A WAR LIKE NO OTHER.

Two Warriors Home From The War.

The Above Picture Shows Josh and Shane. They were two warriors who recently returned  from Afghanistan.  Each in a different way. One suffered injuries that ended his life and left his family to grieve. The other came home with no visible wounds but he is certainly a different person than he was when left home five years ago at the age of 19. The two were devoted friends drawn close by the dangers they faced on an almost daily basis.   They had each other's back until an Afghan bullet ended the life of one and left the other with an unforgettable loss.

I Learned About Both On Facebook. After months of listening to politicians and high ranking politician's comment on the war, I felt I was getting a slanted view. I wanted to talk to some of those who were part of the so-called "boots on the ground" crew.  I called Josh and told him I had some questions that I would like him to answer.  He graciously agreed and we met in a coffee shop in Beaumont, Texas.  He brought his laptop and showed me some movies of actual combat and some still shots of various locations he had experienced.  These gave me an excellent picture of the environment he experienced.

I Asked Josh Numerous Questions.  I knew he had been part of the elite 101st Airborne but I didn't know he had undergone two deployments, one in Iraq and another in Afghanistan.  He believed the biggest danger in Iraq was roadside bombs while they were a fire fight virtually every single day in Afghanistan.  When I asked about our progress in transferring the war to the Afghan troops, he replied that he never trusted any of them.  They stole from the Americans and they had been known to fire on American troops when they traveled behind them.  This resulted in keeping them in front of any troop movements to avoid incidents like that. 

How Is This War Different?  There are no draftees in this war.  All are volunteers with most of those well aware that they would be in combat at one time or another during their term of enlistment.  Most had cell phones and Internet access in order to contact the folks at home.  This can be a major benefit compared to earlier wars when the troops had to hope that they received  letters from home.  This can also be an added stress as conflicts at home can be multiplied by phone calls or other communications that end in powerful arguments and fights over control and power at home.  Research has shown that the majority of suicides in Iraq were the result of a failed relationship at home.  Josh was exposed to this, having undergone a divorce during his enlistment period despite the fact that part of the reason for the enlistment was to provide a better future for his family.  Research has also indicated that the stress of going from deployment to stateside and back to deployment can also contribute to depression and anxiety among the troops.  I doubted the validity of this research until Josh informed me that the boredom of their home base in Ft Campbell, Kentucky caused many soldiers to want to be re-deployed.  The dangers of deployment caused these same soldiers to want to go back stateside. 

What About Living Conditions.  While most of these soldiers have a roof over their heads most nights, living conditions are certainly less than ideal.  Personal hygiene is difficult to attend to.  Showers are often cold and water, especially hot water is in short supply.  Troops are in close quarters with bunk beds.  When soldiers are on patrol, personal hygiene often becomes even more of a problem, especially for females.  While these conditions are better than experienced by soldiers in previous wars, they are still stressful. 

The Future.   I don't have a statistical sample of how our soldiers feel about the future of the war but Josh thinks the Taliban will be back in control within a short time after we leave.  Although the Taliban are an unprincipled group by our standards, it appears that the Afghans feel like the the Taliban better represent their views than the Americans.  The average Afghan wants us to go home.  Josh believes that we are accomplishing little over there.  I tend to agree.  I supported our mission when it started but I think we have stayed too long and put too many men at risk for a longer period than our potential benefits justify.  I am ready to bring everyone home now, leaving with a warning that we will be back to strongly punish those who would attack our country again. 

What About Our Returning Soldiers.  I think we owe these men a lot.  It appears to me that one of the main reasons Josh went into the army was due a lack of opportunity at home.  One of his goals was to "become a better person."  I think he was a good person before he left.  At this point, it appears that there are fewer, not more, opportunities available to him now than there were before he left.  The loss of his friend, Shane still weighs heavily on his heart and there is now another.  The recent suicide of Aaron, another of his fallen brothers in arms.  Not a good indication of how well he adjusted to civilian life.  The skills Josh acquired from his five years as a rifleman in the army have little utility in civilian life.  He recently went to work as a security guard at a relatively low rate of pay.  He lives with his parents in a crowded apartment, has no car, and has said that he is wasting his life as a civilian.  He describes his release from the army.  Once he was outside the base of Ft Campbell he was not allowed back.  He sold his car to finance his trip home.

What Are We Doing For These Men?  It bothers me that we can afford to provide an airplane for a previous speaker of the house and fly her staff on junkets overseas.  The GSA recently completed an outing and spent almost two million on food, lodging, and entertainment.  Still, we can't afford to look out for our troops once we have used their service.  We should at least make sure they get back to their homes.  A friend of mine, a retired first sergeant, well informed on these issues, sent me some statistics that show we have in excess of 897,500 disability claims pending for returning veterans.  There is an error rate of 16% in processing these claims.  The majority of these claims (65%) are more than 125 days old.  If we think things will get better soon, think again.  Pending claims are expected to grow to 1.2 million before the
current year is over and we are projecting 50,000 more after that. 

I learned a lot from the time I spent with Josh.  I should emphasize that he did not complain but it was obvious to me that he was not adjusting well.  He has even considered going back into the Army. I asked him if he thought he had post traumatic stress syndrome.  He said no and I believe him. It is obvious to me that he misses the comraderie of his military friends and I am sure he is not alone in that regard.  I have asked him to call me if he needs my help but he doesn't call.  He is a strong and principled young man and I pray that he will find what he is seeking in what has tuned into a difficult environment for younger Americans.