War Has a Dramatic Effect on Soldiers and Their Families
War Has a Dramatic Effect on Soldiers and Their Families
By: Stephen
Everyone knows about war because it’s EVERYWHERE! Even though that’s true many people still don’t understand how big of a dramatic effect war has for soldiers and their families. Some reasons are that the soldiers jeopardize their safety at war, they don’t get to see their families that often and many soldiers have mental problems after war.
My first reason why war has such a dramatic effect on soldiers and their families is that soldiers jeopardize many peoples safety at war. When you join the army you sacrifice everything you have, even your life. Whether you’re in the army, navy or air force you will always be risking your life at war. Think of all the innocent families that you kill when you go into combat. How would you feel if your sister’s or brother’s house got bombed during war? What if they died? What if you never got to see them again? When soldiers go to war, they have no freedom. You can’t go outside every morning for a cup of coffee and you certainly can’t go out for a slice of pizza with your family whenever you like. When you join the army you get woken up at a strict time every morning and you go out and do the same thing every day: fight for your country.
Even though many soldiers jeopardize their safety in war, that’s not the only reason why war has a dramatic effect for soldiers and their families. Another reason is that war affects the families of the soldiers. When a soldier gets called to combat they get separated from friends and families for a really long time. Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to have a family member ripped away from you? Well, if you have that’s the way the family members of soldiers feel every time the soldier is away. Soldiers only get to see their families every so often. Did you know that soldiers are away from their families for about 6 months every time the get called to combat? To me, the saddest part of war is the fact that the soldiers and their friends and families might never see each other again.
My last reason why war has a dramatic effect on soldiers and their families is that people get affected after war. When soldiers get back from war, they are completely changed and a lot of them have many mental problems from war. Some soldiers do drugs and alcohol, but that’s only some of the affects. Some soldiers have nightmares and some have depression. Some soldiers even think about committing suicide. For some soldiers these symptoms are the biggest enemies of war. Did you know that every one in eight soldiers returning from Iraq in their first year suffered post dramatic stress disorder or a different kind of mental illness? One time I was watching intervention and it was about a girl who came back from the army and got depressed and then started doing drugs and alcohol. It was very sad. But that just goes to show the reality for some soldiers.
I hope you’ve come to understand and realize how big of a dramatic effect war has on soldiers and their families. How soldiers jeopardize their safety, are away from their families for a long time, and the mental problems many soldiers have after war are just some of the reasons why war has such a dramatic effect for soldiers and their families. If you know a soldier, you probably already know this, but if you don’t, I hope you will be a little more compassionate next time you see a soldier or a member of their family.
Stephen,
I want to thank you for your thoughtful essay about the challenges and effects of war on our soldiers. It is important to have this discussion in our society after so many years of war. Unfortunately, I have to disagree with the majority of the points you make above. Hopefully I can articulate my thoughts as well as you did in oyur essay.
First, about me. I have served a combined total of 42 months in Iraq and Afghanistan across four tours of duty. Two of those tours involved heavy combat in bad places. I have been married to the same woman for 19 years and have two beautiful daughters- all who endured these tours with me. In my last tour, I had the opportunity to command about 900 soldiers in Afghanistan where we lost 4 great young men and had over 100 wounded.
Over the course of those 42 months, I never saw the need to harm ‘innocent families’. In fact, we often found ourselves as the last line of defense for the weak and helpless against the unspeakable evil that was consuming their society. That was true whether we were defending Sunni villages against Shia death squads outside of Baghdad or protecting an underground girls school from the brutality of Taliban clerics. My soldiers were proud to do this, even as they saw their buddies on their left and right fall, because we knew that we were doing something decent, honorable, and right. Many of them told me that they never felt so important and so needed. I could share hundreds of anecdotes with you about how the courage and compassion of the American soldier has made life bearable for the unloved and weak in these wartorn societies. These stories don’t appear in the press often but I have seent them with my own eyes.
You are correct that being a soldier and being the family of a soldier is hard. It requires both courage and sacrifice, especially for our families. I want to discourage you, however, from painting us as victims. I chose this profession and, after 20 years, am very proud of the good that I could do in it- particularly while serving in combat overseas. The majority of us came home from the war stronger, more resilient, and more confident in our values and the strength of our nation’s ideals than before we left.
We are not perfect by any means and the passions of war sometimes lead to tragedy. But after 42 months I still firmly believe that the American soldier is the greatest force for good we have in the world today. Like the generation that fought WWII, it is my hope that this generation of veterans will help to build us a better society at home in the decades to come.
Great essay, I guess we can all be more understanding and appreciative of what our soldiers sacrifice for our freedom.
Stephen,
Your essay is really well written. I agree with all of your points. There is a sad reality for soldiers and their families during and after wars. And war never stops. But i’m glad that we can appreiciate soldiers for all they have done for us.
Andreia