First of all, congratulations on your safe return!
When I served in Vietnam, a lot of our soldiers referred to the United
States as "The World" as in: "When I return to the world..." Although that was not one of my expressions, I can appreciate
that term more in retrospect than I did at the time. A combat environment seems indeed like a different world, and it
sometimes appears that the values and beliefs of the civilian's world do not apply.
Of course, especially to a Christian, they do indeed apply, and they
apply with an even greater urgency and importance, when our lethal surroundings tempt us to ignore them temporarily.
For the difference between these two worlds lies mainly in the intensity of our daily challenges, and the urgency
with which we must solve the many immediate problems which face us. These challenges threaten our very existence,
and more important, the survival of the men entrusted to our command.
The most painful decisions of a commander are those in which he
is forced to choose between the lives of his men, and the equally precious lives of the civilians who are caught in the crossfire
of your war. Although these civilians are completely innocent of any crimes their government may have committed,
so are the soldiers who serve in their country's wars, trusting in their political leaders to involve them in a military conflict
only as a last resort, after diplomacy had failed to protect the nation which they have sworn to defend. The "good"
commander really has no choice but to decide in favor of the men entrusted to him.
The traumatic realities of combat, especially the memories of dead and
seriously wounded friends and other soldiers, invariably change men forever. In many cases these are positive changes,
realigning the consciousness of veteran soldiers, and fostering an even deeper respect for human life, and a more realistic
appreciation of its fleeting nature.
However, especially in the short run, there will inevitably be some aberrant
behavior , until the returning soldier can properly digest the meaning of his experiences. In my case, this process
required about two years , and began only after I had left the combat environment for one or two years.
This adjustment process is called "post traumatic stress syndrome", and
it is similar to the trauma experienced by the participants in any other severe personal crisis, military or civilian.
In addition to an involvement in a nurturing human relationship, I have found that religion is extremely helpful in de-fusing
a potentially violent eruption during this adjustment period.
Still, as I experienced, there may be some aberrant behavior during this
adjustment period, which may be ameliorated by an organized and structured counselling process. If you are an officer
or NCO, you may want to request some time during your training schedule to help your men adjust to this new world, which many
of them no longer recognize as the one they left behind.
