A Well of Courage

[Rob Thornton]

Evening Wayne,

I think you've got a good idea about a place to start - but one thing I'd say to qualify it is that there may be some key differences. I'm thinking out loud here, but the unpredictable nature of sustained operations might make it more one where the the fire fighter awoke in his own house to find it on fire, then rescued his family, then put the fire out, then settled with the Insurance company and so on.

I don't mean to say that EMS and first responder trauma is not applicable - only that perhaps its a least a little different. I remember my Dad coped with the stress of being a Metro Cop by doing allot of hunting and fishing - it got him out in the woods. Over his 25 year career he did have some life troubles that you might could link to the job (a failed marriage for one), but its hard to say that wasn't just the result of getting married at 19. I think its the intensity and cumulative quality we have to be cognizant of.

We also need to consider scale - just the sheer numbers of men and women exposed to wartime conditions in places that even when somewhat stable are different enough from most of America to have you looking over your shoulder. I think when training is as it should be, and entry criteria are held high, we build the foundations for physical and moral strength to see most people through, but as war is sustained we fight the battle of exhaustion in many ways - while units and leaders are doing their very best to uphold standards, there is still a significant strain on the individual, their families, communities, maybe even the national psyche. One of the things that interests me is how cultural values change over a sustained war - one of the best accounts I've read is Thucydides - war, disease, poverty, famine, atrocity, etc. are accounted for.

I don't know for sure, but my gut tells me the VA is probably underfunded (under or inadequately resourced is probably a better way to say it) to deal with the long term human toll of treating the number of veterans we are going to account for in this long war. I think the Army is starting to get a handle on it - only because I know a few docs and nurses who say there is a big interest in it. I hope the politicians stay committed to veteran programs, like many things associated with war, I think consequences resemble the "iceberg" analogy. Just something we have to deal with, and something that should be considered when contemplating the use of military force to achieve a political end. We'll see these injured young men and women for the rest of our lives, I know for all of us here we hope that our government will sustain the best level of care for them possible long after the public gravity of their sacrifice is left to a wing at a museum, a monument on the mall, and reason to have a BBQ on a Monday.

Best, Rob