There was a post about a marine that lost is life. A marine that commited suicide. I commented on about what a war can do to somebody mentally. I also commented on what I would do if I were him. All of a sudden it turned into somebody accusing me of dictating what others have to do. Which was not the case at all. I thought for sure that we were aloud to state our beliefs, our opinions on a post and I did that. I was not debating. Here is the link to the post.

http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/bereave...tml#post162317

Anyway, Since somebody feels that it was turning into a debate even though it was not. I just disagreed with somebodys opinion. What the hell lets turn it into a debate. What are your thoughts on WAR. What are your beliefs on war. Are you for or against. Do you agree that the pressures of war the emotional trauma and so many other factors is it uncommon for somebody to feel so trapped in the experiance that the only way to end their trauma is to commit suicide.

thanks in advance!

Joe

NeedKarma

Those soldiers that don't bat an eyelash at headless corpses and seeing intestines hanging out kind of frighten me. It's seems to a little too cold to be human. But then again they are taught to be automatons.

phillysteakandcheese

Escalating a situation to physical force is always a last resort. War should always be a last resort, but I don't think that there is any question that sometimes war is necessary.

Free society asks a great deal of the individual soldier. They see and do horrendous things, often without understanding why, and have to live with those consequence for the rest of their lives.

I am sad when a soldier dies - regardless of what nation they are from. I view soldiers like police officers - sacrificing themselves for protecting me, and our way of life.

In any situation, the question I ask is "How can I help?" If I have to give up my life, I would want to do so helping... my fellow soldiers, a child, or any other civilan that I had the power to protect.

I think it cowardly that a soldier would kill himself, rather than serve to protect others. In my view, suicide does not help anyone... It is the ultimate act of selfishness.

NeedKarma

Philly,
Then I can assume you are in the Canadian Forces then?

phillysteakandcheese

Nope - While I did do a short stint with the reserve when I was younger, and I do have family and friends in the military (and in Afghanistan), I am no longer directly connected to the Canadian Forces.

JimGunther

Anyone who is "for" war as a general concept has some serious problems. There are certainly circumstances that lead to war in which just about everyone would be in favor of it, such as when your country is invaded.

It is the duty of the military to deal with problems encountered by the people who are called upon to fight a war. Seeing bodies blown to bits and seeing your buddies killed in front of your eyes is certainly tough on anyone. And remember that the people we send to war are mostly teenagers.

A good example of the problems that war can have on people is the story of the US GI was was manning some sort of defensive position in Vietnam when the enemy attacked in a frontal assault. One of the attackers was a woman with her infant strapped to her chest. After this guy killed the woman and child, he was never the same and had trouble sleeping for the rest of his life.

In was in SAC, the Strategic Air Command, the unit of the Air Force that dealt with nuclear weapons. We had alot of training in this kind of thing and what it would do to a person who is not psychologically prepared for it. Our orders were to "shoot on sight" anyone who messed with a nuclear weapons site. It might have been a kid, a woman, or anyone, and I feel I was professional enough to do what I had to do and go to sleep that night knowing that I had prevented a weapon that could kill millions of people at once from harm from the enemy.

It is sad that others did not have such intense training and suffered for doing what they had to do. We are more civilized than others in that we do not send children out to do battle nor do we take them into battle. Our military should do its best to prepare our troops to deal with those who do, and for the other horrors seen on the battlefield as well.