SUPPORT THE TROOPS (FOR MEN ONLY)

[defrog]

Yr depressing and most undervalued headline of today is:



It’s worth mentioning that male troops coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan have faced another version of the same thing. They might get the free beer and the pat on the back, but are given little or no support when it comes to PTSD and making the adjustment from living in a war zone to being back on the block.

Which is ironic, seeing as how eager most Americans were to send these people on the fools’ errands that were (and are still) Iraq and Afghanistan, but can’t take the time to understand just what these people actually go through over there and how hard it is to just switch all that off and become “normal” people again.

On the other hand, Americans are getting a lot more in-depth information on Tiger Woods’ affair itinerary. So I guess it balances out the guilt nicely.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I confess, part of my interest in this is literary: I’ve had this character in the back of my head for years, a female war vet searching for her best friend (and fellow vet) who disappears under mysterious circumstances. Part of the idea was to explore the idea of women in combat (an idea I was in favor of even when I was in an Army combat unit, and not for the usual obvious reasons), but this throws an interesting spin on the argument – how they’re treated when they get home.

A quiet normal life,

This is dF

Comments

[brangwaine.livejournal.com]

I can tell you how we are treated when we come home.

There was a difference.

A big one.

[def-fr0g-42.livejournal.com]

If I may ask, how did you deal with it?

[brangwaine.livejournal.com]

I had a hard time. On top of dealing with deployment and return, I came home and got pregnant within weeks. I was called names and told I got pregnant on purpose. I was told that I let everyone down and that I more or less had done something horrible by letting that happen.

We women had a harder time, I think because when we came home there was no leniency. We came home and immediately had to fill the role of mother and wife. No one expected us to be hurt or bruised by anything on deployment.

I put my head down and pushed through it as hard as I could. That was all we could do.

[def-fr0g-42.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing. And for what it's worth, I for one would have bought you the beverage of yr choice.