George Shirley wrote:

>> It's interesting that guys like this endured the horrors of war for
>> extended periods and came back, picked up where they left off and led
>> normal lives. Soldiers these days live with a much higher level of
>> comfort, have a much better chance of survival and spend relatively
>> short periods of time on deployment. They can communicate with their
>> families by telephone and email. Yet, a high percentage of them come
>> back claiming of post traumatic stress,even among those who aren't on
>> the front lines.
>>
> Some very large differences Dave. Back then the troops had a clearly
> defined enemy who was in uniform, mostly. Nowadays most of the enemy are
> dressed in civilian clothing, blend in well with the surrounding
> population and there are clearly defined rules of engagement, often
> causing troops to take chances they shouldn't have to take.


While it's true that the enemy soldiers were more clearly defined, there
were still a lot of civilian casualties during the war. It was total war
and once the battle started they poured the fire on and didn't worry a
heck of a lot about civilians caught in the crossfire. FWIW, there were
more civilian killed in Normandy than Allied soldiers. Air raids and
artillery flattened a number of cities.


> In WWII and Korea PTSD was called combat fatigue but was basically the
> same syndrome. My eldest brother-in-law was a Navy medic assigned to the
> USMC, he was in almost continuous battle from early 1942 until he was
> wounded severely enough to be pulled out of battle the day before VJ
> Day. My sister didn't get to see him until mid-1946 and he wasn't
> discharged to go home until early 1947. He had what we used to call a
> Section 8 discharge. He was jumpy at loud noises, very protective of
> family, to the extent he would throw his wife and daughter on the ground
> and cover them with his body if he heard anything resembling a gunshot
> sound. He was a good man who died at age 61 from chronic alcoholism and
> too many cigarettes, he died two months after being diagnosed with
> pancreatic cancer, brought on by booze and smoking according to the
> doctors.

But as I said, the soldiers in WWII were overseas for a long time. They
were sent over to England for additional training, and once the fighting
started they were at or near the front lines until the war ended. Your
brother in law likely saw a lot more fighting and for a much longer
period of time than the soldiers of today.


> I see young troops coming back here with many of the same symptoms, a
> different war, a different generation, many of the same problems. God
> Bless Our Troops and their families, both have a tough time.

It is tough. There is no doubt about that. They need all the help they
can get. They deserve it.

BTW.... the latest issue of Canadian History Magazine (formerly "The
Beaver") featured an article about shell shock.