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babylonsister

(170,958 posts)
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 09:20 AM Jun 2014

"I get Bergdahl- been there." Words from a young Iraq/Afghan Vet

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/06/12/1306361/--I-get-Bergdahl-been-there-Words-from-a-young-Iraq-Afghan-Vet

Thu Jun 12, 2014 at 12:16 AM PDT
"I get Bergdahl- been there." Words from a young Iraq/Afghan Vet
by murphthesurf3


My neighbor has a haunted son, a veteran for whom the wars made no sense and have left him empty. He says he has a connection with the newly released soldier captured in Afghanistan.

snip//

He is nearly 26 now and lives with his folks.

His dad tells me that he does not seem to be able to focus on anything long term. He has no goals. No plans. He tried to work and live on his own when he left the army last year- having been in uniform from 18 to 25. He failed. He began drinking, lost two jobs and then was pushed out of his apartment for not keeping up on the rent.

His mom insisted that they take him back in. He is now working with his dad on the farm. "He does ok," said his dad. "But I worry because we have a lot of heavy machinery and his mind wanders. I find him staring off into the fields or the woods a lot. When I say his name he does not respond. I touch his shoulder and he jumps."

I have met him. He looks SO young but he does not smile. He still wears the buzz cut he had in army. He is very thin, with brown hair, deep blue eyes, a light complexion, and sad, old eyes. He sighs a lot. His dad tells me that he sees tears from time to time in his eyes which seem unrelated to what is going on at the moment.

His dad tells me that he does not talk about his war experience but "I know he saw a lot of action because he was in a special combat unit and stationed in the hot spots. He was usually in the front lines."

He is supposed to be getting counseling from the VA but that is not going well. They are understaffed and it is a long drive into the city. His dad says he worries about him driving because he cannot concentrate.

I saw him tonight. The young man was with his dad at a meeting of our coop. After the meeting he came up to me and said that he knew I did a lot of writing on line. He told me: "I get Bergdahl- been there. I don't think it was right for him to leave his post and walk away from his buddies- really bad things can happen when your guard is let down. But, I think I know how he felt. There were a lot of nights, out in the field, when I would have given anything to be almost anywhere else. What is really hard is that so much of it didn't make any sense to me. Who were we fighting and why? The native people- all they ever looked was scared when we were nearby. Hated it."

And then he walked away. I had, and still do not have, any idea what to say.

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"I get Bergdahl- been there." Words from a young Iraq/Afghan Vet (Original Post) babylonsister Jun 2014 OP
The demons of war madokie Jun 2014 #1
They're Destroying A Generation Of Men With These Illegal Wars...... global1 Jun 2014 #2
US is broken..... OverseaVisitor Jun 2014 #3

global1

(25,166 posts)
2. They're Destroying A Generation Of Men With These Illegal Wars......
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 09:34 AM
Jun 2014

Not bad enough we send them to war - but then we keep deploying them back into the danger and tragedy surrounding them. Is it any wonder that the suicide rate is so high for those returned?

When will we ever learn? When will we ever learn?

 

OverseaVisitor

(296 posts)
3. US is broken.....
Fri Jun 13, 2014, 09:46 PM
Jun 2014

Whatever Bush touched goes to shit.

Just take a lot around this one great country is just shadow of itself.

When you force an entire country to take on a guilt that is dark you drive the people nuts.

Some will disassociate, but many will reject that simple guilt and defend a position that is not defensible and it doing so dig a deeper hole in their thoughts process and become less than rationale.

Until Americans face this dark truth they can never really heal.

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