When the worst happens
Soldiers call it “fragging” when one of them harms his pr her own troops. Just about everyone who publicly commented on an extreme example in Iraq yesterday used a different word: tragic.
A soldier being treated for combat stress shot and killed five of his fellow soldiers at the stress clinic where they had sought help. The soldier has been taken into custody, according to The Associated Press.
So what’s more heartbreaking than war itself? Deliberate friendly-fire killings, along with suicides, are the worst to grapple with. How do you reconcile sending someone to war, where they end up so damaged that they kill each other or themselves? Several suicides are prevented each day among troops in war zones. Each day.
Here’s an excerpt from an AP story:
An estimated five soldiers in Iraq try to commit suicide each day. Between September last year and last month, more US troops, 72, died from accidents, illness or suicide than from combat, 67.
Do we yet understand the high emotional toll this war is costing our warriors? Troops must go through mandatory debriefings meant to screen for mental health issues, like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, rage and so on. Thing is, if a soldier really wants to hide the symptoms, he or she usually can. The help is out there, but only for those who want it and ask for it – getting to that point in this gung-ho, tough-it-out military is tough indeed.
I’ve written about PTSD and the emotional fallout of war, so there’s no need to repeat myself - but I encourage you to go to my earlier posts on this topic.
I believe the Army has it the roughest in the war zones, with the Marines a close second. As a Navy commander once told me, “For the Army, it’s supposed to suck.” They get the toughest jobs, sleep in the shabbiest of quarters and must respond and react to a very rigid command.
With the war in Afghanistan ramping up, I fear that we’ll see more of our finest go berserk like this, killing comrades they’re meant to protect. I just hope the public gets how serious of a problem this is and does more than just call them heroes, if and when they make it home.
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