Interview With a Veteran of Desert Storm Essay

Veterans face many challenges when transitioning from the service. Those that have served shift from a fairly structured and ridged way of life to the less structured and more chaotic civilian life. Many veterans, especially those that have been in combat or have had to personally deal with catastrophic situations, have a very hard time adjusting and often require significant levels of assistance. Sadly many veterans fail to get help, either because they do not wish to appear weak or they are simply turned away.

How did a Vietnam soldier's life change during and after the war. Society had a lot of different views regarding the soldiers and the war. When coming home veterans faced many distinct challenges. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial helped to heal the nation. The Vietnam War had a major impact on the United States and the soldiers who fought in it.

I have learned a lot about what life was like at the time of the Vietnam War by interviewing my grandfather. My grandfather, Franklin Torr, was living in Dover, NH at the time, in his late thirties, married, and had three young children. The Vietnam War impacted my grandfather’s life in a unique way. One aspect of his life that changed at the start of the war was that a lot of his tenants, in the mobile home he owned, were in the New Hampshire National Guard and were stationed in Vietnam, flying missions, and some were advisors. He said the following about them; “Of the tenants that fought in the war, they thought they were doing the right thing at the time” When asked if he could provide a story of one of his Vietnam War veterans, he said that not a lot of them liked to talk about their war experiences in depth, two of his tenants that served in Vietnam died in Vietnam. One of his former classmates was a Marine Colonel, one thing he remembers this man mentioning was; “the troops did a great job while they were there”. The most shocking thing that he remembers from this

Thank you for serving. I can not tell how glad I am that you served in either the Army, Air Force, Marines, Navy, or the Coast Guard. From any of the wars, WWI,WWII,The Korean War, Persian Gulf War, The War On Terrorism (Afghanistan), the Iraq War, and the Texas Revolution. Thank you for serving. I cannot say how thankful I am that you made the ultimate sacrifice. I have no idea what you have been through in war. I am so grateful that you fought so we could celebrate veterans day, memorial day and all other holidays that only the U.S celebrates.

Operation Al-Fajr in Arabic, Operation Phantom Fury was the code name given to the second battle of Fallujah, considered the hottest point of conflict of all the military campaign in Iraq. Led by the US Marine Corp against the Iraqi combatants, who had held the city under their control, some consider it was the most difficult battle marines have been involved since Vietnam in the 60s. The battle put end to the insurgent control over the city and constituted an important victory for the US troops, however such victory had a high painful price 1.

Military Pathway (2013) concluded “Military life, especially the stress of deployments or mobilizations, can present challenges to service members and their families that are both unique and difficult”. Hence, it is not surprising that soldiers returning from a stressful war environment often suffer from a psychological condition called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This paper provides a historical perspective of PTSD affecting soldiers, and how this illness has often been ignored. In addition, the this paper examines the cause and diagnosis of the illness, the changes of functional strengths and limitations, the overall effects this disease may have on soldiers and their families, with a conclusion of

turning my head again I saw Simon dive to my aid. He did not utter a

The initial reaction I received from reading Soldier's Home, and my feelings about Soldier's Home now are not the same. Initially, I thought Harold Krebs is this soldier who fought for two years, returns home, and is disconnected from society because he is in a childlike state of mind, while everyone else has grown up. I felt that Krebs lost his immature years, late teens to early 20's, because he went from college to the military. I still see him as disconnected from society, because there isn't anyone or anything that can connect him to the simple life that his once before close friends and family are living. He has been through a traumatic experience for the past two years, and he does not

In Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “Soldier’s Home”, a young man named Krebs is unable to relate to his mother and home life after he returned from the First World War. After Krebs saw death and destruction in the wars most bloody battles, he returns home where his parents try to get him back to his normal routines. His view of the world has changed drastically since the war. He no longer feels love in his heart and cannot lie to his mother when she asks if he loves her. One of the famous lines Hemingway wrote, “Krebs looked at the bacon fat hardening on his plate.” Like bacon his heart has been hardened by what he had seen in World War I and he knew he must get far away from his parents to be able to get his life back

In the United States, soldiers are currently returning home from war broken and scarred. While some physical wounds are clearly visible others are often hidden/invisible to the naked eye, but men and women proudly wear these wounds as a badge of courage and honor for protecting our nation. These men and women come home rightfully expecting help, assistance and care and get hit with the reality of poor care from the Veteran Health Administration and Department of Defense.

“When I was in serious danger I was almost completely paralysed by fear, I remember sitting with a coffin (a fellow soldier) on the fire-step of a trench during an intense bombardment, when it seemed certain that we must be killed”(The Psychological Effects Of The Vietnam War). Our soldiers that we send to war to protect us against the countries trying to harm us are put into dangerous situations that affect them physically and mentally and leave them with permanent damage to their minds and bodies. The server damage that our military soldiers faced when returning from war is PTSD which stands for post traumatic stress disorder and is the most common disorder that returning soldiers are diagnosed with , but a more tragic diagnosis from war

A poem which I have read recently is “Soldier” by Rupert Brooke. The main point in question throughout this poem is appreciation for ones country. I will prove that this is the main point in question during the course of my essay.

The first battle in Fallujah during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) is known as Operation Vigilant Resolve. This battle is regarded as one of the biggest single defeats that the United States Military has suffered throughout all its campaigns during OIF. The United States and international media outlets exploited this defeat, which in turn, bolstered Al Qaeda recruiting in Fallujah. This offensive failure and retreat was backed by a huge public outcry for troop withdrawal and successful exploitation of recruiting propaganda by the insurgents.

The war against Iraq began on March 20, 2002, when the U.S lunched “Operation Iraqi Freedom”. This was after President Bush called Iraq part of an “axis of evil”, also calling the country dangerous which is threatening U.S with the world’s most destructive weapons. The major phase of the war began when U.S troops marched within 50 miles of Baghdad with heavy aerial attacks on Baghdad and other cities. After the attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon which was believed to be the work of Al Qaeda, U.S was concerned about the security of the Untied States which lead to the war in Iraq. Even though U.S officials felt the war in Iraq is the main priority, but many people in U.S opposes the war which brings up a lot of controversial issues.

One part of being an American, is giving yourself to your country when deemed necessary. In 1991, the United States took action in the Gulf War, where many US solders were sent. In fact, a total of 697,000 solders took part in the Gulf War. And of that amount, 6% (about 45,000) veterans have reported an ailment related to this war. Much chaos arose from these sicknesses, and from this a syndrome was born. The syndrome is called the Gulf War Syndrome. Wether this is myth or not has been throughly researched, but how can one claim 45,000 veterans to be falsely accusing an ailment they believe to be at fault of the Gulf War?