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Prabjot Singh
Mrs. Benton
AP English 12
27 October 2011
In Retrospect
In the recent times, the United States of America has been heavy criticized due to the
being in the forefront of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These two wars share similarities with the
Vietnam War, as more and more US soldiers experience severe effects of post-traumatic stress
disorders (PTSD) as well as traumatic brain injuries (TBI). This problem gets even more
attention as our nation remains to be in Great Recession. There is also a correlation between the
novel, The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien and these two wars that the U.S. is currently
involved with. However, with difficult economic times we need to carefully redistribute our
nation’s wealth.
O’Brien, the narrator in the novel, proves to the audience that he constantly writes stories
about his times during war, as a mechanism to cope with the stresses of war. By reading his
writings, his stories transport you to the time when the novels are written. This makes the past
seem as if they are a part of the present in order to relate with his feelings. This is why O’Brien
says, “stories can save us” even roughly twenty years after the war (O’Brien 225). O’Brien’s
stories allow himself as well the listeners to face the past as a means of communication.
However, not everyone can use communication between their loved ones as means for relieving
themselves. In the novel, Norman Bowker was deeply transformed in his character due to
Kiowa’s death. Bowker had a weakness for communicating stories, as shown through his
reserved manner. For example, Bowker’s mother had written to O’Brien that, “’Norman was a
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quiet boy . . . and I don’t suppose he wanted to bother anybody’” (O’Brien 160). Sadly, however
Bowker decided to commit suicide, as he could not find a therapeutic process in time. In
addition, Rat Kiley also gives in because he could not handle the stresses of war. O’Brien had
said that, “[Kiley] was a sad thing to watch. Definitely not the old Rat Kiley. His whole
personality seemed out of kilter” (O’Brien 221). In the end, “[Kiley] couldn’t sleep during the
hot daylight hours; he couldn’t cope with the nights,” and for this reason Kiley shoots himself in
the toe, which was an injury that allowed him to leave his duty during the midst of war (O’Brien
222). Once again, this is perfectly normal as many soldiers cannot handle the pressure of war.
Sanders had said, “Nobody blamed him” verifying the familiar aspect among soldiers in support
of Kiley breaking down (O’Brien 223).
The concept of managing with the anxiety of combat is tough. Sebastian Junger, an
Afghanistan war veteran has served five tours to the Korengal Valley. He believes that the reason
many soldiers return to war is, “’not adrenaline . . . it’s brotherhood, and a sense of identity, a
sense of being necessary, and a sense of loyalty and commitment by other people to you and vice
versa. It’s intoxicating” (Yuan). In recent times, family is simply not enough anymore for the
treatment of PTSD and TBI. Soldiers experiencing combat are experiencing long-term health
problems, namely: depression, headaches, tinnitus (a condition involving hearing persistent noise
in ears), irritability, and memory problems (Curley). The costs for treatment are rising and the
economic recession is not helping.
Medical expenses are continuously increasing and the federal government is not helping
veterans enough to relieve them or their loved ones. By now, most citizens of our nation have
heard that all American troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of this year (Feller). Jim
Stanek, a Vietnam War veteran, remembers the anxiety of adjusting to civilian life after he
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served three tours in the Middle East. Stanek said, “It’s hard enough for your average citizen to
find a job, now you have combat vets coming back with physical injuries, PTSD . . . how are
they supposed to find that job.” According to Stanek, “There are third world countries that take
care of their veterans better than the U.S. does – as far as healthcare goes and as far as financial
status, they get taken care of better than we do and it’s a frustrating thing for a lot of veterans.”
This proves that we need to revamp our healthcare system for our veterans, especially those who
have lost limbs and have signs of PTSD. Jim Stanek felt the urge to start an organization, and
began Paws and Stripes in 2010, which uses therapy dogs to treat TBI and PTSD patients
(Garcia). The wife of one soldier has even said, “What is upsetting is the lack of support,
compassion, and benefits [for caregivers] . . . helping him through his treatment is what I want to
do. But I need the system to help me do that.” There needs to be ease of access and less
confusion for these returning troops and their loved ones or caregivers (Wood). Some former
Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) officials were confounded with the lack of rigor with PTSD
assessments. For instance, Dr. Chris Frueh, a professor of psychology at the University of
Hawaii, and former VA PTSD clinician in South Carolina said, “Given the amount of money at
stake, the importance this has for veterans, and [the] fact that we have well-established
procedures for conducting such evaluations, it is frankly quite puzzling and disappointing that
the VA is not using these procedures” (Thompson). According to the VA, already more than
170,000 veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq have been diagnosed with PTSD. In the last several
years, thousands of veterans that have been accused of nonviolent crimes have had their
sentences reduced after naming their PTSD as an alleviating factor (Zucchino).
It is saddening that as the richest nation in the world, the US cannot allocate enough
resources to help our returning soldiers adjust back to civilian life. For this reason, Dr. Michael
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Murrell, a psychology therapist who runs his own practice, helps our troops handle PTSD. Yet he
says that our military’s care services need to improve as there is “no civilian parallel to being in
combat.” He believes that on average it takes about a year or two for them to fully behave
normally within the civilian world. Upon returning, the civilian world will have numerous
situations that will set off fear and anxiety for military men and women, which were not there
before. Dr. Murrell said, “And for families, it may be really hard to understand, [or] just weird . .
. They act this way because they were conditioned to be on guard under those same
circumstances, so, for the family, the family needs to be patient” (Plein). There was one case of
Bryan where the Army’s Wounded Warrior Program initially denied him care as he was not
missing any limbs – even though his legs were encased in casts up to his hips. Only until the
intervention of General Richard Cody, the Army’s vice chief of staff under the Bush
Administration, the second highest officer, resolved the issue (Wood).
The US Armed Forces offers airmen, guardsmen, marines, sailors, and soldiers programs
to financially support their education, including up to a 100% of their college tuition for its
members. This is why as a high school senior, Robert Rissman, signed up with the Army, “[to]
go to college and make something of myself . . . and the Army said they’d pay for it.” However,
now as an Iraq war veteran at the age of twenty-two, Rissman has already spent years battling
addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, and homelessness. After his quick deployment as a part
of a quick response team, sadly enough, this got even worse. When he returned back to Fort
Carson, Co. he was diagnosed with PTSD and was frequently haunted by nightmares and
paranoia. According to Army papers, he had spent a day drinking and sitting in his bed pointing
the barrel of an illegal shotgun in his mouth. Rissman said, “I just wanted to die or go to
prison…and that was where I was headed and I knew that was where I was going and I was ok
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with that.” Naturally, he was forced to leave the Army, and as a result, he ended up homeless in
Arizona and Los Angeles, where he was “doing a lot of methamphetamines . . . [and] smoking a
lot of dope.” The Dept. of Veteran Affairs (VA) wants to eliminate homelessness among
veterans by 2015. According to the VA, there are roughly 107,000 veterans that are homeless on
any given day. This month, President Obama approved a bill that will renovate and build new
facilities for homeless veterans with a cost of $35.5 million. This facility would only provide 70
permanent housing units, which is far short of the living space needed to house Los Angeles’s
veterans (Caleb).
Overall we as a nation are facing growing problems today, some of which can be related
to the challenges our nation faced during the Vietnam War. Due to our current economic woes,
we now have an additional challenge at hand. Therefore, we need to allocate our precious
resources wisely in order to rebuild a healthier and even stronger nation.
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Works Cited
Caleb Hellerman and Gupta, Sanjay, Dr. "LA vets demand housing at giant VA campus." CNN.
N.p., 22 Oct. 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2011. <http://www.cnn.com>.
Curley, Ann J. "Study: PTSD signals longer-term health problems." CNN. N.p., 3 Jan. 2011.
Web. 22 Oct. 2011. <http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com>.
Feller, Ben. "Obama announces total Iraq troop withdrawal." Yahoo News. N.p., 21 Oct. 2011.
Web. 22 Oct. 2011. <http://news.yahoo.com>.
Garcia, Eddie. "Iraq War veterans need US support." KOB. N.p., 21 Oct. 2011. Web. 22 Oct.
2011. <http://www.kob.com>.
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1990. Print.
Plein, Chad. "Families prepare for troops homecoming and PTSD." KY3 News. N.p., 21 Oct.
2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2011. <http://articles.ky3.com>.
Thompson, Mark. "How Do We Know If Someone Has PTSD?" Time. N.p., 6 Oct. 2011. Web.
22 Oct. 2011. <http://battleland.blogs.time.com>.
Wood, David. "Beyond the Battlefield: As Wounded Veterans Struggle To Recover, Caregivers
Share The Pain." Huffington Post. N.p., 14 Oct. 2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com>.
Yuan, Jada. "Why You Miss Afganistan." Wilson Web. New York Magazine, 28 June 2010.
Web. 23 Oct. 2011. <http://www.nymag.com>.
Zucchino, David. "Vets using PTSD as defense more often." The Seattle Times. N.p., 24 Sept.
2011. Web. 22 Oct. 2011. <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com>.