The Film Frontline: The Wounded Platoon

Hundreds of thousands of United States veterans are not able to leave the horrors of war on the battlefield (“Forever at War: Veterans Everyday Battles with PTSD” 1). Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the reason why these courageous military service members cannot live a normal life when they are discharged. One out of every five military service members on combat tours—about 300,000 so far—return home with symptoms of PTSD or major depression. According to the Rand Study, almost half of these cases go untreated because of the disgrace that the military and civil society attach to mental disorders (McGirk 1). The general population of the world has to admit that they have had a nightmare before. Imagine not being able to sleep one

Today, hundreds of thousands of service men and women and recent military veterans have seen combat. Many have been shot at, seen their buddies killed, or witnessed death up close. These are types of events that can lead to Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder ("Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD: A Growing Epidemic. “) Anyone that has gone through a traumatic event can be diagnosed with PTSD but research shows, military men and women are more susceptible to having PTSD (PTSD: A Growing Epidemic.) And, with little help from the US, many Veterans do not get the help they need or get treated for PTSD. Military men and women begin to

The soldiers that fought for or are fighting for our country are some of the bravest men and women that there have ever been. These men and women put their lives on the line as well as their own mental health for fighting for the people of the United States. The most common mental disorder that Americans hear about veterans having is PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Louise Erdrich’s “The Red Convertible,” and “Midnight Movie” by Mike Subritzky, the characters all show signs of PTSD. The Vietnam War is a large part of America’s history and therefore is one of the greatest examples of the effects of war, such as PTSD, on a soldier.

Perhaps attesting to the enhanced understanding of PTSD and alarm at the troubling suicide rates of veterans, the media seems to be raising the public’s attention about the condition, for example, through the use of documentaries. In 2005, during the second push of the Iraqi and Afghanistan war PBS FRONTLINE released a documentary entitled, “The Soldier’s Heart,” This documentary gives an overview of the history of PTSD, but focuses specifically on the psychological toll of the Iraq war. It illuminates the fact that despite advances in our understanding of PTSD, there continues to be a stigma against psychological problems in the

The video I chose to watch was “The Wounded Platoon”. The population related to this video that faces difficulties in terms of access to health care are United States veterans. This video specifically mentions veterans of the Third Platoon, who were deployed to fight during the Iraq War. One overarching difficulty this population has in terms of access to health care is a lack of wanting to come forward. One soldier stated that those who came forward with symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) feared ridicule. PTSD is very stigmatized, especially in the military, where it is stated that coming forward with symptoms of PTSD could be considered “a sign of weakness”. Many veterans claimed they did not need help and reported no mental duress. However, it was shown that many of these veterans were self-medicating. It was stated that there was an over three thousand percent increase in Fort Carson soldiers failing drug tests after the Iraq War.

Rates of trauma and mental illness are reported to be disproportionately higher among American veterans, especially those of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The barriers to care after civilian reentry further disadvantage this already vulnerable population. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been the longest sustained US military operations since the Vietnam era, sending more than 2.2 million troops into battle and resulting in more than 6,600 deaths and 48,000 injuries. Veterans are at risk mental health challenges, as well as family instability, elevated rates of homelessness, and joblessness. Veterans have disproportionate rates of mental illness, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse disorders, depression, anxiety, and military sexual trauma.

People that have little to no service connection are taking advantage of free health benefits they do not need, while other veterans are dying waiting for their claims to be processed and benefits received. The veterans who have had the most in-combat experience should be the highest priority on the VA's waiting list unlike veterans who have no in-combat experience. In the article, "Pentagon Continues to Use 'Personality Disorder' Discharges to Cheat Veterans Out of Benefits" it states, "He founded Disposable Warriors, a one soldier operation near Fort Hood, Texas, that assists soldier fighting their discharge and those appealing their disability rating. Luther states that the base had 12 suicides as of June 2nd but reported only 2. Luther is quoted in a November 21, 2009 article on 'Truthout' as saying there is only 1 mental health professional for every 1,263 soldiers, and 'that is the first mistake ", this confirms that the VA is giving our veterans a hard time even after the time they spent in war.(Ross) A soldier shouldn't have to go through the struggle of post-warfare by themselves. There should be a higher doctor to soldier ration other than

Veteran suicide among our soldiers is a distressing and tragic reality. Per the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) http://www.va.gov/opa/docs/Suicide-Data-Report-2012-final.pdf a staggering 22 veterans take their own lives each day. That's a suicide every 65 minutes. This is a heartbreaking truth that has not adequately received the attention it deserves from the civilian world. To add insult to injury http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-0202-veteran-suicide-20150402-story.html tells us that there are two key high-risk groups of soldiers who typically are ineligible for psychiatric care: those forced out of the military for misconduct and those who enlisted but were quickly discharged for other problems. In each of those groups, an average of 46 of every 100,000 former service members committed suicide each

Struggles of the Soldier War takes a toll on the mind, body, and soul. Throughout history, the soldier has struggled to push through the barriers war provides. There are records of the soldier’s insanity and suffering dating back to World War I, shown in All Quiet on the Western Front. His comrades are the only ones that understand what he is dealing with, and the soldier feels isolated when surrounded by civilians. It is difficult to survive mentally because of the horrific things the soldier deals with, which often cause the soldier to develop mental disorders.

Many veterans are unable to leave behind the trauma of Vietnam and psychologically return home. They struggle with a variety of extremely severe problems that neither they nor their families, friends, or communities knew how to understand

In the past, veterans who disclosed suffering from signs of PTSD encountered a great deal of ignorance and bias. According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (n.d.), veterans who had the illness were often considered weak, were rejected by comrades, and even faced discharge from military service. In fact, even physicians and mental health specialists often questioned the existence of the disease, which of course led to society’s misconception of PTSD in general. Sadly because of this existing prejudice it appears even today soldiers are still worried to admit having PTSD symptoms, and therefore they do not receive the proper support they need. While individuals are assured that their careers will not be affected, and seeking help is encouraged, most soldiers see it as a failure to admit having a mental health illness (Zoroya, 2013). Educating military personal of this illness, and making sure no blame is put on the veterans who encounter this disease is therefore vital.

In the war film, The Lost Battalion, Major Charles Whittlesey, portrayed by Rick Schroeder, is tasked with leading men from the United States 77th infantry division on an attack of the German line as part of a three-pronged force. The force believed that a French force was on their left flank and another American unit was on their right, but they where not aware that the two had retreated. Major Charles Whittlesey led these men into the Argonne forest and for six days, suffering heavy losses, the men of the division were forced to fight off several attacks by the Germans, who saw them as a threat to the entire German line. The battalion suffered from food shortages, running low on munitions, and a lack of communication. At one point they receive

Although Vietnam veterans lobby attempts to obtain research that investigated the psychological impact of their services, it was a long and trying process (McFarlane, 2015). Finally, the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS) was completed in 1988 (Dohrenwend, 2006). The NVVRS recruited 1,200 Vietnam veterans and found that about 30% of Vietnam veterans developed combat-related PTSD at some point during their lives, and about 15% suffered from PTSD at the time of this study (Dohrenwend, 2006). Overall, the NVVRS clearly illustrated the the struggle of Veterans to obtain recognition for the psychological complications from the war, as well as a better understanding about what those complications were and how many individuals they

Platoon is thought of as one of the most well-known Anti-War films in the history of war films. As true as it is, it is a story of good vs evil. The war is there just to set a risky experience. No doubt, Platoon shows the Vietnam War was a big error, but being based on a false idea of Vietnam is far from its use.

A service member’s emotional and psychological issues are not like malfunctions of a piece of equipment and must not be treated as a troubleshooting problem in a technical manual. And yet this seems to be the only way the military, as a whole, knows how to address the issue of a service members mental health. It requires a holistic approach that is not currently embraced by the military. Historically, the military has been ill-equipped to handle the shifting nature of the psychological issues created by introducing a service member to the battlefield.