Longing And Love Lost In War

Chandler Thomas
Soc 202 TR 12:30
Blog #3 Families
9/16/09 10:11pm

The war is having a long lasting effect upon our soldiers overseas. Its a very sad depressing story once explained from their perspective. Many bases are dealing with their soldiers issues with counseling and therapy sessions. Their depressed natures are results of being away from home for such long periods of time. Some of the men that were drafted at the tender age of 18 years old were leaving girlfriends or just their families. Others were leaving new wives, possible mothers of their children. These soldiers have had pictures of their women in their pockets the entire time they have been gone, pulling them out when needed on a daily basis. The real issues began when they were actively at war and they began to noticing emotional differences, however slowly, despite how far away they were. The phone calls got briefer as well as fewer and far between, the letters got shorter and more scarce, the conversations slowly lost their intimacy and personalization, and none of this went unnoticed. Tragically, many of these soldiers lost their girlfriends and wives while they were gone overseas, whether it was to another man back home or to a divorce in general. This whole situation has proved somewhat problematic for the war itself, in that they need to fight for their country. These soldiers are trying to do that, as well as fight depression, loneliness, sadness, all while trying to keep their emotional and distraught selves put together psychologically. Their base counselors are exhausted from hearing the same stories over and over again. The best advice they can give the soldiers is to stay moving and busy, and to do the best they can to keep their minds clear and focused on just the war, not on what's going on back home. For the soldiers, this of course is much easier said than done.

This situation is so depressing. We all know that had to happen to them, but you never really realize the truth of it until you read their stories and testimonials. Like the ones where the soldier has seen his wife for a total of five months in the past three years. I personally could not imagine being away from my husband for that long, while he is in harms way. These soldiers need emotional and psychologically support while they are away from us. Unfortunately for them, its a lot easier said then done to balance fighting the war and keeping themselves emotionally sane at the same time. We should all wish them the best of luck, and pray that their families stay intact while they are away.

http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/longing-and-love-lost-in-war/