The sounds of the forgotten men were terrifying

      I choose this writing prompt because I thought that it would be a good title for Memorial Day. Memorial day and Veteran's Day are days when we thank our servicemen for their service. This is a great notion and many people have taken to doing this all of the time. This is a great idea. I believe that many young people join the military to accomplish something great, something larger than themselves, and this idea alone makes them worthy of our thanks. Military men are often fans of tradition and values. They want to join because they had fathers and/or grandfathers who were servicemen. They are proud of their lineage and wish to inherit some of the values that they respect in others. Their days are spent doing things that I can not understand for reasons which I can not understand. I am a pacifist. I think that we should all get along and work together to improve society and humanity among all countries and nations. Even though this is what I feel should happen, I am not blind enough to think this will work. War is often necessary for peace. With war comes casualties. I think Markus Zusak' character Death said it best in The Book Thief, "I've seen so many young men over the years who think they're running at other young men. They are not. They are running at me.” 

     On Memorial Day we lay flowers at graves and remember those who went before. Memorial Day was established to remember those who died in the Civil War and we have lost so many more servicemen over the following years. My challenge to those who wish to honor those servicemen who still live and breathe is to do more than say thank you. "Thank you, is an automatic response that we teach children to say. It is always nice to hear,  but think about what the servicemen have done. It is reported that at least 20% of those returning from the Iraq have PTSD. (Many people including myself find that number unbelievably low.) Many more suffer from depression and alcoholism. At least half of those do not seek treatment. At least 5,000 to 8,000 servicemen commit suicide every year. (Veteran's Statistics) This shouldn't be a surprise we are taking young men who may have never seen death and we are showing them how to kill and watch their friends be killed. I can not imagine the trauma seen daily for these men. We teach them that if they show emotion they are weak and asking for help is not "manly". We send them back to civilian life and we expect them to readjust and we are surprised when they have difficulty. "He was in the war, and he was so strong." Next time you see a former serviceman ask how their doing. Ask if you can hang out with them. I took a writing class with two of these young men and not only were their stories amazing but they were quite frank and honest about their difficulty readjusting to life. 

       I may not agree with war or even why we participate in it, but I have respect for those who do what I can't. I think of those men who lost their live in the civil war, in fields of blood where they fought their brothers, where death was more likely caused by infection than a bullet. I think maybe they were the fortunate ones because can you imagine trying to go back to working on a farm after living that nightmare? The sounds of the forgotten men are terrifying, let's try not to forget them.

“Veterans statistics: PTSD, Depression, TBI, Suicide.” Veterans and PTSD. September 20, 2015. Web. [month, day, year accessed.] www.veteransandptsd.com/PTSD-statistics.html