It’s very easy to find the commercials for various armed forces enticing. They should be, they’re put together by the best minds of propaganda our country has to offer. But before any of you, especially all you young men over the age of 18, get it into your head that being a soldier is glamorous, let me try to dispel some of those myths. There’s a reason why people are scared to fight, and growing up in middle America will not prepare you for the horrors that you will encounter.
One might wonder how a girl of 22 knows anything about armed service. I spent nine months in a veteran’s hospital right here in Boston treating men and women who fought in every war between World War II and now. The majority are proud of their military service and remain fiercely loyal to our government, but those are the ones lucky enough to leave with their sanity. What I saw were people who were affected physically and emotionally from their service, sometimes 50 years later.
What we don’t understand in our youthfulness is that battle never leaves us. Some of us know about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. For those who don’t, it is a disorder that develops in response to a severe stressor, such as battle. The symptoms include re-experiencing the traumatic event, avoidance of stimuli associated with the event or numbing of responsiveness and increased vigilance. Other symptoms are anxiety, depression, anger, guilt, substance abuse, poor physical health, marital problems and occupational impairment (Davidson and Neale, Abnormal Psychology, 1999). The National Center for PTSD (www.ncptsd.org) reports that for the Vietnam War, the last war where there was a draft, the incidence of PTSD is almost 30 percent. This statistic does not count those that do not receive treatment.
Think about that: if you go to battle, at least one of every three people you meet, yourself included will suffer from this. Treatment is also extensive, lots of psychotherapy and anti-depressants, probably for the rest of your life. Not something you’d see in a commercial. So having fear about going to war is valid, it changes your life forever and is something you never forget or get over. And this does not even touch upon any physical injuries or ailments that may be suffered, which many veterans will tell you, last until you die.
As far as these ideas that a draft will be a fair representation of our population, closer examination suggests there is not much truth to that. While a draft will put lawyers and doctors next to garbage men and construction workers, the military is designed for obedience. I’ve had friends in military school and others join the service. They will all tell you that they break you down and build you up. They turn you into the kind of soldier they want. If someone is looking for autonomy, the military is not the place for it.
It’s understandable that one would adopt the mind set of blind courage towards fighting, especially if it’s an eventuality. But those who are scared to go to war have every right to be. Most sources will tell you that a draft is highly unlikely due to campaigns targeting low-income youths and the utilization of the Reserve and National Guard. If you feel strongly enough to fight, do so. It is your right. If you don’t want to fight, that is also your right. However, do not look down on those who are brave enough to express fear, they are much more in touch with reality than you are.
– Jeannette Tremblay is a senior biology major.
