On Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:27:39 -0500, George Shirley wrote:

> On 6/2/2010 10:41 AM, Dave Smith 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.

....or 'shell shock' in WWI.

but another difference is than in world wars one and two, the reasons we
were there were pretty compelling. unlike, say, vietnam, iraq I and II,
and afghanistan.

your pal,
blake