Advanced Essay #4

My goal for this essay was to show how American people will eventually stop enlisting in the military because they will realize that their sacrifices are not truly appreciated by the American public and Government/Military. While researching and writing this essay I realized that the American Military does not focus on returning soldiers and veterans enough. Veteran soldiers are not given the support they deserve post war.

Matthew Willson

Advanced Essay #4

3/28/16

Historically, the armed forces have been revered in America. With the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, soldiers’ perceptions of military service and the public’s views on war have changed. While these changes may have begun during the Vietnam War, the effects of recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been had different.  Soldiers have begun to seriously doubt whether their sacrifices are truly appreciated by the American public. If this continues, views of being in the American military will change significantly, and it will become much more difficult for the military to successfully recruit and retain soldiers.

Since the Vietnam War, America has been involved in approximately 18 wars.  According to Stephen Kinzer of the Boston Globe, soldiers are today’s American heroes:  “Who is a hero? In today’s America, it is someone who chooses a military career, puts on a uniform, and prepares for war. Placing soldiers and veterans on this kind of pedestal is a relatively new phenomenon. Past generations of Americans saw soldiers as ordinary human beings. They were like the rest of us: big and small, smart and dumb, capable of good and bad choices. Now we pretend they are demi-gods.” The following picture captures this point of view perfectly.

There is a soldier on top of a mountain or hill. His face is hidden in darkness. The scenery and the soldier are depicted in dark colors while the American flag that he is holding shines bright in contrast to the darkness surrounding it. The biblical quote below the photo could be positive in a different context but instead it connects God and the bible to the actions of the US army. In this way, the soldier’s work is reframed not as violence and war, but rather “peacemaking.” To call soldiers the “children of God” not only legitimates violence as a crusade-like religious act for good, it also implies that the soldiers as blindly following the orders of their superiors and God--they are only children.

Historians have written extensively about the ravages of war and their toll on soldiers throughout time. While nobody doubts the impact of violence and war on soldier’s lives, the effects of recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have differed from past wars in several ways. Soldiers were fighting wars on two fronts; many saw the duration of their deployments extended because of poor post-invasion planning, and many have also subjected to stop-loss measures that prevented them from leaving the military until their units returned from war, even if their tour should have been finished.  It is clear that US soldier’s own perspective of their role has begun to change because of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One reason is the way they are treated after they have finished their tour of duty. According to Gabriela Acosta of USC, “Almost a quarter million Iraq or Afghanistan vets have been diagnosed with mental health injuries from combat service. Many more are not diagnosed, yet go on with their lives while experiencing short-term memory loss, headaches, insomnia, anger or numbness -- conditions that can range from merely annoying to highly disruptive on the job and within the family.”   Unfortunately, many soldiers that suffer from PTSD or other mental and physical injuries they received while serving time in combat are not provided with equitable resources to survive and live a healthy life after they serve their country and put their lives on the line. It is disappointing to see the American society have so much faith in their military when so many people's lives are traumatically changed by it. According to Stopsoldiersuicide.org, “22 veterans take their lives every day.” This statistic is horrific and America should recognize this and try to fix it. We are clearly not supporting the needs of soldiers when they come back from war.

The VA (United States Department of Veteran Affairs), the agency charged with taking care of returning soldiers,  has also received a large amount of negative press in the past few  years regarding their poor support  and terrible veteran healthcare system. According to CNN, “the managers at the VA concocted an elaborate scheme to cover up long wait times there. The sources said more than 1,400 vets were placed on the purported secret list and that documents were shredded to hide the evidence. According to sources, at least 40 U.S veterans died waiting for care at the facility, many of whom were on the list.” This is just one example of many terrible things the VA has been guilty of over the years.  

At the same time, it is important to remember that most people don’t serve in the military, and the wars are being fought far far away from US soil.  The military’s promotion of their actions in the press has also created expectations in the general public. Loudly describing the Iraq invasion as an example of ‘Shock and awe’ created an unrealistic public perception of the war. According to Captain Scott Hubbard (a returned Iraq vet (US News)) “We expected to come in and throw another 3-pointer and everyone stand up and cheer. There was a lot of emotion, a lot of rhetoric, all the country music songs getting everybody fired up.  I think a lot of folks screaming for war just don't understand what it takes.”  With the impact of the press and misperceptions of the public fed by the military itself, returning soldiers wonder whether the public is behind them and whether they have the capacity to truly understand what they have experienced.     

Overall, the poor treatment of returning vets and the public’s reactions to news surrounding the war has created serious doubts in the minds of the soldiers regarding whether or not America truly values their military service.  According to Anna Mulrine (US News), “the sacrifices are great and sometime soldiers wonder why they keep making them.”

Bibliography:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/12/07/joining-military-doesn-make-you-hero/AtnLFFGkkVvxX2gKXKJE7L/story.html

Kinzer, Stephen. "Joining the Military Doesn’t Make You a Hero - The Boston Globe." BostonGlobe.com. Boston Globe. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/12/07/joining-military-doesn-make-you-hero/AtnLFFGkkVvxX2gKXKJE7L/story.html>.

https://msw.usc.edu/mswusc-blog/veteran-mental-health/

Acosta, Gabriella. "The Impact of War: Mental Health of Veterans and Their Families." USC.EDU. USC, 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <https://msw.usc.edu/mswusc-blog/veteran-mental-health/>.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/30/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/index.html

Bronstein, Scott, Drew Griffin, and Nelli Black. "Phoenix VA Officials Deny There's a Secret Wait List; Doctor Says They're Lying." CNN. Cable News Network. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. <http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/30/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/index.html>.

http://www.usnews.com/news/iraq/articles/2008/02/13/how-the-war-in-iraq-is-changing-the-american-soldier

Mulrine, Anna. "How the War In Iraq Is Changing the American Soldier." US News. U.S.News & World Report. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.

<http://www.usnews.com/news/iraq/articles/2008/02/13/how-the-war-in-iraq-is-changing-the-american-soldier>