The Truth About War Heroes in America

war heroes

For the past dozen years or so, Americans have been deluged with talk about “heroes,” and especially “our brave soldiers.” I was at a funeral recently, and was shocked to see the funeral director conduct a ritual: he had all past or current members of the military line up and touch a flag for the deceased.

This is not only stupidly out of proportion, but it is deeply damaging to the “heroes.”

As I’ve said before, I understand how young people get pulled into the military, and I do not think that they join because they want to kill. (Though some small number may.) So, let me be very clear on something:

The vast majority of war heroes are victims.

As it happens, I talk to military people, sympathetically. And I know the other side of the war hero story – the side that they don’t show on TV or when worshiping uniforms in churches, schools, or at sporting events.

Point #1: No one leaves battle whole.

Don’t ever imagine that soldiers come out of battle in any way better than when they went in.

No normal human can kill people without damaging themselves. Perhaps if you’re 50 years old and have to shoot someone who is clearly in the process of killing others, you can come out of it without permanent damage. At that age your character is already developed, and if you can honestly reassure yourself that it was necessary, you may be okay.

But if you think a 19-year-old kid, shooting at people he has never met before, who are simply driving down the street, will be okay afterward… forget about it – that kid will never be whole again.

And the same goes for the soldier who sees his friend get his leg blown off. Or, just having to go into situation after situation where that could happen at any time.

Crowds can chant “hero” all they like, but the soldier who was in battle has something torn in his soul.

Point #2: The soldiers know it.

Can you imagine the kind of internal conflict this hero worship inflicts on the 22-year-old ex-soldier? He’s praised as a hero endlessly, but he’s torn up inside, and sometimes when he’s alone, he cries and shakes.

This is what really happens:

  • The big, tough soldier hides in a bathroom and cries, because he can’t face going out into a crowd.
  • He wonders what was in all those pills they were ordered to take before going into battle.
  • He’s unable to make decisions for himself.
  • He has post-traumatic stress in spades but dares not tell the VA, because that would prevent him from owning a gun, and that’s the only thing that makes him feel safe.

And all the while, the soldier is paraded in front of crowds and publicly praised as some type of superior being, god-gifted with bravery. Could you live with that?

Is it any wonder that US soldiers are killing themselves at a rate of 22 per day?

Point #3: They are abandoned.

I recently had a talk with a friend who spent a full 20 years in the military, and we discussed these subjects.

One of the things that bothers me most is that these young men and women are sent into the hell of battle and then ignored by the Veterans Administration when they get back. I’m certainly no fan of government or its programs, but if you send a kid into death and destruction, you’re also honor-bound to help them recover if they make it out.

The VA is abandoning these former soldiers. I expressed this complaint to my friend, and he told me that it was worse, and more callously malicious, than I knew.

My friend is a decent man, and he does his best to help returning soldiers because no one else does. We discussed this at length, and I was pleased to know that he sits down with whatever few soldiers he can, and says this:

Yes, you’re fucked-up. After what you’ve been through, that’s what you’re supposed to be!

So far as he knew, no one associated with the VA was helping the returning soldiers one-to-one, only him and a few others.

So…

American hero worship is torturing ex-soldiers. It’s driving them to suicide. This mindless worship is good for the State, but it’s hell for the kids who were actually in battle.

Don’t follow that script. Have some compassion for the kid who was immersed in death and hell.

Paul Rosenberg

[Editor’s Note: Paul Rosenberg is the outside-the-Matrix author of FreemansPerspective.com, a site dedicated to economic freedom, personal independence and privacy. He is also the author of The Great Calendar, a report that breaks down our complex world into an easy-to-understand model. Click here to get your free copy.]

      
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Nighthawk
Nighthawk
9 years ago

I can’t speak for the current military, but the military of the 60’s and early 70’s expected a soldier to , within 24 hrs, adjust from combat (Nam) to peace-time environment (stateside) with no adverse behavior problems.

jeff
jeff
9 years ago

I think the author fails to recognize that these soldiers (or, at least many of them) are products of the sensitivity training and de-masculinization forced upon them…by people like this author. Jackwagon Rosenburg can’t have it both ways. A warrior is a warrior, not a hypersensitive beta-male. if you’re going to brainwash a generation of young men, or worse, half-men (or still worse, women), into warring with feeling, you’re going to have some mighty conflicted souls. Rosenberg perpetuates the disease and then complains about the symptoms.

I’m not suggesting that all war is just. But, all warriors ARE heroic, and deserve our admiration and praise.

I think it’s insulting to suggest, as the author does, that young men are “pulled into the military”. Some are, certainly, by promises of a dependable career. Combat, however, is not a time-clock puncher’s career path. Dreams of, or pretensions to, “equality” do not a combat soldier make.

The authors makes generalizations about a class of human beyond his limited understanding. And even if he doesn’t, I DO want Ranger Billy Badass and Green Beret Johnny Thunderstud on that wall. Or, maybe I’m oblivious to the notion of “post traumatic stress” just because I’m not too surprised when things turn “stressful”. And, here’s a news flash Mr. Rosenberg, neither are REAL Soldiers and Marines. The REF’s can stay in the rear with the gear. Leave the heavy lifting to the Alpha Males, and butt the fuck out.

My compassion for those “kids who were immersed in death and hell” can be summed up thusly, “Way to go, warrior. You’re a genuine hero to me. I’ll do anything I can to show you my appreciation short of echo this asshole’s snarky pity. Now, put your boots back on, we’re going to need your help in overthrowing a certain tyrannical government.”

There’s no crying in baseball.