[Dion]

The predominant storyline of war in our time has not been one of volunteers struggling and triumphing over adversity. It has been about victimhood, quagmires and failure. Whether the facts fit the description or not.

If you have been to war, then you know that you are undeniably changed and damaged by it. Images, obsessions and adrenaline rushes at odd times become a part of one’s life, along with barely controllable upwellings of emotion, shortness of temper, a tendency to speak one’s mind in ways that may be disturbing to others. For some people, it fades with time, for others it doesn’t.

As one friend who had seen heavy combat and struggled with it said, “We are the detritus of war.” Men walking around with wounds others can’t see. It’s not always so extreme, even for veterans of heavy combat. As another friend said, “There was life before, and life after. Not good, not bad, just different.”

Our war dead are called a waste by those who would lead us. Our returning soldiers are viewed as damaged goods, their accomplishments ignored. The holidays we dedicate to them have long been excuses for trips to the beach and the mall, ignored by the vast majority of our population. The dire threats to world peace our soldiers have combated, from communists to Muslim terrorists and would-be nuclear despots, are fabricated excuses to seize oil supplies, drive up corporate profits and undermine constitutional freedoms. War, even when it might be justified, produces unacceptable tragedy and debases us. Patriotic display is disconcerting. Our children are not encouraged to develop the strength and courage of warriors, are discouraged from playing at war, and efforts are made to keep recruiters away from them.

http://pajamasmedia.com/2007/11/gi_suicides.php