What is War?
Is war really needed? Is the violence and death that are consequences of war really justified by the reasons we go to war? These are questions that have intrigued people throughout the ages. Because of war's prevalence in today's culture and the glorification of it, we need to discuss what it really means, if anything. Recent issues involving soldiers returning home with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is putting these questions back in the spotlight. By examining classical, first person, and fictional sources, it is clear that war is a difficult experience that greatly impacts the lives of everyone involved in different ways.
Throughout the history of human culture, war has been glorified, with men or women who were successful in it being regarded as ideal heroes. A perfect example of a person who represents an ideal hero most likely never really lived. This person is Odysseus from the ancient Greek epic poem The Odyssey. A scholar states that the poem's author, Homer: “conveys the value of human ideals and the joy of pursuing heroic excellence” (Poupard 270). The critic's view supports the fact that everyone wants fame, and being a war hero is one way to achieve glory.
In the Odyssey itself, Odysseus is portrayed as a very strong person who survives hardship and makes hard choices seemingly easily. Homer writes of what Odysseus does when his men are refusing to go home: “I drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, tied them down under their rowing benches, and called the rest” (Homer lines 211-213). This behavior seems strikingly similar to modern military officers, who push soldiers to follow orders that the soldiers may or may not want to obey. Even though Odysseus is being forceful for his crew's own good, he is being very stringent. The power of the higher positions in the military is troubling.
Glorification of war has continued in modern times. War-simulating video games that make war easily successful are insanely popular. War movies, most recently American Sniper, have enjoyed great success at the box office. Even the second Lord of the Rings movie, The Two Towers, contains “fun” war scenes, including one where Gimli and Legolas are slaughtering enemies: “Gimli: Legolas! Two already! Legolas: I'm on seventeen! Gimli: Huh? I'll have no pointy-ear outscoring me! [kills another one] Legolas: [shoots two more arrows] Nineteen!” (Jackson). This playful imagination of war is created for entertainment or propaganda; however, many soldiers would tell you that these productions could not be farther from the truth.
In asking the question, “What is war?”, the best place to look for answers is the soldiers
who fight these wars. Modern wars are more relevant to people today, so this section will focus on veterans who have fought in recent wars. War is not fun and games like pop culture and the government may tell you. It is serious business for people who know that it is hard and that it may lead to tragedy. Combat is not the only place soldiers face serious problems. Trouble can also happen when people who experience war return to their homes in places where chaos is not the norm. A military chaplain, who has served in war zones, has the duty to tell families that their loved ones who were service members had died. He explains one difficult incident that resulted from his military experiences: “I don't know what the trigger was, but it hit me hard. I went home one evening and all of sudden, I felt a tightness in my chest, it was hard to breathe, I felt closed in and panicky. I bolted out of bed thinking I was dying” (Huerta). This chaplain's situation is very demanding, and he experiences symptoms of severe depression upon his return home. Scientists would diagnose this veteran with a condition called PTSD.
PTSD (Short for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is a condition in which a person has much stress and even flashbacks after a traumatic experience (it does not have to be war). PTSD is becoming more prevalent in the media today with huge numbers of veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan reporting symptoms of it. It has been reported that “about 7.7 million adults suffer from PTSD” (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) in the USA. Some symptoms of PTSD are “depression, nightmares, anxiety, and sudden displays of anger or aggression” (PTSD). The commonness of PTSD shows that wars are bringing havoc and hardship onto the lives of many soldiers. One of them writes: “Post-traumatic stress disorder has stalked me for most of my adult life. I don't mean to say that I've suffered from it all that time. But the idea of it, the specter of it, has haunted me, as it haunts virtually everyone who has served in the military” (Morris, “After PTSD, More Trauma”). It is widely accepted that PTSD is real and is a problem for many soldiers. However, is this soldier correct when he says that “virtually everyone” has suffered from its effects?
Some scientists would disagree that PTSD affects a large number of soldiers and veterans. One expert expresses this argument: “Few modern medical professionals would argue that PTSD does not exist. However, a growing number have expressed concern that diagnoses of the disorder have become too common, and suggest revamping the definition and diagnosis criteria to help separate true cases of PTSD from other, less serious anxiety disorders related to stress” (PTSD). If this is true, however, many of the servicemen who are excluded in the diagnoses of PTSD are still suffering from some form of anxiety or depression that is a result of their war experiences. Even though the system is not perfect, and more mild cases need to be treated less (the veterans who have less symptoms should get less benefits, as they do not need that much help), this Post Traumatic Stress is a challenging impediment that is impacting many people in a negative way.
PTSD has not always been regarded as a serious problem that affects soldiers when they come home. Before the Vietnam War, people who had what we refer to as PTSD would be said to have “shell shock” (Allam), and the symptoms were thought to not last for a very long time. It has been a great achievement that we realize that the problems that some soldiers face when they return home are more than just minor occurrences.
One of the most serious problems that is caused by servicemen with PTSD is violence towards others, especially spouses. This is a symptom of anxiety and depression, but can be pushed to the extreme with the severe stress and guilt that veterans face. An army base with many soldiers who were in some of the worst fighting in Iraq has had an especially hard time with this: “A 126-page Army report known as an “Epidemiological Consultation” released in 2009 found that the murder rate around the Army’s third-largest post had doubled and that the number of rape arrests had tripled” (Morris, “War is Hell, and the Hell Rubs Off”). These numbers are very troubling and show that there is a connection between seeing and taking part in violent conflicts and violence at home. It is amazing how these servicemen attack the ones they love because of the pain of war. Hopefully the military can do a better job in preventing soldiers from committing violent crimes when returning from war (possibly by taking away weapons from PTSD sufferers).
American Sniper is a big box office smash and successful book that is about the military experiences of navy SEAL Chris Kyle (who wrote the book himself), a sniper with many kills. He shows extreme, almost fanatic loyalty and devotion to fighting in the war in Iraq. He writes about one of his missions in the book: “We were dropping them and that wasn't even half of them. We were just laying it down” (Kyle 384). This metaphor for laying out death shows Kyle's disconnect from what he is really doing, which is killing people. His enemies are trying to kill him, yes, but they are still people with human lives. He reacts to the death of other humans with pleasure, and this is not natural. He even persuades other soldiers to take a turn at killing: “I killed all of them. I rolled over and said to one of the officers who'd come over, 'You want a
turn' ” (Kyle 388). This is a military operation, but Kyle's almost joking attitude towards war and the death of other human beings is very hard to understand.
Kyle also mistreats and is prejudiced against the Iraqis who are fighting on the American side. He recalls playing tricks on Iraqi's stationed at the same base as him: “Their high-pitched screams, coupled with sprints in the opposite direction, had me doubled over. Cheap thrills in Iraq were priceless” (Kyle 76). Kyle's remarks show that he is not able to understand and connect with people of other cultures who may be surprised at things he does. The military goes to many places around the world, so it is upsetting that a distinguished member cannot interact well with other cultures. It has been said that that Sniper represents the culture of the special forces very well. If this is true, then the special forces are mostly made up of people who are fanatical about war and cannot respect other cultures.
In my opinion, war is a glorified medium that governments and people in high positions use to reach their goals; however, it ends up resulting in the deaths and injuries of many people, physically and mentally. PTSD brings pain and horror to some veterans, and most have had to deal with some type of stress that comes with war. One soldier reflects on his experiences on an online forum, Sixwordwar, in which servicemen express their views on war: “Young, Naive. Friends, Lost. Forever Changed” (sixwordwar.com). A longtime serviceman states that the abnormal becomes normal during war. Overall, I believe that war is a terrible experience that negatively affects almost everyone involved, especially soldiers returning home. We, as a nation, owe it to our soldiers to think of why war it really needed, and if the ends justify the means.