Military, Society

“Now, After” A Short Story Of PTSD

By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor

now-afterYesterday I discovered a touching and effective video bringing light to the many struggles and hauntings those afflicted with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder struggle with daily. It is not often the personal toils of these challenges are presented to the public in a manner other than academic or disaffected medical analyses but I found this video to be very engaging and while certainly difficult at times for most to watch, due to some very graphic imagery inherent with combat, I believe these depictions of violence and hardship are necessary to provide you with a sense of how gripping this injury can be on those so encumbered.

While the video presents PTSD as experienced through the thoughts and trepidation of an Iraq war veteran, it can in most ways be insightful to the same traumas causal to other manifests of the injury.

SSG Kyle Hausmann-Stokes, the video’s author, is due much credit for a presentation into the manner and effect of a PTSD injury. I invite you to share in his experiences…

Since the film is rather short, I will forgo a narrative and leave the experience to the viewer. But a few elements I wish to emphasize I should expand upon.

I again emphasize the video contains graphic visuals but I must say that it is necessary to be shocked to understand what this soldier suffers. Such flashbacks can be nearly debilitating to some and for many it represents both a haunting and the mind replaying the trauma over, and over while attempting to rationalize that the horror experienced was not as terrible as it might have actually have been. Replaying these past traumas presents a bad situation, where the memory is troubling but in your mind is necessary in a strange sense to attempt to defeat the agony of the event. Each time the mind returns to the thought it is unable to resolve the conflict so as to bring some form of closure that it so greatly needs. And, as a result, it becomes tormenting in a seemingly never-ending struggle.

We then share with our soldier the self-isolation and feelings of removal from his former service and the camaraderie of both his fellow soldiers and the belonging and purpose formerly he was provided. Instead in the present sense his world is quiet and alone. He faces a want to be with others, even those outside his former service, but making a first approach to the “others” comes with a similar dichotomy as shown with the haunting flashbacks. Still in this sense he finds that his routine has changed yet almost automatically he returns to what he believed defined him and have him his sense of self-worth and sense of honor and now, alone, he is an outsider–having lost his support system. When the PTSD grips the isolation becomes almost a feedback loop.

As mentioned before, relating to this story for the PTSD afflicted requires merely substituting the trauma triggers of the soldier to whatever demons another person experienced which led to the PTSD injury: substitute a fallen brother with a car crash; substitute combat for being abused as a child; or substitute an combat operation with an abusive husband. While one traumatic event can certainly be more damaging than another, while the injury cause differs the injury can be the same. An arm broken by a fall or by blunt-force is a broken arm just the same.

But watching the film is not rewarded not just with being given a realistic presentation of PTSD injuries, unlike what one finds in movies where it is almost insulting in that it usually seems they were written by individuals who either are unaware of what it truly means to be injured and thus through lack of diligence it is rather insulting to these patients, but the additional benefit is that with an open mind you will learn to respect and have more empathy to what patients have gone through and what our service members have sacrificed for all of us.

For those who might have PTSD, find someone to help or at least understand. Know that it does usually lessen with time and help.

By Darren Smith

Film Credit:
SSG Kyle Hausmann-Stokes
US Army, Infantry, OIF 07-08

The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.

177 thoughts on ““Now, After” A Short Story Of PTSD”

    3. Bannon would probably like to deport the protestors but guess what the Native Americans were here first. Still, one has to wonder what the Trump Bannon brownshirts are gong to do.

  2. I honestly dare not watch that. I don’t need to get my blood pressure up. Just thinking about what is in that video made my heart speed up – thanks for posting it for folks who don’t know what it’s like.

    There’s a reason that the movie “Fury” sat on my shelf for about 5 months before I worked myself up to watch it. The VA letter that Zambini mentioned? Yeah. Real fun times waiting for that thing. PTS”D” is a real thing, and it isn’t pleasant. I can’t drive past surprise cemeteries, or the Patriot riders. Heck, for that matter don’t ask me to go to a funeral.

    I saw a few suggestions about stopping wars – I’d love that. Nobody wants war less than a Soldier.
    The suggestion about keeping people from joining the military though – I hope that was tongue in cheek. Until the entire world is the Switzerland to the galaxy – and we aren’t fighting one another on the planet – It would be patently stupid to not have a competent military.

    Thanks to those people in our country who recognize Soldiers who come home with issues. It’s more prevalent than most know, and some of us with issues don’t even recognize them in ourselves until much later. Just don’t pity us – we suffer our wounds (both physical and mental) because we fight for eachother, and for you.

    -AAO

    1. “Nobody wants war less than a Soldier.”

      Except maybe a Sailor. I grew up with guys who cleaned out the Battleships at Pearl. One guy had to haul out the body of a friend who was too bloated to fit through the hatch. He had to cut him open with a knife to let the gas out. That changed him. Most of the men didn’t know if the pieces of rotting meat they were cleaning out of the ships were someone they knew.

      They didn’t tell me the worst of it.

      I grew up as a Coast Guard brat, and Coasties get Navy benefits. So I received medical care at a Navy hospital. During the Vietnam war. The halls were lined with guys in wheelchairs who had been horribly burned or had lost legs when the cable broke on carriers.

      Maybe I’m stupid, but I saw all that and still I went into the family business. Ever since getting off the boat from Italy my family has served. I prayed that the worst that would happen to me is that I’d drown. Not that that I’d get the fatal salt water enema from an undersea explosion or burn my lungs sucking in fire or linger for 40 days wondering if the rescue boat is ever going to come. If they even know where you are.

      Chesty Puller didn’t even want that.

      http://www.usni.org/heritage/smoot-roland

      “…After it was all over and while I was steaming slowly back to the landing area to let Chesty off, with his aides, he went down into my clean cabin with white tablecloth and had a great big hot steak dinner, took a hot shower, and cleaned up. The boys washed his clothes and dried them. We fixed him up with fresh underwear, gave him a bag of cookies and cakes and cigarettes and whatnot. Everything we could do to help in their rugged life ashore we did.

      As he went over the side I said, “Chesty, glad we could help you out.” He said, “Thank you very much. God, I wouldn’t have your job for anything in the world.” I said, “You mean to tell me you’d go back and go into that messy stuff over there and get yourself filthy and live on C rations. You’ve come to see the kind of life I lead out here and you prefer yours?” He said, “I sure do. When you get hit where are you? When I get hit I know where I am.””

      Nothing bad happened to me during my 20 years. Maybe because after seeing what I saw I’m a fanatic about fire fighting and first aid.

      My hat is off to you Army types. Thanks to all the time I spent in Camp Casey I’m a proud member of the VFW.

      2nd ID. Second to None.

      1. Steve,

        I certainly wasn’t intent upon leaving out my brothers on the ocean! “Soldier” is certainly interchangeable with “Sailor”, and “Airmen” if we’re covering all the bases.

        Every one of our groups (including the coast guard) experiences the horrors of war. As the point-people for violence where our country is involved – none of us are fans of war. Also, pass on cleaning up the aftermath. Crashed Chinook with 23 casualties? No thanks, I don’t think I’ll sleep anymore.

        Thanks for your service! I need to join the VFW now that I have more time on my hands.

        Beat Navy.

        And I’m torn between my two homes – 10th Mountain – Climb to glory, and 4th ID – Steadfast and Loyal

  3. Po,
    Does your “grasp of history” also involve the false claim that Constantine outlawed pagan religions?
    That’s an interesting historical revision.
    Do you also claim that the U.S. “occupied Mecca”?
    When ACCURATE historical facts are presented, then you can gush about the “grasp of history”.
    If rewriting history is your thing, have at it.

    1. Tom
      where did I make those claims you assign to me?
      If indeed I made any inaccurate historical claims, please free to debunk them. I am waiting.
      My statement was this: “”His grasp of history and of religions enables him to derive logical conclusions that are lost on both Paul and Tom.”” and it sure is still valid until further notice.

      1. Po,
        You complemented Joseph’s “grasp of history”.
        Given the historical blunders he made, that seemed to be an odd comment.
        I did NOT claim that YOU made those statements….since you complemented the “grasp of history” by the person who made those statements, you either intentionally overlooked those mistakes, or you’re too ignorant to assess others’ “grasp of history”.

        1. Tom, my point still stands, no one’s grasp of history is perfect, how could it be so?
          Though imperfect, JJ’s grasp of history is still better than yours and Paul’s…no offense.

              1. Glad you cleared that up, Po.
                You claim that you “don’t favor” the inaccurate historical statements, you just find that they are “better than
                some”.
                Good way to endorse inaccuracies, while claiming not to “favor” them.

                1. Maybe if you give me perfect historical facts, Tom, I would cease favoring the less flawed ones over the highly flawed ones.

                  1. Po,
                    You have yet to challenge any historical facts as I have presented them.

                    If you object on the basis of FACTS to anything I’ve said, point it out.
                    That is preferable to
                    you making a comment like ” give me historical facts, Tom”
                    Yeah, that’s real specific.
                    I still think that factual accuracy is important for a proper “histrical,grasp, but hey, that’s just me.

                    2. Tom
                      I was very clear, my comment was that JJ was historically more knowledgeable than you, Paul and Mespo.
                      That is a fact.
                      That is also a general statement based on our previous interactions and my challenging the various “facts” you traditionally present.. I have challenged your facts previously and will keep challenging them in the future.
                      Just be patient 🙂

              1. Speaking of that, Paul. I’m reading a wonderful book by Guy Gibbon entitled “The Sioux: The Dakota and Lacota Nations.” If you like Old West with an anthropological bent, it’s a good read. As my son says, the Lakota were “badass” but spiritual folks.

                1. mespo – let me know what you think when you finish. I have three I am working on right now. BTW, the Lakota were the ones that Lewis and Clark decided could not be trusted.

            2. Paul, I have given you plenty of chances to prove it…so far hasn’t worked.

              Mespo, please don’t feed this nonsense. The judge has set a restraining order against Paul, he can’t go near native american affairs/book/articles.

              1. Po – I know a heck of a lot more about Indians than you do. I have lived around them and with them my whole life. What about you? Know any Indians?

                1. Paul, you have lived with all Indians..?
                  Half of them?
                  A quarter of them?
                  One family?
                  Ever spoke to them?
                  Based on your “knowledge” of their history, you know very very few native Americans.

                  1. Po – I have spoken to many Indians, I have lived in Indian country all my life. I have been to Indian festivals, ceremonies, etc. My hobby, until my health went south, was to photograph petroglyphs and pictographs in the Southwest. I have visited at least 100 historical Indian sites. What about you?

            3. OK Po,
              I have your “very clear” judgement that my grasp of history is inferior.
              And you say “that is a fact”.
              There was a specific reason why I asked you to point out SPECIFICS…..e.g., what leads you to that “conclusion”?
              Then you come back with the same vague crap like you’re “very clear” or “that’s a fact”.
              I don’t mean to shock or depress you, Po.
              But your conclusions are not facts.
              Saying thatcyou’ve been “veryclear” in the absencecof specifics does not effectively conceal your repeated use of weasel words to duck specifics.

              1. Alright, Tom, I’ll indulge the thought that perhaps I was mistaken and derived an erroneous conclusion about your historical knowledge.
                I’ll reset the clock going forth and see how you fare.
                Please don’t disappoint me, I don’t want to have to give up on you as I had to with Paul.

  4. The only one making any sense here is JJ. His grasp of history and of religions enables him to derive logical conclusions that are lost on both Paul and Tom.
    Using his ABC groups and replace Muslims with, let’s say chinese and one derives the same perfect conclusion he does. Do not caught up in the Muslims qualifier, it raises ignorance and biases and muddies up the discussion.

    Paul, one minute you make the point islam is composed of various groups and is uniform and the next you are speaking of the Nazis (again) allying with Islam… You tell me, didn’t MOST Muslims fight nazis across the globe? I personally have relatives who died fighting the Nazis for France. How many Muslims allied with Nazis? The tiniest minority, no? Please answer.

    Mespo, again, your tenuous grasp of history is showing. Are you claiming that all of Muslims were involved in pirating? That would be silly… Your deduction is based on a very false logic.

    1. Po – I knew you would jump in there and good on you. The point is, the Nazis saw Islam as a Warrior Faith and allied with them. See the number of Nazis who will flee to Egypt after the war. They supported the Grand Mufti who wanted the complete annihilation of the Jews. Again, you are right that many Muslim fought for the Allies and fought bravely.

      1. Paul, the Nazis might have seen Islam as a warrior faith the same way they saw Christianity, which they put forth, as also a warrior faith. In fact, crusading Christianity inspired Nazism as a structure of domination much more more than any other influence.
        As for the grand mufti (you really are in love with him), his aim was not to exterminate the Jews, his aim was to keep them from Palestine.

        Anyway, how many Muslims allied with the nazis?
        more or less than the Zionists who allied with the nazis?
        More of less than the Christians who allied with the nazis?

        1. Po – the Nazis saw Christianity as a martyr faith. And the Grand Mufti was very anti-Semitic, not just anti-Zionist. When he learned of the trucks the Nazis were using to exterminate Jews, he wanted some shipped to the ME to try out.

          1. Paul, the nazis were inspired by Christianity’s martial past. Just the facts. As for he mufti, a functionary put in place by the British, importing homicidal tools to try them out against Palestine’s Jews?
            Where do you get your history from?
            —————————
            British Mandate[edit]
            While Palestine was under British Mandate, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was a position created by the British Mandate authorities.[2] The creation of the new title was intended by the British to “enhance the status of the office”.[4]

            When Kamil al-Husayni died in 1921, the British High Commissioner Herbert Samuel appointed Mohammad Amin al-Husayni to the position. Amin al-Husayni, a member of the al-Husayni clan of Jerusalem, was an Arab nationalist and Muslim leader in the British Mandate of Palestine. As Grand Mufti and leader in the Arab Higher Committee, especially during the war period 1938-45, al-Husayni played a key role in violent opposition to Zionism and closely allied himself with the Nazi regime.[5][6] In 1948, after Jordan occupied Jerusalem, Abdullah I of Jordan officially removed al-Husayni from the post, banned him from entering Jerusalem, and appointed Hussam Al-din Jarallah as Grand Mufti. On the death of Jarallah in 1952, the Jordanian Waqf appointed Saad al-Alami as his replacement.[7]
            Can we please put this to rest once and for all?

            1. Po – the Grand Mufti is the reason the is no settlement of the Palestine problem. He had a chance to solve it, but decided killing all Jews was more important.

              1. Such ignorance, such deception, your pick Paul.
                The grand mufti was put in place by the British. He was not chosen by Islam, nor by his people. He was a colonist administrator. Show me where he would have gotten the authority and powers to do what you claim he wanted to do.
                show me his signature on any document partitioning Palestine….one single one.
                Dude, history has cursed you, obviously. This is fascinating!

                1. Po – the Grand Mufti originally got the authority from the British (bad decision of their part) and then he took authority (much like Hitler). People found him charismatic. When he said not to agree to the Palestine Settlement, they didn’t and haven’t.

                    1. Po – do you own research. You were supposedly going to debate me on the Grand Mufti and yet you are bereft of facts about him. BTW, do not depend on Wikipedia.

        2. Yeah.

          Sahih al-Bukhari – Book of Holding Fast to the Qur’an and Sunnah – (2) Chapter: Following the Sunna of the Prophet (saws)

          ” Narrated Abu Huraira:

          When Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) died and Abu Bakr was elected as a Caliph after him, some of the Arabs reverted to disbelief, `Umar said to Abu Bakr, “How dare you fight the people while Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, I have been ordered to fight the people till they say ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah’ And whoever says: None has the right to be worshipped but Allah.’ waves his wealth and his life from me unless he deserves a legal punishment lusty, and his account will be with Allah! Abu Bakr said, “By Allah, I will fight him who discriminates between Zakat and prayers, for Zakat is the Compulsory right to be taken from the wealth By Allah, if they refuse to give me even a tying rope which they use to give to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ), I would fight them for withholding it.” `Umar said, ‘By Allah, It was nothing, except I saw that Allah had opened the chest of Abu Bakr to the fight, and I came to know for certain that was the truth.”

          Reference : Sahih al-Bukhari 7284, 7285
          In-book reference : Book 96, Hadith 16
          USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 9, Book 92, Hadith 388
          (deprecated numbering scheme)”

          Kindly direct me, Mr. Religious Scholar, to the part of the Bible where Jesus commands his followers to kill anyone who leaves the faith.

        3. What part of “I have been ordered to fight the people ” don’t you understand? Again, I look forward to you directing me to the part of the New Testament where Jesus told Peter to go forth and fight the people.

          1. Steve, in our last encounter, I set up some conditions to our debate to insure we don’t keep groundhoging the same issues over and over again (and does Paul with his grand mufti). You refused, adn now you are back to throwing all kinds of hadith in order to make a point you yourself are not sure what it is.

            1. I refuse to let you set the conditions because your conditions are historically and theologically insane.

                1. Logic would be a nice change of pace for you. Here I am citing chapter and verse from canonical Islamic texts, and there you are fact free. And pretending reason is on your side.

                  You have nothing.

                  1. The only canonical text here is your oft-repeated statements lumping the quran with the hadtih…
                    Either relentless deception or stubborn ignorance…your choice

                    1. Are you denying that the Ahadith are canonical?

                      I want you to go on record saying that.

                      Just so you or any interested parties may want to know, my only problem with Islam is that it says Muslims are supposed to do something with me.

                      Surah 9:74 At Tawbah (The Repentance)

                      “They swear by Allah that they did not say [anything against the Prophet] while they had said the word of disbelief and disbelieved after their [pretense of] Islam and planned that which they were not to attain. And they were not resentful except [for the fact] that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them of His bounty. So if they repent, it is better for them; but if they turn away, Allah will punish them with a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter. And there will not be for them on earth any protector or helper.”

                      In this world. That’s you.

            2. What part of 149 Quranic sword verses, and in total 480 hate verses like the one I quoted about Abraham, am I unsure of?

              My Yusuf Ali paperback version of the Quran is only 441 pages. That’s a lot of hate.

              1. I don’t know, Steve, you claim to speak about the quran while quoting the hadith while claiming to speak of the quran…hence my condition about determining which we are talking about… remember it?
                Also, will you really keep insisting on quoting the so called verses of the sword while refusing to place them in their context of what, when, who, why an how much so?
                How familiarly deceptive of you!

                1. I’m curious if to find out if you don’t know that both Sunni and Shia profess that the Quran without the hadith is heretical?

                  1. Both sunni and shia? All sunni and all shia?
                    Sigh, Steve…. for an islamic scholar you know very little.

                    2. Are you it? 🙂
                      The silliness of an islamphobe as islamic scholar…but this the world we live in right now…

                      There is a huge deal about Islam you do not know, Steve. If only you would shut up, stop pretending to know and ask me. One can’t deny the rain and still pretend to know more about the rain that he who bathes in it, drinks it and write odes to it.

                      Do you believe in God?

                    3. Yes, I know. Corner a Muslim and he lies and becomes a Quran-only Muslim. I predicted this because, it’s not the first time.

                    5. Po – we know you are not an Islamic scholar because you have stated so on many occasions. According to you, you are still studying to be a scholar by are a long way off.

                2. Po – you know the whole “put them in context” ploy is just that. Once you put them in context, then you have to put the context in context, etc. It is never ending.
                  It either stands on its own or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t, tell us why.

            3. Still waiting for you to cite the part of the Bible where Jesus commands his disciples to fight the people.

    2. Po:
      No, of course not. The Barbary Pirates were North African corsairs operating not too coincidentally on the Barbary Coast. Most were from Tripoli. These criminals impressed US sailors and then demanded ransom in a practice they continue today. I’m simply saying they need to be dealt with now as they were then — as the common enemy of mankind they clearly are. As for most Muslims IN THE MIDEAST, they are likely acceptable folk but they exist much as an anarchism in the modern world. In the main, they provide as least tacit support for the more brutal aspects of Wahhabism like pogroms against homosexuals, misogyny and, of course, the incredibly well-subscribed notion that the penalty for apostasy is death. They need to be excluded from our culture since they have little appreciation for democracy and its benefits preferring an unreformed religion from the 7th Century as a blueprint for society.

      1. That’s my point exactly, mespo. The barbary pirates were the tiniest minority of muslims, same as extremists make up the tiniest minority of muslims, yet your are brushing almost 2 billion Muslims with such tiny yet broad brush…

        Speaking of pirates let us note that the great majority of pirates were christian. then as now… the white man’s boats have ravaged the globe then as now looking for riches, people, spices, gold and land to plant a flag on. We do know who the common enemy of mankind is, and those who, for all but 13 years of their existence, have been at war against every people of the globe.
        Ships on water, planes in air, satellites in space, tanks on earth, we know who is flooding the globe with weapons, martial boots and civilian blood.

        Meanwhile, you use one country, again a tiny minority of Muslims as the stand in for islam?? How silly is that?
        Pogroms against homosexuality? The one place we know for sure is Uganda, a Christian country.
        Misogyny…? look into your congress and ask your congresswomen! Ask your wife why she makes less than her male colleagues.
        Ask pregnant american women why they are more likely to be murdered here in the US of A than anywhere else in the globe!

        Where in the world is apostasy punished by death?
        As for your culture, no one wants this culture of violence, death and mayhem. This culture that oppresses native americans still, that murders black people still by the police no less, that puts profit over life any day…The greatest purveyor of violence, this culture, the only culture that dropped nukes on cities, that murders its own citizens, then his son, then his daughter…the same culture that is relentlessly looking for an enemy to rain bombs upon, for those bombs must be used in order for more of them be sold. Same culture that criminalizes a people and locks them up in droves, that ruins lives as corporate policies…

        As for democracy, most Muslim societies are democratic 🙂
        most muslim societies respect the rule of law and their constitution
        most muslim countries did not have their supreme court still the elections for a candidate, no hanging chads, no electoral college bs…
        This will blow your mind…Muslim societies are found to be of the lest violent societies on earth.
        And finally most Muslim societies have a secular, democratic constitution, and many have ALREADY had a female head of state…where is yours?

        Another finally… ain;t it odd that I, a follower of that 7th century unreformed religion am more democratic, caring and appreciative of our constitution and its aims than you?

        1. I’ve heard this tiny minority argument for decades. The problem is that while only a tiny minority acts a firm plurality sits in quiet agreement. The Pew polling doesn’t lie. Even in Muslim countries outside of the Middle East misogyny, discrimination against homosexuals and barbaric punishment for apostasy runs rampant with no reformation movement even considered. There’s a reason “Islam” means submission and democracy means the opposite. It’s a cultural values issue and the fact is that not all cultures can coexist in the same spot. It’s why diversity is a pipe dream absent assimilation into the dominant culture.

          1. I sure hope this is no the same logic you bring to court, mespo, it is scary. No wonder Trump became so successful in this country, our culture is based on false logic and ignorance.
            “Even in Muslim countries outside of the Middle East misogyny, discrimination against homosexuals and barbaric punishment for apostasy runs rampant with no reformation movement even considered.
            Well, I challenge this, show your hand, bring your sources.
            1- Which countries?
            2- What type of reformation? What would it entail?
            3- Wat does submission have to do with democracy? Does Christianity require submission to something? How does that relate to democracy? Do you claim one cannot practice a faith and be democratic?
            4- What is your definition of culture? hat is OUR culture versus THEIR culture? If I am a Muslim American, is my culture OUR or THEIR?

            Can you please answer each of those questions?

        1. Do you really want to get into a tit for tat about Western versus Muslim instances of moral failings. I’ll do that when Muslim countries start worrying about Swedish suicide bombers.

          1. Come on, some honesty, Mespo. You are the one who is creating that system of comparing Muslim acts to the west. yes, let’s do it.
            How deceptive also to bring up the Swede, one of the least aggressive western people when the issue is the United States, the more aggressive western country.
            The US has massacred more people in a decade than all of Islam since the beginning of its time!
            How do you answer that?

            1. Our first experience with Islam has been instructive when we learned that the most insidious are religious zealots, reject Western values, are kidnappers, and have the ethics of alley cats. I have neither the time nor inclination to separate the bad from the less bad and neither does our military. My default position is “hostile” after 9/11. They can prove otherwise by turning in the terrorists in their midst for immediate dispatch. Otherwise they are part of the problem.

                  1. Yes, and please remind yourself that as the culture you laud is sinking deeper down the drain.
                    In one year, as you forage for food and gather rain water for drinking, have a good chuckle as how silly your comments were today.
                    Meanwhile, be a grown up and at least enjoy that your victims will fight back and more of your men (!) will be complaining and crying because the wars of choice they light all over the globe are making them uncomfortable.

                    2. Yeah, rosy colored glasses work as long as some light go through them.
                      Dysfunctional congress
                      Dysfunctional economy
                      … presidency…
                      … judicial system…
                      …prison system…
                      I don’t know, Mespo, show me one single system, american system that is still effective.
                      All empires end this way, start storing food and water I say, not much time left…and I won’t share mine with you!
                      Unless you ask really nicely I say.

                    3. You forgot exceptionally functioning military and population. It makes up for the other three buffoons. It’s our country we never left it fail much to the chagrin of our adversaries.

                    4. Exceptionally functional military? What war has it won?
                      Exceptionally functional population? What has it created? Unless you include the app makers like facebook and twitter…and entertainment product makers like Apple…
                      None of those necessary for life, just wants that end up further dumbing down the population.

                      Even the weapon industry America is so proud of is bloated and ineffective. What is the latest plane we spent billions on? Is it working?
                      Same for tanks…for ships…
                      Meanwhile both Russia and China have leaped greatly in technological advancement , their weapon system can now match ours, if they aren’t more advanced.

                      Whatever work of value America is creating is spurred by PHD immigrants. Whatever spurs the local economies is spurred by legal and illegal immigrants. America’s has always been overly dependent on immigrant labor and energy to grow and sustain that growth, that is reversing, especially with Trump.
                      The economy is artificially sustained, printing money to keep up with inflation, in a just world, would result in the devaluation of the dollar, turning us into Zimbabwe. How long do you think we can keep the interest rate this low? It can’t go any lower, unless it goes negative, which it can’t for then it would give up the scam.

                      No country ever has stretched itself so thin and not collapsed. Ever!
                      And they did not have China to borrow from, and such a high debt to deal with. History is a great educator,, simply look across ages and see what happened to countries at this state. Especially such a divided country as ours.

                      The empire is dead…. Trump is the final nail in its coffin.

                    6. Po,
                      The first premature obituary for the American economy I noticed was c.1974.
                      Your forecasts nade here, and in your next comments, remind me of the forecasts of Paul Erlich, firmer High Priest of ecologists.
                      I can’t bring up the “reply” box on your next post(s), where you claim that the end is near becauae “no nation can stretch itself that thin” in borrowing so much, and keeping interest rates so low.
                      U.S. debt to GDP is near historical highes, at a ratio of c. 105% debt to GDP.
                      U.S. interest rates are near historic lows, and the Fed has ( after 8 years of not raising rates) …the Fed raised rates modestly in 2016.
                      When Japan’s speculative bubble burst c. 25 years ago, their central bank adopted a very low, near-zero interest rate policy.
                      GDP growth in Japan has been subpar since the early 1990s, and some describe Japan as stuck on a 25 year recession.
                      ( Not technically correct, a bit of an exaggeration).
                      Before you conclude that no nation can atretch itself so thin in stacking on debt, look at the debt to GDP ratio in Japan…..it is c. 240%, much higher than America’s c.105%.

                      Before you conclude that interest rates in the U.S. can’t remain low, looj at the 25 year history of basically “zero interest rate” policy in Japan.
                      And while U.S. rates are near hiatoric lows, they are higher than many other majir exonomy.
                      The strength or weakness of the U.S. dollar, and U.S. capacity to borrow, depends largely on the American interest rates RELATIVE TO that of other economies.
                      There is no shortage of seers out there with myriad predictions as to how this low interst rate, high debt environment will ultimatelyvplay out.. With very few exceptions, ( e.g., Bill Gross), there track records are very poor,and they are not worth paying attention to.
                      David Stockman is a good example of a guy who’s been consistently wrong for years on end….I just saw another headline today about him.
                      Given his track record, it’s odd that anybody pays attention to anything Stockman says.
                      Anyway, since you decided to throw your hat into thecring with specific economic predictions, those forecasts you made can be monitored for accuracy.

                    7. “The first premature obituary for the American economy I noticed was c.1974.”

                      You should have noticed it in 1971, with the Nixon Shock: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixon_shock

                      For all the BS about our adversaries, the reason we’re fighting them is because the Fed’s banksters have been printing valueless money since 1971, flooding the market through reduced interest rates, and using our military to back it up. That’s our capitalism. In other words, we’ve been destroying entire countries and killing innocent people and those who fight back for decades to keep up the fraud – the facade of a strong economy. It’s not strong, it’s unsustainable, and we’re to blame for not stopping it.

                      I hope you’ll come to your senses as to why things don’t seem to work quite right and the blame is always placed on someone else.

          2. Mespo,
            I’ve pointed this out before…..throwing out 10-12 questions is a key part of Po’s answers….
            Just for the heck of it, I answered the “12 Po questions” he threw at me in one of his “answers” about 6 weeks ago.
            He did not respond to or acknowledge those answers.
            Just saying….if you bothered to answer his questions, he’s apt to come back with some comment about how he wants to set the gound rules for future exchanges.

            2. Tom, I credit you for attempting to answer some of those questions, days later and on a different thread with the wrong link back to the initial post.
              I indulged you by going back to search for my list of questions, led by your post telling me the exact day and time to look for…only to find nothing and to have you apologize for giving me the wrong date.

              You are the only one among the lot here that is honest enough to at least attempt answering some of those questions you decry. this reveals an intellectual, and therefore moral honesty that is lacking in Mespo, who otherwise is a very fine chap.
              Please remind him that ignorance is NOT a virtue and attempting to build any logic upon ignorance is downright criminal.

              1. Po,
                I corrected the initial ( incorrect) date I gave….and I explained that I misread the “12-29” date I joted down.
                ( I didn’t close the top of the “9”, so I initially refererred to the date as “12-24”, misreading the 9 as a 4.
                I don’t think it matters very much, as I really did not expect a response to my answers.
                It was a while before I answered all 12 of your questions…I didn’t realize at the time that you needed immediate answers.
                The reason that none of this really matters…i.e., when and how I answered the PO TWELVE QUESTIONS.
                There is a difference between the “Socratic method” and throwing out multiple questions as a stunt to to play the “Po Evasiveness Game”.

                1. Tom
                  The bottom line is that I asked questions, which you did not answer for a while. Then you did answer a couple of them. As I said, in your credit, I did not expect you answering them, but I asked them because I needed to establish some parameters to our conversation lest we keep talking past each other.
                  When you did offer an answer, I attempted responding to you by tracing back my steps with your help, which got me lost, twice.
                  You cannot therefore blame me for not further addressing those questions.

                  Additionally, I don’t play an evasiveness game. My track record here speaks for itself. I answer every question asked of me unless I realize the person is soliloquizing, in which case, IF I still decide to pursue the conversation, then I ask those questions as an ordering tool.
                  You can see that above as Steve keeps questions I already answered WHILE refusing to answer mine. The sheer volume of his posts and the herky jerky topics causes me to have no choice but to ignore them.

                  I am here because I hope to learn something and inform about something. I don’t argue just for the sake of arguing, unless with Paul, that is. So every question I ask fits within my overall point and serves to move the conversation ahead.

                  1. Po,
                    I answered all twelve of your questions, which you presented on 12-29-2016.
                    I noted at the time that I had already answered some of your previous questions, and that your addidtional 12 questions would be answered when I had the time.

                    I think it was on 01-06-2017 that I amswered your 12 questions.
                    This isn’t exactly rocket science, and you should be able to review previous threads …..but if you haven’t botheted to read my 12 answers yet, don’t put yourself out and strain yourself reading them now.

                    1. Tom, I remember exactly you answering some of the questions then asking…what were the other ones again?
                      Which necessarily means you did not answer all of them.
                      I also remember most were just no, yes, yes, no…etc…without any quoting of the original question or any part of it.
                      I spent time and energy searching through countless posts to find said questions…(mis)guided in that pursuit by YOUR exact (mis)direction.
                      Hey, I tried, twice.

                    2. OK PO,
                      If you are not capable of remembering past exchanges, or reviewing the record for past exchanges, I MIGHT do that for you.
                      I’m not sure that it’s worth the effort, because when I prove to you that I answered your dozen+ questions, you may well respond with a dozen more rather questions instead of acknowledging that I answered the 12-29 dozen questions.
                      We do argee on one thing, Po…yes, your track record DOES speak for itself.

                    3. Tom, looking forward to reviewing the record. If I am wrong, I’ll gladly acknowledge it and take you out to lunch.
                      No, Paul, you are not invited.

                    8. Po – when you go, send a selfie of you eating. I will return a selfie of myself being bored by your selfie.

                    10. Paul & Co., the history guru, doesn’t understand that we supported if not initiated the Syrian insurrection and the reasons for it. It was we who created the refugee crisis which that idiot in the White House denies by freezing immigration from that country.

                    11. Steve Groen – I understand that 72 terrorist have come into this county from the 7 countries listed by President Trump. The largest number are from Syria where, because of the fighting, vetting is next to impossible.

                      Case is point. Things went to hell in a handbasket in many countries, including Hungary, at the end of WWII. The father of a classmate of mine got a family visa from the Vatican and then passage to the United States for himself, wife and two children. The local Catholic hospital in my city was told to make space for the employment of the husband and wife as x-ray techs. No questions were asked.

                      My friend was in his early 60s and both his parents were dead when the US War Crimes Commission showed up at his doorstep asking him why he had sent all these Jews to concentration camps. Of course, he would have been an infant at the time. His only crime was sharing a name with his father. His father was a mayor of town in Hungary and he had sent lots of Jews to concentration camps. It had just taken the Commission 50 years to catch his dead father.

                      We know we cannot vet the people in Syria and we know people are going to Syria to us that as an exit point because they cannot be vetted. What would you have us do?

                    12. Paul, you’ll need to support your allegation that 72 Syrian terrorists came into the country from those seven countries. You also need to admit the reason people from Syria are emigrating from Syria is perpetual US intervention in foreign affairs of state. Wihtout smart people like you adimitting this, how can we expect these crimes against humanity to end?

                    14. Paul: Thanks for sharing this news item published this past Saturday after the 9th Circuit published its opinion. You’d think Jessica Vaughn would have provided this information to the 9th Circuit as a friend of the court before oral argument. I wonder how Fox News got its hands on this information?

                      I’m not saying your wrong. I’m saying that there’s no reason why this report wouldn’t have been published and remain available by the “Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest.”

                    15. Steve Groen – this would have been available to the clerks who were researching for the judges for the Ninth. Not sure why it was not offered. I know the Ninth has page limits.

                    17. Man, Paul, how come everytime you provide a source it is one that even Trump would not touch with a mile long pole?

                      Center for immigration studies???? And this is what they write: ” June 2016 the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, then chaired by new Attorney General Jeff Sessions, released a report on individuals convicted in terror cases since 9/11. Using open sources (because the Obama administration refused to provide government records), the report found that 380 out of 580 people convicted in terror cases since 9/11 were foreign-born. The report is no longer available on the Senate website, but a summary published by Fox News is available here.” This is incredible!

                      Well, allow me to blunt, that site and its claims are all bst!

                      Additionally, there is no better vetted person than the refugee. Even getting a visa is a year, at best, long trek that enables the state department to know near everything about the person. I should know, I went through it.
                      Getting a refugee visa is even more arduous, takes longer, requires more proofs, more hoops to jump through and generally is a process that only the desperate person goes through. Anyone vetted as a refugee is unofficially the most vetted person on earth.

                      Furthermore, as Steve states, the Syrian refugees are not here by choice. Syria was a secular, progressive and economically sound country, peaceful and tolerant. Syrians had universal healthcare, sounds universities, good education and a growing economy. Christians and religious minorities were welcome and established in Syria, the only reason they are here and elsewhere is because we tore their country apart, and then we have and still are supporting the groups that caused this Syrian refugee problem to begin with.
                      The persons you demand be vetted are the people running away from the bad guys that you are supporting.

                    18. Po – I am not supporting Syria or our being in Syria, however vetting of people from Syria is a mess.

                    19. Nope, it isn’t. The people involved state clearly it is as thorough as for any other place, or even more.

                    20. “In 2013, CIS played a major role in fighting the immigration reform bill, part of a proposal introduced by a bipartisan group of senators in January.[6] CIS has received over $6 million in donations from the anti-immigration group called the Colcom Foundation, started by Cordelia Scaife May, a close friend of John Tanton and sister to Richard Scaife of the right-wing Scaife Foundations.[6] Executive Direction Mark Krikorian appeared in Congress to testify against the bill, claiming that “virtually all illegal aliens are guilty of multiple felonies” — quite the example of CIS’ “pro-immigrant” vision.”

                      http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Center_for_Immigration_Studies

                      The phantom menace:

                      “Nationals of the seven countries singled out by Trump have killed zero people in terrorist attacks on U.S. soil between 1975 and 2015.

                      “Zero.

                      “Six Iranians, six Sudanese, two Somalis, two Iraqis, and one Yemeni have been convicted of attempting or executing terrorist attacks on U.S. soil during that time period, according to Nowrasteh’s research. (Nowrasteh focused on plots against the U.S. homeland, which presumably Trump cares most about, rather than other terrorism-related offenses, like supporting a foreign terrorist group or trying to join a jihadist organization overseas.) Zero Libyans and zero Syrians have been convicted of doing the same. ‘Foreign-born terrorism is a hazard,’ Nowrasteh argues, ‘but it is manageable given the huge economic benefits of immigration and the small costs of terrorism.’”

                      https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/01/trump-immigration-ban-terrorism/514361/

  5. I think we have a model for peace in the entire Middle East.
    When President Obama “ended the war in Iraq” in 2011, we saw groups A, B, and C harmoniously settle down in peaceful coexistence.
    Without the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq to incite groups like ISIS, it follows that group A would shrink, and groups B and C would become dominant.
    If one ignores the fact that ISIS took over a third of Iraq, suicide bombings increased, sectarian violence overall increased, the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq diminished conflict there, in theory.
    Putting the same theory in play on a grander scale, we can immediately stop targeting groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda, Al Shabaab, etc.
    They will all dry up and go away absent an American military presense…in theory.

  6. A certain unknown ratio of all Muslims rightly perceive the USA and the West as existential threat to Islam (call this Group A). A certain unknown ratio of all Muslims perceive the West is NOT an existential threat to Islam (call this Group B). Likely the smallest ratio of all Muslims are unsure or have no opinion whether the West is or is not an existential threat to Islam (call this Group C).

    We can be sure of this, though: over time Group A grows in number while Groups B an C shrink. For each drone bomb dropped (the USA keeps confidential the # of bombs dropped and # of dead innocent civilians) and each innocent Islamic civilian the West kills (we admit killing 66k in Iraq alone, actual # at least 10x higher), surviving friends and family members of the deceased who prior were categorized in Groups B and C, have overwhelming desire and influence to join Group A. In almost twenty years of Western war against Islam, the trend is to shrink Groups B and C and grow Group A. Few actions tend to cause the opposite change.

    And again, Muslim fighters leave their happy hut, wife, and children in Suriname, Tanzania, and Indonesia, to fight and kill Americans in the ME, because they rightly perceive the West as an existential threat to Islam. They do not go to die because they “hate democracy” (though such hatred grows over time), or “hate feminism” or “hate our way of life.” They leave and die bravely on the field of battle because they rightly perceive the West as existential threat.

    Protesting against political ideology is one thing. Leaving your family to travel thousands of miles to be blown to bits is quite something else.

    Part of Islam’s plan to end the Western World includes taking USA money for alleged good purposes like building schools, hospitals, government buildings, etc. OBL specifically described milking the finances of the West in any method possible, and we have happily obliged him.

    In some if not most cases, the same Muslims who accept our cash to build up the Middle East shoot and kill Americans when it is convenient to do so. This is not unique to Islam. Old style Mormon FLDS say the USA government is a false, fraud, corrupt, pagan institution. They intentionally teach it their duty to milk USA finances dry as fast as possible, such as collecting Food Stamps and every form of entitlement, to help speed the heretical government’s demise.

    1. Joseph Jones – the Nazis allied themselves with Islam because they saw it as a “Warrior Faith” not a “Martyr Faith”. Does that help any?

      1. I’m not sure to what extent that helps me understatement your point.

        Emperor Constantine was the first Roman to invert the world order: pre-Constantine “conversion,” Christianity was illegal and all pagan religions were approved. Post-Constantine “conversion,” Christianity was the only legal religion and all pagan religions were illegal. The Pope and the Emperor jumped into the same sack, scratching each others back.

        The penalty for breaking these religious laws was death. (The only visible Christian crime was to practice “conventicle,” declared illegal in Plato’s Laws, which also required citizens to fink on their friends and family who broke this law.)

        Old Latin P and X signify modern English CH, the first two letters of “Christ.” Today “PX” is common in the Catholic Church, often engraved onto the back of the Priest: a long-stemmed “P” with an “X” intersecting the bottom of the stem. CONSTANTINE’S FIRST USE OF THIS SIGN WAS A “PX” METAL STAFF LEADING TROOPS INTO BATTLE TO CONQUER ROME’S ENEMIES.

        Would you tend to agree, that over time, the West’s war against Islam tends to shrink the ratio of peaceful and moderate Muslims, and grow the ratio of Muslims desiring to end the Western World? The more “successful” is the West in killing those Muslims who chose to war with the West, it seems the general trend and result is to force the ratio of peaceful and moderate Muslims to join the fight. Certainly those Muslims on the battlefield always prefer more warriors fighting with them.

        1. It’s possible that the U.S. will adopt an extreme isolationist foreign policy, and completely disengage from the Middle East.
          That seems extremely unlikely, but if it ever does happen, we’ll see if
          Muslim fighters lay down their arms and go back to their ” happy huts, wives, and children”.

          1. History tells us that the less engaged the US are with ME/globe affairs, the more peaceful the ME/globe is.
            The US is viewed globally as the most dangerous country on earth, followed by Israel. Says something.
            Uh…Iraq, libya… somalia, Palestine…looking forward to the day the US remove their 1000 bases around the globe and start fixing potholes and bridges..and start dropping 23000 bobs a year on civilians…

            2. History told you nothing. Too bad.

              Sahih al-Bukhari – Book of Fighting for the Cause of Allah (Jihaad) – (122) Chapter: “I have been made victorious…”

              ” Narrated Abu Huraira:

              Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “I have been sent with the shortest expressions bearing the widest meanings, and I have been made victorious with terror (cast in the hearts of the enemy), and while I was sleeping, the keys of the treasures of the world were brought to me and put in my hand.” Abu Huraira added: Allah’s Messenger has left the world and now you, people, are bringing out those treasures (i.e. the Prophet did not benefit by them).

              Reference : Sahih al-Bukhari 2977
              In-book reference : Book 56, Hadith 186
              USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 4, Book 52, Hadith 220
              (deprecated numbering scheme)”

              What part of “I have been made victorious through terror (cast in the hearts of the enemy)” don’t you understand, Mr. Stockholm syndrome?
              ‘

    2. Then explain the Muslim attitude toward India? I suppose we’ll have to suffer the know-nothings who imagine that after suffering 400 years of jihad the Crusades cause Islam’s hostility toward non-Muslims. But the idea falls apart when you look east.

      Islam is a religion of hatred. It declares itself so.

      Surah 60:4 Al-Mumtahanah (She that is to be examined)

      “There has already been for you an excellent pattern in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people, “Indeed, we are disassociated from you and from whatever you worship other than Allah . We have denied you, and there has appeared between us and you animosity and hatred forever until you believe in Allah alone” except for the saying of Abraham to his father, “I will surely ask forgiveness for you, but I have not [power to do] for you anything against Allah . Our Lord, upon You we have relied, and to You we have returned, and to You is the destination.”

      Curious about what part of “animosity and hatred forever you people don’t understand.

  7. The single best thing you can do to prevent someone from suffering from PTSD and/or suicide (IIRC over a dozen ex-military suicides daily) is to prevent them from joining the military. Show them this video and do whatever else you can to change their mind.

    USA actions (not thoughts, not intentions, not philosophy) in the ME caused, in 1996, OBL to declare war on the West. Read on-line OBL’s 1996 Declaration of War against the West.

    Prior to 1996, Islam rightly perceived three primary USA actions as existential threat to Islam:
    1. USA wedded to Israel, a nation of zero interest to the USA, the most hated nation on earth, and a sworn enemy of Islam.
    2. USA wedded to the world’s most evil and blood thirsty ME tyrant governments, such as the Al Saud crime syndicate, Jordan, Saddam’s early career, etc.
    3. USA military’s earlier occupation of Mecca in SA, the holiest of all Muslim holy land.

    The reason the above simple justifications for ongoing war between Islam and the West is kept confidential, never discussed, is because a debate would result in simple confirmation of the fact, which would then cause a debate whether the USA should cease the above three actions, thus paving the way for a truce w/Islam, and the elimination of the need for war.

    Lastly, the US Congress ratified and POTUS signed into effect the “Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” confirming this Treaty as US Law equal to the US Constitution (same as all such treaties). The “NNPT” prohibits all signatories including the USA from diplomatic relations w/any and all nuclear armed non-signatory nations, defined as India, Israel, and Pakistan. The common sense reasoning for this section of the law is to increase nuclear armed nations desire to become a signatory. Any and all USA diplomatic relations with the above listed nations is a felony crime.

    1. Joseph Jones – Islam, just like Christianity, is a series of fractured groups. Some are peaceful. Some are warlike. Islam is not a single entity with a single identity. Your conclusions are based on faulty logic.

      1. PS,
        Thanks for your kind and thoughtful reply. I think my post below addresses it. I generally agree with your thought that religions like Christianity and Islam are not monolithic.
        Best wishes,
        JJ

        1. Joseph Jones – Islam has two groups that spend much of their time fighting each other, while we try to keep them apart. Then those groups have splinter groups of various sizes who wax and wane depending on how well they do against enemy forces, including ours. And, it appears that is some cases, we are arming the enemy.

      2. Islam has no central authority. It’s more a pulsating blob advancing and receding through history with no consistent guidance and hence no reformation of its central militant ideas. It’s been a problem since for the US since Barbary Pirate times. Here’s an excerpt of a letter from two American commissioners written to SOS John Jay describing a familiar theme with these folks who were kidnapping American sailors:

        “We took the liberty to make some inquiries concerning the Grounds of their pretentions to make war upon Nations who had done them no Injury, and observed that we considered all mankind as our friends who had done us no wrong, nor had given us any provocation.
        The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the Laws of their Prophet,1 that it was written in their Koran, that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as Prisoners, and that every Musselman who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise.”

        https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-09-02-0315

        Sound familiar? We had to whip ’em then, too. Somewhere Santayana is laughing at us.

  9. All gave some. Some gave all. Far be it for me to denigrate any man’s service. But Jesus that was too melodramatic for me.

  10. I could only tolerate about half the video. I may have PTSD myself now. Thanks for the video, Darren.

  11. What Jill and Steve said.

    If the warrior suffers from PTSD, do we dare imagine what the warred-on suffers?
    What do they suffer from, the ones upon whom violence unmeasurable in its scale, in its relentlessness and its immorality is visited upon?

    What world do we live in where we can lament the soldier’s PTSd while remaining silent upon the ones upon whom he exercised his trauma?
    The best act we can do for veterans? The best veteran’s day gift? No more veterans, and that happens only with no more wars.

    By the way, let us imagine what kind if super-PTSD the person feels who was enslaved, then lynched, then oppressed, then discriminated against, then jim crowed, then murdered by cops, then …
    I’ll save my tears for the victims of the violence, no its perpetrators.

  12. I recently heard a good talk on PTS. The presenter refuses to use PTSD because he said it’s not a disorder. It’s a reaction to a terrible situation. Of course insurance companies need their diagnosis code for reimbursement but I believe he made the case.

    People exposed to war are being exposed to something no one should ever go through. Instead of lightly making war and ruining or ended people’s lives, our society’s “leaders” could sane up and stop killing everyone in sight. We owe all people so much better.

    1. Interesting, and I suspect I would agree with the top paragraph. IOW, those who see the images depicted in the video and tend not to suffer PTSD and more likely the ones suffering from a disease of lack of empathy and sympathy.

      I suppose though, we might just say that the human spectrum of personality covers a range from extreme sensitivity (e.g. possibly those who commit suicide) to those who don’t ever think about it and sleep well at night, just viewing it as another job to do (not me, for sure).

      On a vaguely related point, I still can not believe that every time I enter the PO I see the little US Government forms requiring MEN ONLY of a certain age to register for Selective Service! Why oh why do not Pelosi and Boxer sleep on the steps of Congress demanding women register for the god-forsaken draft?

      If/when a war breaks out, with the draft back in effect, all men absolutely must sign a class action petition demanding an equal 50/50 split of dead and wounded women vs. the men!

      1. In the first paragraph I meant those who witnessed the carnage first hand, not just viewing the images….

      2. Joseph Jones – I am with you 100% on signing up women for the draft. If the men go, the women go. I believe in Robert Heinlein’s thesis in Starship Troopers. Only those who serve are allowed to vote and hold office. And a place is made for everybody who wants to go.

  14. I would like to prevent PTS. We need to stop all the wars. No person should be harmed because rich people want more money and power. That is evil.

    I am deeply sorry for this man and anyone else harmed by wars. Wars need to stop. I hope the best for him.

    1. What Jill wrote. For the apathetic, this might pique your pecuniary interest: with regard to the Iraq war, which accomplished nothing more than destabilization to a region in which we don’t belong, slaughter, and forced trading in the US dollar, “[a]s of 2013, the Cost of War Project estimates the war has cost $1.7 trillion—nearly 30 times the pre-war estimate. That cost doesn’t factor in future costs of veterans’ care, which push the total to more than $2.1 trillion.”

      http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/press-past/2013/03/20/the-underestimated-costs-and-price-tag-of-the-iraq-war

  15. Beautifully rendered. Hopefully, the plight of our brave veterans that have seen too much, experienced more in a year or two while still young than most people do in a lifetime, will finally be addressed. How even more pitiful these young protesters, many that cannot even name what they are protesting against. If only they could walk 100 feet in a combat zone…… It would have a lasting effect (hopefully). My husband is a Vietnam veteran. He was a medic and somehow came away unscathed. He bears no scars, I think, because from the time we met, I have listened while he talked freely about his experiences. Young people aren’t given the ground work to deal with traumatic experiences as we were in the 50s and 60s. With hope for change in our society, I look to the future.

    1. Well said beakie48 and tell your husband one VV to the other Welcome Home Brother.

  16. Thanks for this post, Darren. For anyone going through PTSD, I would encourage them to try EMDR. It is a psychotherapy approved by the VA. It’s sorta like hypnosis, but Google it if you’re interested. I suffered pTSD after a shooting incident and it worked for me. It doesn’t work for all but it is worth a shot. I went from anxiety and panic attacks to quite manageable stress, controlled through physical exercise. Like any psychotherapy, getting a good therapist is key.

    1. Nick, I tried EMDR as well as I had heard it was effective for PTSD. But the only person locally certified was herself “certifiable” IMO so it did not help me. As you said “a good therapist is key” — there are some truly horrible shrinks out there! I was fortunate in that mine resolved itself after five years. I cannot even begin to imagine though what combat vets go through so the video was illuminating.

  19. We need to help our vets and stop more from experiencing this pain. Thanks for sharing Darren.

  20. As a person who suffers from PTSD I can tell you it is real. I could not watch the entire video, got to the VA letter and that is real as well and that’s where I stopped. I’m not going into my own issues to lengthy (50 years worth). If one of my kids had not become a physician and forced me back to the VA, the VA would have won the battle.

    I ask all of you to remember and fight for our vets. There seems more attention and concern for illegal immigrants and radical Islam then for our vets. I wonder how great it would be if all these protesters went out on behalf of our vets?

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