Adam is a twenty year old soldier in the United States Army. He joined the Army right out of high school because he felt he wasn't quite ready for college. Adam has always been the really sweet but notoriously devious kid that loved to have fun. Since enlisting, Adam has been to boot camp here in the states, and he was stationed in Germany right before he did a fifteen month tour in Iraq where he worked as a scout. Right before leaving Iraq, a friend in his squad was killed. When Adam returned home, he was definitely not the boy who he was before he had left for war. The features in his face seemed harder and when he slept at night, he would jump out of bed at any tiny noise that was made. He is fidgety and sometimes seems like he has A.D.D. He said he felt like he no longer had anything in common with his childhood friends or family members and could not wait to get back to duty. Now Adam is getting ready to leave for a twelve month tour in Afghanistan that he signed himself up for. He confided to me that he was a little worried about going because in Iraq, they were wanted, the people cheered them. In Afghanistan they hate Americans and want us out of their country.
I worry what this will do to the boy I once knew and how he will be able to check back into real life in the United States after his time in the Army is up. Adam cannot even legally buy himself a beer, but he is going to war for the second time in his life. I researched and realized that not much counseling is given to soldiers returning from combat. The resources are available if they want them, but are over when they are no longer serving in the Army.
My question to you is this:
Do you think that soldiers returning from war should receive mandatory intensive therapy before (and a while after) being allowed to return to their normal lives?
Amy Hansen (10:00)
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23 comments:
I don't know if I'd say they need it before they are allowed to go back to their normal lives, but yes I think it'd help more than hurt anything. They all go through different things while they are over there, some may think they don't need it but they can at least go once, just to try it. You never know what will help.
Kaylan
I do think it is hard for soldiers to come back to their life in the Untied States after they have been in combat for months. I think it would be a great idea for them to receive some kind of counseling when they come back. The new soldiers compared to the experienced ones should get more because they haven't nearly seen as much and this is all new to them. I have heard of a lot of soldiers leaving their families because they don't know who they are after they return. Maybe with this counseling this could change. I recently watched the movie Brothers and it really told about how life was after a return from war. I think it is one of our jobs as Americans to help out these men and women as much as possible and this would be a great way to do so.
Becky Gryczewski (9:00)
I don't think that the therapy should be mandatory. But all soldiers should receive some kind of treatment when they return from duty. It really depends on what they saw during their tour. Some soldiers may have been in a big battle, while others never saw any fighting. They should all receive an evaluation when they return from war.
Nolan
I would have to say yes. Yes because after coming back I hear that it is very hard for the soldiers to adjust. I think that if they had someone to talk to about what they went through and what they saw it would be a little easier for them to adjust. I do think that it should be manditory for them to see someone because I know that anyone, not just soldiers, have a hard time admitting that they need help or need to talk to someone.
Justine Miller
I think they should have to go through extensive counseling due to the things that they might see at war.I dont think that they should be held in a counseling place to be monitored, but at least three times a week counseling and maybe some group counseling also. The alteration of milliary life to a normal citizen life is a big change and may be hard for some soliders to get used to.
Jodi Hardwick
In a way i think soliders should have to be in therapy. I've never been around anyone who was went to war but I've heard how "crazy" they came seem when they come back home. It scares me and makes me sad to think it changes people that much. On Saturday, i watched the movie "Brothers". It's a really great movie, i recommend it to everyone. But anyways, it's about a family and the father goes to war. When he comes back, he's bascially insane. He thinks all these crazy things and scares his children half to death. He diffintly needed some counseling. I recommend the therapy because when you vent about things, they become easier to deal with and it makes you feel a lot better.
-- Heather Alber
I don’t think that they should be forced to have therapy. Nobody wants to be forced to do anything. They fight for our rights so we can at least give them the choice to have therapy or not. I do think it would be a good idea though for the soldiers to have therapy to make sure that they are stable but just because someone is a soldier, doesn’t mean they all need therapy. If they are not feeling normal when they return home, then they should have therapy to try to help them get back to normal.
Jesse Naive (9:00)
Unfortunately anyone who has been in a war has been changed in some way. It sounds like Adam's sweet personality may have added to the amount of change. Since he signed up for an other tour of duty, he sounds like a committed young man. I guess you can never know if he is totally OK, but you have to hope that he is. When he returns from the next tour, he may what to consider a councilor that has experience with the military. I hope that my response make sense to you. I don't know very many people that have been in the military so I don’t have life experience to draw from.
Lois
Yes, I think that all the soldiers should get whatever help they need and want. I live by Centennial Park and we have this big black man that lives down the street and he stands outside ALL HOURS of the day just watching. He went to war and I’m not sure what happen to him, but he has been like that ever since he came back. I have never talked to him, but I have heard that he is a really nice man. But I think he thinks he is “watching” over his family, because his mom and sister both live on my street and he isn’t far from there. He is also trying to walk out into the street when you are driving by—so you know something is wrong with him!
Brittney (10:00)
Yes I think they should because they have been through so much while in the war. They need that time to get their heads together and make things better in their lives. That can be really hard coming back from war and the stuff still plays over and over in your mind.
ashleymitchell
i think that all vetrans should go through at least a little bit of counceling before returning home. the things that soldiers see overseas many of us cant imagine. i work with a man who was one of the first americans in iraq now hes still pretty messed up in the head. hes seen things that people arent ment to see, and has done some things that people arent ment to do. however not everyone that comes home has the same experience so not everyone needs intence counceling.
matt 9
I don't believe soldiers should have mandatory therapy. But they should sit down with someone to talk about anything that maybe on their mind. i don't believe once you have been over seas and have see people you know killed--you will never be normal again. It is more dealing with what you have been though over there and are they able to deal with the situation. All soldiers are different and some will come back normal and other will not.
Anita Freeman
Soldiers don't need mandatory therapy because not all of them are affected in as big of ways as others. Also some soldiers are lucky enough to be able to come home to a family that missed them so much and believes that what they were doing was right and will help them get through whatever it is that they are going through.
Andy Dodge
I think that soldiers should go through some kind of counseling. Coming back from war can be very hard and can really change someone. I fell that counsling will help soldiers get back to how life was before they went off to war as much as possible.
Jessica Brooks
I dont think they should receive manditory but they should be offered it when returning home. Some had it worse than others and might not need treatment but each and every guy should have it offered. I think that it might be tough at first but they best thing for the soldiers would be to return to their normal lives and family to see their loved ones.
K.J. Picard (9:00)
NO! NO! NO!
I can relate entirely with Adam. I have many, many friends that I have been to combat with. In 6 years of service, I have spent 2+ overseas between Iraq and Afghanistan. Both active duty, and National Guard. Both as a requirement, and as a volunteer. I have had many close calls to myself, and been to more memorials than I care to think about. The resources are there, before, during, and after deployments. They are also there AFTER you get out. The reason most (after talking with many of my friends, or random vets that I have met along the way) don't go to these, you said it yourself, nothing in common. My friends and I would not sit and talk about the things we've been through with some guy who has never done it (most of the mental therapist the govt. uses are non-military, but mostly non-vets). Never been in that situation. There are friends, brothers in arms, that one can go to as well. Most soldiers understand, and will not look down, make fun of, or in any way criticize him for needing someone to talk to. I have a good friend that I talk to through the internet, XBOX, and phone. We are both infantrymen (though one is Army, the other Marine), we were both in Iraq at the beginning of the war, and we both lost some dear friends of ours. We converse, bitch, moan, and console each other weekly. Some soldiers become, what we call, war-junkies (I am one too), because of the fact that we are different, we do not relate to the civilian life back home, we just want to go back to what is "normal" for us. Adam is not lost. The services are out there if he wants them, and friends are always a big help. But as far as being forced to talk to someone, it would only make things worse.
Lance Mowery
Yes I think they all should be taken care of to the fullest, mentally and physically. They are fighting for us and our country. They diserve help, love, and support to the max.
Autumn
Optional therapy, yes; mandatory, no, though I think most everyone should have an exit interview after service to see if they are ready to return to everyday life. If they somehow fail this assessment, then therapy should be either required or strongly encouraged.
Pete Haskins
My answer is yes this should not just be for soldiers, but also for people with drug addiction. It seems as if when soldiers come home from duty, (ever since the Vietnam war) they are given praise and thanks for a short time and then they are neglected on almost all cases. Some soldiers rebound from this and some do not. Again my answer is yes they need a lot of additional therapy to help cope with the stress from war.
--Jeremy Harding
no because soldiers did not have it back in the day so i do not think they need it now.
65 mustang
I think that they should have to go to therapy after they get home. I think that if they are at home with the support of their families then the therapy will work better for the fact that the soldier can talk to their family about what they are feeling then also being able to talk to the doctor as well.
Jake Oltean 10:00
I agree with matt.
My brother went to Iraq and now he is not what I remember.. He told me how he saw babies being erased by bullets. He is going to counseling of his own free will. and I conclude all counseling should be of one's own free will. We know better than any outsider if we need help, I haven't been to war, but i've been through a lot of counselors and I know that I'd rather hide inside my internal dialogue than let an outsider pick at my scabs.
Jed Ten o'clock
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