I came upon this letter by a WWII veteran who called Iraq and Afghanistan "so called wars." I could not believe it. I know there were WWII vets who said Vietnam wasn't a real war. Of course they didn't know that the one year tour often meant the Vietnam combat vet was in combat more than they were because they had long periods of retraining after the big battles.
Italy was hell. So this man went through hell. But why is he so incapable of thought and empathy? Well those are symptoms of PTSD. I'm not saying he has it, just that he has a few of the symptoms.
If you don't think, you can't see what might be worse in this war: Not knowing who the enemy is so you can never relax. Multiple tours. IED's. Horrible wounds which are survived. Remember, they don't just heal and then the person is pain free. The pain continues forever in many cases in phantom limbs and body parts.
This man had uniformed enemies and rules of war. They were welcomed as liberators, not attacked as invaders.
It is worth reading all the comments especially the one by pdxbohica about Audie Murphy and others, and of course, you might want to read my rant at the end of the comments.
It seems as if they can go from the strong bond, and empathy for fellow soldiers to letting the anger for failing to be recognized themselves get the best of them in a matter of minutes. You're right on target here.
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