It is no doubt to anyone that soldiers leave part of themselves behind during combat. Whether it be mentally or physically, every soldier who sees the horrors of combat loses a part of themselves that they may never be able to recover. First officially studied after World War One shellshock, later to be known as PTSD, was a mentally debilitating state of mind that took away a part of a soldier, and often prevented him from returning to a life of normalcy after combat.
Returning home and adjusting to a normal life can be just as hard if not harder for a soldier to bare than actual fighting. Combat and war changes people from who they once were. Many veterans find it difficult to return to a relaxed and cushy life after having served their time. With little in common with their peers, and the memories they have to live with, having a normal life can’t be an option for many veterans.
In the opening section in Robert Dale’s Rats and Resentment: The Demobilization of the Red Army in Postwar Leningrad, 1945-50, Dale states that, ” Popular opinion sources, corroborated by official documents, reveal that the transition to normal civilian life was far from simple. Angered and frustrated by the reality of demobilization, Leningrad’s veterans blamed corrupt bureau- crats for their woes,” (Pg. 98). The Soviet veterans were promised assistance once their return home, with the media joining in to spread the word of aid for veterans. “Soviet propaganda asserted that veterans enjoyed a special status unimaginable in the capitalist West,” (Pg. 98).
Being a veteran can take a massive toll on someone both mentally and physically. I believe that veterans should be honored for their service, and given as much medical treatment as need be. I’ve heard many stories of veterans fighting with veteran administrations and organizations in order to receive some form of compensation for their service related injuries. Having such a weak system to help those who gave all is pathetic and incredibly disrespectful. I can understand that the United States has a large veteran population with thousands being created every year, yet these people should not be pushed off to the side as just another statistic. A quote that relates to this, from of all people but Joseph Stalin, “one death is a tragedy, but a million deaths is a statistic.” As terrible and out of place this quote may be, I believe it can be related to how quickly people tend to group things into simple categories. Shoved off into their categories and seemingly forgotten about or lost in the sea of millions classified with them. Veterans deserve better than the treatment offered to them by the Federal government. I understand that there are many private organizations that do provide for disabled veterans and their families, but the fact that the government provides such little is appalling.
When talking about Soviet veterans, it is pretty interesting to explore why they were unable to fight for their own rights. Of course, they did not have the kind of democracy that the other powers had that would have allowed them to seek change for their condition. However, they had a lineage of revolution that could have justified them to try and get what they believed that they deserved. The easiest explanation out of this is exhaustion. The Russians had faced decades or unrest that seemed to never resolve. It is likely that these soldiers simply did not want to fight another battle. And as you quote Stalin, it was clear that the regime just did not care to help them improve their lot.
PTSD definitely was a huge problem for veterans after the war, and I think the main reason they get so little support from the government is the stigmatization of mental illnesses. If people were less weirded out by people having potentially very different mental states than theirs (which I do think is essentially what the problem is), the government would be much more willing to acknowledge and treat these illnesses. Obviously it would be nice if the government was willing to simply give them the treatment they need regardless of any stigmas surrounding it, but that clearly wasn’t reality and I think tackling the public image of mental health and spreading awareness would have been a good alternative way to help these vets.
I agree with you completely on the treatment of veterans. Veterans are often discarded once they are out of uniform. Changes need to be made in the VA to help those who served their country. These men and women are willing to lay their lives down for us, the least we can do is provide them with decent medical care and compensation for disabilities.
PTSD is something that was not, and sometimes is still not taken as seriously as it should be. For an event to be traumatizing to the point where a person’s mind is permanently affected, it should be seen as an event that did more harm than good. The government should have seen this trend in mental health issues after WWII and taken control of the issue.
You certainty bring up powerful points regarding our flawed VA system, I think most people who know a veteran know about the challenges they face to get basic health care. It is also equally important that PTSD became respected in medicine as an actual condition that could be studied and treated.