.. Most of them aren't.. They just submerge themselves (and yes, that is the word I wanted to use) into the 'culture' and concede they will be outcast and different.. Is there a way out for them?
and here is the hard questions I'm (and I KNOW they want to know as well, but they are smart enough not to poke around places frequented by folks who aren't familiar with the culture) dying to ask: What do folks think of them? Do they wave the flag and pat them on the back and that is the end of it? Do they say "it's okay, you don't have to speak of anything, ever.." in effort to keep them from speaking and because THEY really don't want to know or because they truly are allowing 'passage' for the things that effed the veteran up?
Understand, I am WAY out of line even breaching this subject, and would be alienated for doing so if they were to find out I did.. You guys SEEM like the type of crowd that thinks a little deeper than yesterday and tomorrow and may be seeking higher understanding.. maybe I'm wrong there.. I trust my instincts and my instincts tell me this is a good place to ask- that and it is pretty safe to say it won't sneak up behind me..
fire away?
