|
Johnny came home from the war, he was quiet, easily angered, sleepless, and started to drink much more then anyone ever remembered. Immediately, his family and friends claimed he had, like so many other soldiers, a mental illness known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Those who claimed to be so close to Johnny were never so wrong with their analysis.
Unlike the previous wars in history where men lived in fox holes facing their enemy only yards away from them day in and day out, today’s wars are very different. Today, a soldier often times does not see his enemy until he is being shot at. The enemy is always near but rarely seen. Our soldiers remain on their toes staying alert. They are alert through comforts never before seen during times of war.
Comforts are much more abundant in today’s wars. It is rare not to get a hot meal at least once a day; it is rare not to sleep on a bunk, cot, or actual bed today. Mail is virtually delivered daily with a much more expedited postal service. Soldiers walk around with local cellular phones and have e-mail access both used to communicate back to their loved ones any time they choose. With all these luxuries in war, none of this takes away the fears of what could happen to you tomorrow from your enemy.
Fortunately, most military personnel never come face to face with their enemy. Those who have ever served know those that are being spoken of; they are called “FOBIT’s.” A FOBIT is one who sits on their Forward Operating Base (FOB) during their entire deployment. They rarely, if ever, go outside the FOB except for their mid tour leave. These individuals are as crucial to fight the war as the soldier who encounters his enemy every day. So how can a FOBIT get PTSD?
PTSD is caused by a traumatic incident that occurs in ones life. For some, an incident can spark PTSD while the same incident will not do anything to another person. Research continues to occur to identify more specifics about PTSD. No doubt a FOBIT can get PTSD however it is more likely then not that such an individual will not get PTSD. It is something else that is not yet identified other then terms like “Betrayed, Left Behind, etc.”
These military warriors are not angry, sleepless, or overly quiet because of what they did during their tours of duty or what actions they observed from the enemy rather they are this way today when they are home because of what they felt from their families and friends while they were away in combat zones. An unofficial poll was conducted recently from a handful of military members who worked predominantly on FOB’s. The result just from the handful of individuals questioned was astounding.
When asked, “If you could break your deployment down in thirds, which third of your deployment did you receive the most care packages, e-mails, or letters?” The response was 100% claiming the following: During the first third of a deployment individuals obtained more communications with family, friends, and loved ones. During the very end of their deployment, they started to witness a similar amount of communications through e-mail. During the middle of their deployment, communications initiated from loved ones was cut by more then half.
When asked, how did it make you feel seeing such a depletion of communications initiated by such individuals back home during the middle of your deployment, more then 90% stated it made them feel bitter. While conducting advanced dialog with those questioned, it has been revealed that more then 70% felt the sense of “out of sight, out of mind” from their families and friends.
Time away from people indeed changes relationships. Those questioned admitted that most e-mails during their deployments started as “one pagers” at a minimum. During the middle of the deployment, they were one or two liners like “I haven’t heard from you in a while. Is everything ok?” Then towards the end when loved ones had a sense the deployed would be coming home soon, the e-mails would change to half pagers to full pagers. Normally such e-mails consisted towards the last month of the deployment.
Family members and friends would be asked by their deployed sons and daughters to keep them informed as to what is going on in the war. The deployed would comply. After time, the bitterness would kick in and the deployed would slowly fade away from friends and family back home. They would become angered because of lack of commitment from those at home to continue to update with news from home. Excuses such as “I have a boring life, nothing new is taking place back at home, I have been busy” are expressed.
Excuses from those back at home for their lack of communications are abundant and non excusable. The men and women serving in combat live in stress induced environments every day. They work on average eighteen hours daily. While they have some luxuries that didn’t exist in previous wars, they do not live in luxurious conditions. To make excuses for lack of communications to those deployed are unacceptable.
Men and women serving in combat will do everything to keep communications open to those loved ones back home. As tired and dirty as they may be, they will write an e-mail or make a phone call any time of the day or night. When such commitment is not returned, they will grow bitter, become angry, and be restless because they don’t know what’s going on at home.
When they return back to the states, they will be greeted with loads of hugs and embracements from those they feel betrayed. They will play the game initially as to how happy they are to be home. But in all reality, they know their truest of friends and family are those that went through the same thing they went through. They are their band of brothers.
Do these I speak of have PTSD? No. They have months of built up frustration inside them from feeling left out of the lives of those they care most about. Should one expect them to resume their lives as if nothing ever happened to them? Something did happen to them, they were left behind not by their comrades rather by their families and it played an incredibly emotional game with them. When they return home and they appear angry, bitter, restless, or whatever one may believe, look at yourself and ask how much support through communications you provided to those that allowed you to resume your “so busy” life. Because in all reality, unless you served in a combat zone, you have no idea what a busy life is really like.
|