Red2Alpha is a husband, son and soldier. He is deployed in Baghdad, Iraq. He is a sergeant and he lives each day with suspicion and suspense. I say suspense because to say that he lives in fear doesn't pay homage to his courage as a soldier. Every minute on patrol, he is surrounded by suspicion and suspense, his, theirs, that of the soldiers in his squad. Is that car carrying a suicide bomb? Are they shooting at us? Then there are the answers: No, they are not shooting at us; they are firing guns into the sky to celebrate a wedding. Then, Red2Alpha wonders when firing guns became the best outlet for celebration in Iraq.
He started the blog so that his wife would be in contact with him. His parents and wife comment, as do a lot of other readers. It is a difficult read in that it describes war, but it is interesting because you get a view of the war-an honest and unadulterated view. You will not find the supposed "objective" view of a war correspondent. This is raw and real.
His blog has gotten a lot of recent press attention. His blog is called: This is Your War. I wouldn't say that he is against the war; nor would I say that he is in support of the war, but like a good soldier, he is following his orders. Actually it is more than that; he is doing what he sees as his duty. He is trying to make a difference in a land far away from home.
There is a paragraph in which he tells people who comment on his blog that he is out of control to take a hike. Granted, he says it with some explicit language, but I agree with him. Why read a blog if you don't agree with the writer--well that isn't what I mean really. What I mean is if the blog only elicits negative feelings, you are NOT doing yourself a service by reading it. It is not only that someone leaves negative comments, it is that it takes a lot of energy to be negative. It takes a lot of energy to disagree just to disagree.
He started the blog so that his wife would be in contact with him. His parents and wife comment, as do a lot of other readers. It is a difficult read in that it describes war, but it is interesting because you get a view of the war-an honest and unadulterated view. You will not find the supposed "objective" view of a war correspondent. This is raw and real.
His blog has gotten a lot of recent press attention. His blog is called: This is Your War. I wouldn't say that he is against the war; nor would I say that he is in support of the war, but like a good soldier, he is following his orders. Actually it is more than that; he is doing what he sees as his duty. He is trying to make a difference in a land far away from home.
There is a paragraph in which he tells people who comment on his blog that he is out of control to take a hike. Granted, he says it with some explicit language, but I agree with him. Why read a blog if you don't agree with the writer--well that isn't what I mean really. What I mean is if the blog only elicits negative feelings, you are NOT doing yourself a service by reading it. It is not only that someone leaves negative comments, it is that it takes a lot of energy to be negative. It takes a lot of energy to disagree just to disagree.
War isn't pretty. The attitude or defenses of a soldier should be accepted. These-the soldiers-are for the most part kids-recent high school graduates. Red2Alpha is not a child, but he is out there watching boys carry out duties that most grown men would abhor. I am not going to presume to tell him that he needs to "chill out" or "stop swearing." If boys can carry our guns and fight for our freedoms, then they can do what they need to do to survive it. And once they get home, we have an obligation to help them live with the horrors that they saw and/or participated in. It is time to take care of our soldiers again. Admit that there are diseases that are borne in war and treat the symptoms and help our boys heal.
In Vietnam, there is a prevalence of birth defects linked to Agent Orange. Yet, our government spent decades saying that there wasn't any proof that Agent Orange caused illness. If our high school graduates are old enough to follow the orders of our government, they are old enough to be given their due: good and proper health care, including physical and mental help.
We need a different word to describe "mental illness." When you utter the word "mental" an image flashes in your mind. These boys are not "mental." They suffer from flashbacks. They need EMDR...do they even know it exists? Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. It works; I know this because it has helped me deal with horrors-it disarms them. Do they know that it can save their lives? We have an obligation to inform them of every weapon that exists that can help them overcome any problems or diseases of war. These are boys...Heaven help us, we are talking about boys...with more courage than some grown men.
(click on the title of this post to navigate to Red2Alpha's blog)
2 comments:
For once, I am at a total loss for words. I visited the blog. War is not sanitary.
Amen...amen....the whole issue of the "mental illness " title bugs me to no end...I suffer from panic attacks, and agoraphobia...I am a lesbian....I hate to be labeled, as society would, as a homosexual with mental illness. It sounds so harsh. I am what I am.
Thank you for poinently stating the facts that many others can not say. Your words are totally moving. :)
Hugs to you,
Sarah
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