On Veterans Day
Yes, indeed, I am that old—old enough to remember when Veterans Day was called Armistice Day. The change in names occurred in 1954, when I was very small, in order to accommodate World War II and its veterans.
Since then, the original name has largely fallen out of use—although it remains, like a vestigial organ, in the timing of the holiday, the Monday closest to November 11th, which commemorates the day the WWI armistice was signed (eleventh hour, eleventh day, eleventh month).
I’m also old enough–and had a teacher ancient enough—to have been forced to memorize that old chestnut “In Flanders Fields” in fifth grade—although without being given any historical context for it. I think at the time I assumed it was about World War II, since as far as I knew that was the only real war.
You can find the story of the poem here . It was written by a Canadian doctor who served in the European theater (there is no separate URL for the discussion of the poem, but you should click on the “John McCrae´s Poppies in Flander’s Fields” link on the left sidebar). It’s not great poetry by any means, but it was great propaganda to encourage America’s entry into what was known at the time as the Great War.
The poem’s first line “In Flanders fields the poppies blow” (and by the way, I don’t mean to be picky here, but can anyone tell me why it’s not “Flanders’s fields?”) introduces that famous flower that later became the symbol of Armistice—and later, Veterans—Day. Why the poppy?
Wild poppies flower when other plants in their direct neighbourhood are dead. Their seeds can lie on the ground for years and years, but only when there are no more competing flowers or shrubs in the vicinity (for instance when someone firmly roots up the ground), these seeds will sprout.
There was enough rooted up soil on the battlefield of the Western Front; in fact the whole front consisted of churned up soil. So in May 1915, when McCrae wrote his poem, around him bloodred poppies blossomed like no one had ever seen before.
But in this poem the poppy plays one more role. The poppy is known as a symbol of sleep. The last line We shall not sleep, though poppies grow / In Flanders fields might point to this fact. Some kinds of poppies are used to derive opium from, from which morphine is made. Morphine is one of the strongest painkillers and was often used to put a wounded soldier to sleep. Sometimes medical doctors used it in a higher dose to put the incurable wounded out of their misery.
Now a day to honor those who have served in our wars, Veterans Day has an interesting history in its original Armistice Day incarnation. It was actually established as a day dedicated to world peace, back in the early post-WWI year of 1926, when it was still possible to believe that WWI had been the war fought to end all wars.
The original proclamation establishing Armistice Day as a holiday read as follows:
Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and
Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and
Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.
After the carnage of World War II, of course, the earlier hope that peaceful relations among nations would not be severed had long been extinguished. By the time I was a young child, a weary nation sought to honor those who had fought in all of its wars in order to secure the peace that followed—even if each peace was only a temporary one.
And isn’t an armistice a strange (although understandable) sort of hybrid, after all; a decision to lay down arms without anything really having been resolved? Think about the recent wars that have ended through armistice: WWI, which segued almost inexorably into WWII; the 1948 war following the partition of Palestine; the Korean War; and the Gulf War. All of these conflicts exploded again into violence—or have continually threatened to—ever since.
So this Veterans/Armistice Day, let’s join in saluting and honoring those who have fought for our country. The hope that some day war will not be necessary is a laudable one—and those who fight wars hold it, too. But that day has not yet arrived—and, realistically but sadly, perhaps it never will.
[This is a slightly edited reprint of a post originally published on Veterans Day 2005.]
On the 11th Day of the 11th month each year, Americans come together to honor those in uniform, the ones who sacrificed for our nation, on Veterans Day. As a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan, War on Terror, I urge everyone to take this day to not just thank a veteran, but to talk with veterans. Learn about how our experiences have shaped our lives and what issues we face as we make our transitions back to civilian life. I would like to explain my side of the story, my own experience.
When I joined the military I was a young, confused kid, who did not know much about life, due to being sheltered for most of my life by my over protective parents. I did not know much about the war, just that I was enraged at the hatred those terrorists had for all Americans and me. I wanted to help my country, to protect it at all cost, even giving up my life to do so. It may sound funny but when I initially tried to enlist in the military, I was to be a military post-man, but the job had already been taken. Since I am color-blind, I wasn’t able to have a range of opportunities in the military. My placement was therefore in Mortuary Affairs Specialist. I felt that I grew up quicker in my years in service than most people do in their whole lifetime.
I was nineteen years old on February 8th, 2002. It was kind of cold for Phoenix as I reached the Airport headed to Fort Jackson, in South Carolina for basic training. Upon reaching Fort Jackson, referred by some in the service as relaxant Jackson, I found that the life I had chosen would not be as easy as I thought. Those first couple of days I got a hair cut, issued uniforms, and learned the waiting line for training was long. During this time, since 9/11, there was a mass influx of new recruits; the Army had problems finding them units to train in. For me I was lucky kind of, since I had a school date that did not come around very often, they tried to offer me another job, but I turn them down, I was shipped from Fort Jackson, then to Fort Lenderwood Missionary. The Ozark Mountains are cold and during winter, it was unbearable. It was an extreme change for me because I was mostly familiar with the hot weather in Phoenix, AZ. Exercising and running in extreme weather with being out shape was horrible. There was no special treatment for anyone but the drill sergeants made me work twice as hard. The treatment I received was something similar to a movie, where the fat kid got picked on and abused, but it was some thing I needed in order to become who I need to be. Despite this, I worked hard, did everything I was ordered to do, and eventually I graduated from boot camp with a new physique. During graduation, my fellow recruits honored me with “The Most Changed Person” reward, the Order of the Dragoon.
I was off to my next challenge, training for my MOS. When I reached Fort Lee, Virginia, I missed my start date and had to wait for the next one. This meant that I couldn’t get a pass to go anywhere; I had to just sit at the barracks, clean the floors, and do KP duty. After awhile this routine got incommodious. I was so happy on Memorial Day 2002, because the next day I was scheduled to start school. Then all of a sudden, I had horrible stomach pains, and could not figure what it was. So I was sent me off to the ER, the doctors initially diagnosed appendix problems. The one-hour surgery was then scheduled immediately, however it took five hours to complete. Apparently, my appendix had been ruptured for over a month including basic training. The surgeons said I am so lucky to be alive. I got a month off to recover and relax. When I got back to Fort Lee, I had to wait another month for class, so eventually when I got to school; I did my best to learn about my job and almost graduated at the top of my class. The reason why I did not graduate at the top of my class was due to my stomach muscles not fully recovering, which made doing sit-ups very hard. I did it because I wanted to join my unit at Fort Lee.
My feelings of excitement and wanting to serve were still in tact even after months of prolong waiting and recovery. In order to be all that I could be, to be the best, I exceed my own abilities by 120%. The mindset I had, came a long way (physically from Phoenix and mentally from the first story I heard about the terrorist attacks), I had really changed for the better. In the first year, I received my first (minor) medal, the Army Achievement Medal. With this acknowledgement from the Army, I wanted to speed up my deployment overseas to Afghanistan, but that wasn’t going to happen until March 18th 2003. According to orders, my team that I was assigned to from my unit wasn’t schedule to arrive in Iraq first. Instead, I worked in the Theater Mortuary Affairs Evacuation Point, a place that went nonstop for the first three months.
Sleep was limited to when I did not hear a helicopter, and when body’s slowed down coming in. In the states I had worked at the Richmond Morgue, but war was different. Instead of just seeing some one you did not know in the states, in Kuwait you learn to know every one, due to them wearing the same uniform, and inventorying all their personal effects, you knew who they wear when they left. Not only was our job to process Americans, but we also helped process British, and any other Allies. During this time I saw the mistakes we made, such as shooting British helicopter down with Sam missiles, and killing Brazilin journalist when we hit the wrong building, during that time I saw the horrors that mankind was possible of. I start experiences, problems, and tried to seek medical help, but I was deferred and told I would be fine. My excitement had come to an end, and I start to get in trouble, pretty soon my 1st Sgt, thought that I was not experiencing enough of the war, so he sent me to the Iraq, Camp Alsad. In Camp Alsad, was slow, but became difficult. Some of the soldiers I ate with at the chow hall, and knew were head on a rest and relaxation mission, but instead of making it, their helicopter was shot down. My team had to go clean the site, recover the bodies, and inventory their belongings. Man life is tough, but even tougher if you know the people. There were two other tough missions. The first were, when three Special Forces soldiers had been killed, when they were given orders not to shoot into a crowd even if they were receiving fire, not only did we have to process their bodies, but we also had to process the bodies of the people who had killed them. We are mortuary affairs first, and as such we have a moral obligation not to look at uniform, or lack of one, but to look at the person and understand their journey had come to a end, and it was our job to treat them with respect because every one has family and friends that care for them, it was not are job to judge right or wrong, which is very hard. The second tough mission was when we went with a convoy head to a site, that they had reportedly killed Sadam Husain, but in fact the compound was filled with animals and women and children. I do not think the Air Force meant to kill them, they were trying to do there job in following cell phone singles, and when they split, they went after the most likely target. On this mission two things had happened. One back in Alsad I was having bad night terrors, but the person in charge of my team figured the answer was not sending me back, but instead was to put me on night duty, and to change the location I slept on, in the location I was, this almost spelled disaster for me and my friend, when I woke up and started to scream at the top of my lungs, the people sleeping around the truck react and were about to shoot in the back of the truck, when my Sgt yelled stop he is just dreaming, oh thank god. The second thing is as I stated before, we are trained to respect the dead, and their belongings. This did not transfer to the people there, instead they were ordered to bury everything, destroy all evidence and move on. That pretty much covers Iraq.
When I got back to the states, I faced many hardships under the care of the Army. I am like millions of other veterans dealing with mental and physical scars of war. Most Americans will never know about these issues because it is not covered in the news or articles. The Army has become a two-sided issue for me; it was once a place where I wanted to succeed at being a great solider and fight for our rights and our country. Now that I came home I am still fighting another battle, however, this fight, I fight alone. I am trying to cope with sudden flashbacks, traumatizing combat events, hyper-vigilance to the recurrence of danger, feelings of numbness, low self-esteem, rage, and lapses in concentration. All of these have caused me to descend in my quality of life. I thought the Army and my unit would continue to care for me, treat me as a fellow solider, and assist me with finding resources for coping and healing. However, this was not the case, my unit classified me as a troublemaker, an unfit solider. As a result, they discharged me out of the Army abruptly without taking responsibility for the causes of my PTSD illnesses. Like other soldiers, I tried to reach out for help but once the system failed, I tried to commit suicide twice during my service. Luckily, both times, one of my few friends stopped me. This incident put me in a mental hospital involuntarily, where they doped me up on strong medicines, and no one cared to seek the reasons behind the action. I wasn’t allowed to receive my care at the Army hospital, because if procedures were followed, there would have been a long investigation and no one wanted to take the time to take care of their wounded soldiers with PTSD. Instead, I was discharged immediately with personality disorder. This seems to be the common practice for the Army, not just in my case but also 20,000 other veterans. At 5 P.M. September 16, 2004, my last official orders from the Army were, TO GET OUT!! Heavily medicated, I received my car keys, and was told to drive over 5000 miles, all the way home to Phoenix, Arizona. My feelings that proscribed afterwards are indescribable.
Even though I am still in my own body, this whole experience has shaped my life. Following my physical return home to Phoenix, AZ, I, however, didn’t return home with my state of mentality. My homecoming wasn’t what I imagined, that is because it was based on tv and movies I’ve seen about returning soldiers as hero’s. I became hospitalized time and time again.
Don’t worry, my story gets better and does have a great beginning. This new chapter in my life begins with the chance meeting the love of my life, my wife. With her continued support, I am able to handle some things on my own. A great support system, love, understanding, and patience, is what I think all soldiers should have and receive upon their return home. After all, the important issue is that we are all humans! With the good and the bad, we will always have our memories.
So on this Veterans Day and every day the best way to honor our veterans is to connect with them. So please remember and honor our fellow humans, our veterans. Without recognition from our family and friends, it doesn’t seem like all of our efforts make a difference. Many of us new veterans are being left behind, we have honored you by defending your rights, and all we ask is to welcome us home.
Sincerely,
Joshua C. Poulsen
Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran
Joshua Poulsen, thank you for sharing your story.
Neo, Flanders is a geographical region which ranges through parts of France and Belgium. The poet’s usage seems correct.
November 11, 1918 was, indeed, Armistice but World War I did have an extende peace negotiation and a complicated peace treaty – Versailles and its components. So it didn’t simply segue into the next war. For all of that the problems those treaties created caused the next war. In fact, the recent and present wars in the Gulf and the Middle East are hang-overs from the collapse of the great empires in 1918 and the subsequent division of lands and peoples. Woodrow Wilson played a large part – he was probably the most educated and intellectual president your country ever had and he was an absolute disaster.
There was no peace treaty signed after World War II with Germany, though there was one with Japan, signed in San Francisco in 1951. For all of that, the idea of another war between Germany and the other western countries is ludicrous. I suppose, you could argue that WWII segued into the Cold War.
Joshua – welcome home man – and thanks for all you did – and continue to do.
Neo squared con,
I think either would have been correct. It would being like saying “In Denver fields” or “In Denver’s fields”. Possibly the author just thought the first one read better.
My father and two brothers were career military pilots. My eldest nephew is on his second tour in Afghanistan, the next oldest is a 2nd Lt in the Army Reserves, and the next two (niece and nephew) are in the Air Force Academy. They have all sacrificed to serve their country and its citizens. I appreciate them and all others who have done the same thing.
I also want to say how much I appreciate the families of those who have chosen to put themselves in harms way for the ideals held dear by most in this country.
I am one who does see WWI as folding into WWII; that second war brought a finality because parts of it were conclusive.
Where it was not conclusive – Eastern Europe, China, it dragged on into the next generation.
Joshua, thanks for sharing your story. I’m sorry about the reprehensible treatment you received, for presumed depression and PTSD, from the Army. What has your treatment been like from the VA? I hope that things in general have changed in the past few decades. In the 1970s, I worked briefly with veterans, mostly from WWII and Vietnam, and can recall how so many veterans were frustrated and angry at having to go from fighting the enemy to fighting the US government in order to receive the benefits and/or services that were owed to and needed by them. Too often, the government paid lip service but did everything possible to avoid paying for and providing actual services and service-connected benefits. How we treat our veterans says much about who we are as a nation.
Joshua, I want to say a belated “welcome home” and thank you for your military service to our country. We as a nation, under any administration and at whatever cost, need to do much more to insure that you and other veterans (no matter from what war) are always treated with dignity and respect. Wounded (physically injured and/or mentally scarred) veterans absolutely need to receive the best health care available in order to recover as fully as possible and to assimilate quickly and successfully back into civilian life, with a future filled with promise and hope and not uncertainty and despair. It’s good to hear that you personally are moving ahead with the support of your wife, your family, and friends. I wish you a bright and healthy future. Please go forward with the realization that there are millions and millions of appreciative Americans, just like me, who are very much aware of and appreciative of the efforts and sacrifices you and others like you have made and are making daily on our behalf and for the continued wellbeing and safety of our country as a whole. Despite some flaws, what we have here as a nation is still well worth fighting for, so thank you.
God bless America, and thank you to all of the veterans and soldiers!
I found a post on Peterman’s Eye about Veterans Day and I thought I’d share.
http://www.petermanseye.com/anthologies/dates-in-history/375-a-day-to-remember
Cheers!
Josh,
Thank you so much for the dues you’ve paid on behalf of all those in this country who will pay nothing for our freedoms. They are highly annoyed at the thought of even any “inconvenience”.
I am a Vietnam veteran with a uniform in the closet that still has spit on it. I never had it cleaned because I never want to forget what the spitters never learned. We fought so that others could be free. The American media lost the war for us; we did not partake in the defeat.
Keep your chin up, we are many, we walk the walk in support of our troops.
mark
Yo, Galensmark…
Sounds a little like the Clinton-jism on Monica’s Lewinski’s blue dress. What doe the spit stain (does spit even stain, assuming the dude hadn’t been chewing betel or tobacco?) look like, now 40-something years later. Have you run a complete DNA work-up on the spit trail to finally track down the bastard(s) and to righteously bring them to justice?
Josh is a fake. It’s posted all over the web:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Joshua+C.+Poulsen&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=
I can’t believe people believed this nonsense.
You’re welcome,
Gray
A Real Veteran
PS: I can’t wait until the rightwing ODS sufferers start posting fake Community Service PTSD stories on May Day.
Neo, I would go right now if old , chubby( naw , fat ) ex GIs would be welcome. . Anyway, my nieces and nephews have picked up the torch.. We all say you’re welcome and thanks for letting us serve and defend you
a medieval country in W Europe, extending along the North Sea from the Strait of Dover to the Scheldt River: the corresponding modern regions include the provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders in W Belgium, and the adjacent parts of N France and SW Netherlands.
ack.. hit the button too fast… sorry.
there is more about WHY the poppie is in the poem. it has to do with the biology of the poppy.
the french did not grow poppies in fields. poppies were wild, and their seeds last for years in the ground. when you plow up the soil, the poppy seeds sprout and start to grow.
the shells, troops, horses, etc all churned the soil of the area in 1914. a year later the author you mention was there, and the whole area was covered in them. he dies 4 years later in 1918, but well known for the poem. (which is more than can be said of many famous poets who werent known in their own lifetimes)
many when asked about the why’s assume that it has to do with opium…
like the answer to what is the sound of one hand clapping. (enlightenment).
such things are a great test to know wether a person is honest in whether they know or dont know something.
now ya know. 🙂
I am a real Vet. But I received a from votvets.org a letter last week stating the following
Dear Joshua Poulsen,
Tuesday is Veterans Day a day of great importance to all of us at VoteVets.org, and a day in which we expect all in the veterans community will come together, leave politics aside, and honor those who came before us, as well as our newest veterans.
We encourage all of you to write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper TODAY to ensure that it is printed on Tuesday.
I was unable to write any editor since my wife and I had school, and were both busy with finals, and baby being sick.
I wrote my side of the story just to raise awareness for all veterans who have returned home and those who are still out there. It is a shame that most people haven’t consider why they are free. However, on this
day, I am again honored that I could reach out to even just one person, which I have.
I do not understand you Gray, if you have a problem, please email me, if you want my service records, email me, if you want my medical records email me, my address is poulsenjosh@aol.com.
I am sorry I know you are a vet, but calling me a fake piss me off, I have done my part.
I’ll accept that Josh Poulsen may well be for real. I recently reconnected over the Innerwebs with a surprisingly large percentage of the guys from my old infantry platoon/company (I-Corps, ’68-69), and of them a surprisingly large percentage seem to have been seriously whacked or brought down by PTSD, alcoholism, or both. Many more than I would have imagined!
I meant to add that if anybody, Galensmark sounds like a poseur (go the VN memorial in DC: the place is crawling with fake VN vets). I never got spat on in uniform: in Berserkeley, in S.F., even on the campus of my hippy-dippy college from which I got drafted, thanks indirectly to the machinations of G. Gordon Liddy.
I am real, what do you want to make me real? How can I prove that I am real?
I am concern about all vets everywhere. There are a lot of different aspects to our problems. If you do not want to belive me then that is fine However, I am not trying to justify myself to anyone except my God and my family.
If you want to see some of my photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/8358547@N06/, I have to pay 24.95 to get the rest back
As a boy I regularly visited public bath-house and was surprized to observe that almost all adults here had scars from wounds obtained at front line. And almost all talk was about war and what they experienced in the trenches. My dad was lucky: four years at the front line, as mortar platoon commander, under fierce snipper fire, and no wounds! In his age cohort only 3% survived the war, and most of them were injured.
I am real, what do you want to make me real? How can I prove that I am real?
The “FT Lenderwood Missionary” was a giveaway.
“Your” story is an amalgamation of several stories floating around the internet and on TV.
The writing changes partway through from correct spelling and decent punctuation to borderline illiterate.
and do KP duty
Dining Facilities are all contractor run at training posts now. The term “KP” isn’t even used anymore….
You were apparently in a different Army than I’ve been in for the past 18 yrs.
Faker.
I wish that Bush, and then Obama, would push a new GI Housing Bill, that allocates matching US Federal Funds, up to $30 000, for a down payment on the purchase of an owner-occupant home.
There are 4 mil. homes on the market. The recession/ depression won’t be solved until that number is reduced to around 2 mil., to the more usual 1.5-2+ mil. availabe homes.
There should be more discussion about who the gov’t should support in buying those currently excess homes (excess because they cost too much).
How did “Josh” manage to list his PTSD symptoms in exactly the same order, using the same words as from the encyclopedia?
“Josh”:
I am trying to cope with sudden flashbacks, traumatizing combat events, hyper-vigilance to the recurrence of danger, feelings of numbness, low self-esteem, rage, and lapses in concentration
From an online encyclopedia blog:
http://www.britannica.com/blogs/2008/04/the-often-long-journey-home-from-war-post-traumatic-stress-disorder/
Sudden flashbacks to traumatizing events in combat, hyper-vigilance to the recurrence of danger, feelings of numbness, low self-esteem, rage, and lapses in concentration
Fake.
He’s not the first.
Josh, have you been to the VA? What did they say? What type of discharge did you get? One of the things that comes with an honorable discharge is paying for transportation to your home of record. Your story seems a little strange.
CWO4
You know what, check KP duty because at Fort Lee, and Fort Lenderwood, on the training side, we had KP duty. Yes even at Fort Lee, we had active duty quartermaster core cooks, until we deployed. The discharge I received was a preexisting personality disorder. And no they did not offer me a ride home. They discharged me from the Army the same day I was discharged from the mental word, and said drive home. After fighting the VA, I finally received PTSD 100% PNT. This is how they treat us, if you wish not to believe then that is not my fault. Gary I relay wish you would email me, I will send you a scan of my paperwork, but from a Vet to a Vet, do not cll me a fake. I am not a good writer, that is wife my wife dose her best to fix my mistakes. I sorry if my paper fails to meet you standards. My wife tells me to calm down and not be mad, but I cant help it. I did my duty, I was who I had to be, I am become who I have to be now, thanks to the help of the American Legion here in Albuquerque. Good bless every one that has served.
You know what, check KP duty because at Fort Lee, and Fort Lenderwood
“Leonard Wood”. It’s “Fort Leonard Wood”
http://www.wood.army.mil/
How do you keep getting even that wrong?
Your story–it reeks of bullshit.
I meet fakes all the time–my High School electronics teacher passed himself off for years as a Vietnam Vet Green Beret. I just found out he was in the Air Force for four years, never deployed to VN….
Even the bouncer at my local bar claims he was some commando in mythical, nonexistant “Section 18” in Iraq. He’s obviously never served in his life….
There are lots of fakers out there: just stuff it.
vetsvote.org spamming websites on Veterans Day–f’n please….
Direct Link For Orer of The Drgaoon
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo265/poulsenjosh/Basic.jpg
Direct Link For VA PTSD
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo265/poulsenjosh/VA.jpg
Direct Link for Army Accommendaton Medal
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo265/poulsenjosh/Medal.jpg
Direct Link for Order of the Spur
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo265/poulsenjosh/OrderoftheSpur.jpg
Direct Link Army Achiment Medeal
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo265/poulsenjosh/scan.jpg
Direct Link for Basic Training
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo265/poulsenjosh/Certigicateoftraining.jpg
Direct Link for DD 214
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo265/poulsenjosh/DD214.jpg
Direct Link 92m
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo265/poulsenjosh/Dipolma.jpg
If any more information, please email me, poulsenjosh@aol.com Plese Gary stop calling me a Fake, I did not start this letter, and open up, so some like you can take me apart. I know I am a bad writer, and I know I am not the smartest person, but no vet,no person deserves to be treated with disrespect. What have I done to you? But please if you feel the need to call me a fake or want to call me names due to you not liking me, then email me in private, I think that would make it easier.
Gray, even if Joshua is a “fake” (which I do not believe he is), he at least is not coming across as a jerk like you are. You may be the real deal, but you are behaving like a real jerk. Take him up on his wish to deal with your allegations privately by e-mail or do everyone a favor and give it a rest.
Let’s break that statement down a little, because it matters, a lot, that we get it right. If by making an end to war you mean eradicating the temptation to commit violence that exists in every human heart, then no, we won’t. If by making an end to war you mean eliminating it as an institution honoured and pursued by governments world wide, then yes, I think we can accomplish that.
Consider the unlikely story of William Wilberforce and his small band of freed Africans, Quakers, nonconformists, and others. When they started their work, in huge area of the world you could buy a human being and get a bill of sale that the courts would recognize in just the way courts today recognize a title for a car. By the time of Wilberforce’s death, thanks to the Royal Navy, slavers had joined pirates as declared enemies of humanity, the British government would shortly eliminate slavery from a quarter of the world, and by the end of the nineteenth century, slavery as a snactioned form of property would exist only in a dwindling number of places.
Did Wilberforce purge from the human heart the dark impulse to dominate and exploit? No, that still exists; we have to fight it at every turn, and in that sense the struggle against slavery will go on as long as humanity does. Atrocious forms of exploitation go on every day. But in no city of any civilized country can you walk into a market, buy a human being, and obtain a bill of sale that the courts will recognize and the police will enforce. That change means something.
In the same way, we cannot eliminate the darkness from the human heart. The impulse to do violence will stay with us as long as we exist. But we can hope for a time when governments no longer have the right to let loose unlimited violence on countries they define as enemies, to a time when the weight of society, and the law, takes the side of peace the way it now takes the side of freedom.
William Wilberforce and his allies did not take on the entrenched power of the men who bought and sold people out of mere idealism; they had a sense of what an industrial society that kept the attitudes and values behind slavery could develop into. In the same way, those of us who work towards an end to war do not respond only to the biblical injunction to make peace. We have a strong sense of where war will take our society if we do not put an end to it. The world has already lived through one nuclear war– and the fertile human mind has already dreamed up technologies with even more frightening potential than nuclear arms. We have a huge stock of terrifying weapons, and a large number of equally frightening people, those too enraged or enraptured to allow the cold calculus of deterrence to hold them back. And those who think we can keep the most dire weapons away from the terribly twisted minds that will countenance their use should consider the lesson of King Canute. Making an end to war will not guarantee our security, but if we do not put an end to war, then war will certainly put an end, if not to humanity, then at least to our civilization, and to most of us and our children.
Ninety plus years ago, the governments of the West promised to the men suffering the misery of the trenches that this war would put an end to all wars. If we truly wish to remember and dignify the men who dies in their millions, or who came home maimed in body and spirit, we need also to remember the promise their governments made to them, and remember that ninety years on, it remains unredeemed.
You may be the real deal, but you are behaving like a real jerk.
After 18 years in, I don’t like having my Army maligned on Veterans Day by a disturbed person with an axe to grind, backed by a lefty political organization and a suspicious story.
I’m sure you don’t understand.
I’ll apologize next time I get to “FT Lenderwood.”
Furthermore, the US never shot down a British helicopter in Iraq:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article714436.ece
The attack on the Lynx was the first time that a British helicopter had been shot down in Iraq since Operation Telic began in March 2003.
Gray, It’s very possible that Joshua has a learning disorder that
makes it hard for him to process information easily or correctly, thus producing numerous errors that you or i likely wouldn’t make. He admits to relying heavily on his wife for assistance. If he were just out to dupe people he could research and fact check his names, dates, etc. online. In my mind, his numerous errors actually lend credibility to the truthfulness of his story. I think you should cut the guy some slack.
In my mind, his numerous errors actually lend credibility to the truthfulness of his story.
Which part is the truthful part? That the Army mistreats soldiers with PTSD? That we shot down a British Helicopter? That he did what he said he did as a soldier? That the Army treated him ‘reprehensibly’?
You can believe what you want, but my experiences and the experiences of the guys I serve with are the very opposite.
Being “a vet” and slandering your military and your branch isn’t gonna get you any slack with other vets….
Dear Gary,
I am not slandering the military, I am telling the truth and if you can not handle the truth, then that no fault of mine. I have given you my DD 214 and I have shown you my ribbons, I am real. Were is your information? Prove to us your real. I will pray for you, and hope you never have to deal with so many vets have dealt with. YOu can bury your head, but leave me alone.
Some facts
FRIENDLY FIRE INCIDENTS:
March 22: A British Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado jet is accidentally shot down by a US Patriot missile. The Tornado’s two crew are killed.
March 24: Two British soldiers are killed when their tank is mistakenly targeted by another British tank in southern Iraq.
March 27: 37 US Marines are injured when US troops mistakenly fire at each other near the southern city of Nasiriyah.
March 28: A British soldier is killed and four others are injured in the region of Basra when a US A-10 ground attack aircraft fires on them.
April 2: An F-18 US fighter jet is downed, probably by a US Patriot missile. The pilot is reported missing.
April 3: A US serviceman mistaken for an Iraqi soldier is shot dead by his own troops in central Iraq.
April 6: 18 Kurdish fighters are killed and 45 wounded near Arbil in northern Iraq when US aircraft mistakenly bomb a joint US-Kurdish convoy.
An investigation by RSF into the US attack on the Palestine Hotel in Iraq, in which two journalists were killed, found that, while there was no evidence that the hotel had been deliberately targeted, the army was “criminally negligent”. According to the RSF report, “Two murders and a lie” published in January this year, soldiers in the field were never told the hotel was full of journalists. “The question is whether this information was withheld deliberately, out of contempt or through negligence.”
In 2003, 24 soldiers deployed to Kuwait and Iraq committed suicide – a rate of 17.3 per 100,000. The overall Army suicide rate during the same time period was 12.8 per 100,000 soldiers. This compares to the Army’s rate of 12.2 for 2003 and 11.9 from 1995 to 2002.
A Quick Way Out
It is known as a “Chapter 5-13” – “separation because of personality disorder.” The Army defines it as a pre-existing “maladaptive pattern of behavior of long duration” that interferes with the soldier’s ability to perform his duties.
In practical terms, this diagnosis means the personality disorder existed before military service, and therefore medical care and disability payments are not the military’s responsibility. But some veterans and veterans’ advocates have been vocal in their belief that personality disorder is being misdiagnosed in combat veterans.
Since 2001, more than 22,000 servicemen and women from all branches of the military have been separated under the personality disorder discharge, according to figures provided by the Department of Defense.
The military explained the need for this kind of discharge. “Personality disorders that interfere with military service and are incompatible with the soldier staying in the unit, it is usually best for both the soldier and the unit for that soldier to be discharged,” according to Col. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, a psychiatry consultant to the U.S. Army surgeon general.
Servicemen and women undergo mental and physical screenings when they enter the military and again before they deploy. “Either the military didn’t see it or they ignored it,” Terry said.
“We do histories and physicals on every recruit that comes in, but people may not always tell us everything,” Ritchie said.
Veterans’ Perspective
Donald Louis Schmidt of Chillicothe, Ill., was being treated for posttraumatic stress disorder after his second combat tour in Iraq. His commanders at Fort Carson later decided he was no longer mentally fit and discharged him with personality disorder.
“They just slapped me with that label to get me out quicker,” Schmidt said. He said superiors told him “‘Everything will be great. Peachy keen.’ Well, it’s not.
Josh, your DD-214 Nov 88 form was discontinued in 2000, if your discharge was after 2000 your DD-214 would be on on form DD-214 FEB 2000. There is no way that an outdated form was used for your discharge, esp if your discharge was in 2004. That is JUST NOT DONE in the Military.
Falsifying that form is against the law. Sure you want to continue down this road?
here is yours that you posted:
http://i382.photobucket.com/albums/oo265/poulsenjosh/DD214.jpg
NOV 88
And here is the actual government document that explains this form, page 12 of enclosure 1 shows what yours should have looked like if it was REAL.
http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/133601p.pdf
Yet no British Helicopter shot down by US.
YOu can bury your head, but leave me alone.
Hey, you spammed the slanderous “Veteran’s Day Letter” all over the web with all kinds of false claims in it, I just called you on your nonsense.
Now you’ve showed you have an axe to grind.
My work here is done.
Ouch. Darrell with the final smackdown.
[from neo-neocon: You’ve made your point. I’d appreciate an end to this now. I think by now the readers have enough information from both sides to decide if they think the man’s claims are real or not.]
Yes Darrell go head calling me on my form,report it to the IG, I am not going to retype a form, I am not dum. Every thing on that form matches up to my rewards, and if you want to be dum, go head. It a smack down, because if it was a fake, then would I recived my GI bill, would the VA approve my claim for a 100%. Do what you must.
Thank you neo-neocon. I am so tired of fighting. I have served my country, I cam home from war, and not to deal with this.
Ninety plus years ago, the governments of the West promised to the men suffering the misery of the trenches that this war would put an end to all wars. If we truly wish to remember and dignify the men who dies in their millions, or who came home maimed in body and spirit, we need also to remember the promise their governments made to them, and remember that ninety years on, it remains unredeemed.
John makes an interesting and original point here. He recognizes the distinction between changing institutions of law and social standards to changing basic human nature: rejecting the latter while going for the former.
Making an end to war will not guarantee our security, but if we do not put an end to war, then war will certainly put an end, if not to humanity, then at least to our civilization, and to most of us and our children.
So now we come down to the details where the devil must live. How do we end the institution of war or decrease the probability of war?
It is simple. What is the probability of war between California and Georgia in the United States of America right now? It approaches the limit of 0 as to almost be impossible. What was the probability of war between Georgia and New York 50 years before the Civil War? A lot higher than almost impossible. What was the probability of war between Tennessee and West Virginia 1 month into the Civil War? That probability approaches only unity, 100%. That would be true even had West Virginia not split off at the time, because the probability of the split also approached unity as time went on.
If we truly wish to remember and dignify the men who dies in their millions, or who came home maimed in body and spirit, we need also to remember the promise their governments made to them, and remember that ninety years on, it remains unredeemed.
And yet, compare the results of the war between any other nation in the world in the totality of human history. How many wars have France and Russia and Germany been involved in? Did the odds of them ever warring against each other decrease or increase, to the limit of 0 or 1, as time went on from their last wars? Did the chance of war being used between Germany and France increase or decrease after the Treaty of Versailles? Did it increase or decrease after the 100 years war? The answer is simple: the percentage chance for war was always increasing to 1, to unity 100%, and then flashing into active war and then stepping down to a level below 1 and began to increase towards unity once more.
While John has not said much concerning the details of how he intends to do what he says is a noble and worthy goal, I believe it is safe to say that John’s methods (from his previous posts here) will lead not to America’s current state but to Europe’s state after every war.
If John truly wants to end war, he would support an American Empire more than the EU, China, Russia, or the UN combined.
America is the only nation in the entire history of the world that has ended the possibility of war through the political changes effected through winning America’s wars. This is true whether we speak of America warring against Germany, or Japan, or the South (in the US).
We have the record. We are the only ones to have the track record. Rome was still crucifying Jewish rebels in Hadrian’s time, which was decades after Julius Caesar conquered the Gauls. Rome was still getting into wars with the German tribes and had to constantly keep an eye on their slaves and their client tribes in Spain and Gaul. THey wouldn’t have needed to be so brutal towards the Jews for rebellion if the threat of rebellion wasn’t always a threat to them elsewhere.
Compared to our record, Rome was a banana republic that could erupt at any time with coup de tats and internal revolts. And yet, Rome was the source of law and civilization for much of the West (and Arabic) world.
While America has redeemed our promises to end war through fighting, no other nation has done so. Not Europe, not the EU, not the UN, not those in Africa, not China, and not Russia.
There is only one choice for those who truly wish to see the end of warfare between groups of human beings on this planet and it is support the power and strength and reach of America across all nations, all peoples, all cultures and political identities.
But John will refuse to do that, I suspect. THe desire for an end of war is not great enough to tolerate America in the end. And so we continue to have war.
Neo, I am sorry and I will stop, I just don’t buy the shoddy treatment that is being claimed, the VA budget has exploded and there are many private entities that are helping veterans today.
It is just not true that you are thrown out on the street with no help. That is a fallacy and a liberal lie. The vast majority of leadership in the military go to great lengths to look out for their people and I say that from 25 years of experience on active duty. I have not dealt with the VA yet but I have many personal friends that have recently retired and they were impressed with the care they have received. That DD214 is false and a federal offense.
As I said Darrell, if you think it is false due what you must. We at Fort Lee, being mainly school side, did not even have the newest materials when deployed as other bases. And yes things have changed some for vets, but not for all, and their are many who suffer. And I know you think this maybe a liberal lie, but I voted republican. IF you want to report me, go head. I would not have received those awards or Va benefits, if I was a fake.
Take it as you will. If you chose not to help vets, that need every ones help, then so be it, but I hope every one dose help those in need.
Joshua, which veterans organization are you part of? IAVA? VFT?
If you ask me, Joshua here doesn’t show the neuroses fake military actors, or even folks like Scott Beaucamp, tends to leak through (aside from the tone of what he pasted here).
They discharged me from the Army the same day I was discharged from the mental word, and said drive home. After fighting the VA, I finally received PTSD 100% PNT. This is how they treat us, if you wish not to believe then that is not my fault.
Darrell, can’t you believe that the Democrats, Carter and Clinton, and the various “Peace Dividend” raids on the military budget would have produced this type of behavior? The military does tend to want to cover up embarrassments, after all. Even the Marine Corps tried to throw the Haditha Marines under the bus simply because of power hungry military lawyers and media attention.
The Gulf War syndrome could be very embarassing to the military’s senior generals and the civilian politicians in charge at the time. I wouldn’t find it hard to believe that efforts were made to get these things pushed under the rug.
The benefit of blogs and transparency and the experience acquired from war in Iraq and Afghanistan is that now mistakes simply can’t slide through simply because it embarrasses people at the top.
In the end, “This is how they treat us, if you wish not to believe then that is not my fault,” is wrong. This is how they treated you, only slightly better than how many Vietnam veterans were treated. America treats different generations of veterans differently if only because each generation of veterans get discharged into the civilian sphere of life and tries to improve things so that the future generation doesn’t get treated the same way they were. For example, some veterans two centuries ago went to protest Washington and the military was ordered to disperse the crowd by the President.
I am a member of the American Legion, Department Service office 500 GOLD AVE SW c/o VARO ALBUQUERQUE 87102-3118 (505) 346-4877
Department Service office 500 GOLD AVE SW c/o VARO ALBUQUERQUE 87102-3118
That’s the address, available online, of one of the VA offices in the “Dennis Chavez Federal Building” in NM, not an American Legion Post.
I’ve never even bothered to join the American Legion–just not many guys my age….
As Grim of Blackfive may say, the American Legion does good work.
Link
Thank you for the work you have done for what you believe in, Joshua.
Yes you are correct, and they have my file, and they fought for me. I like the American Legion and the other service office, they do a lot of work, fight the good fight, and win. They are the quiet heros, the ones not many people read about, the guy and women that stand in to help vets and family in need. I really think these guys deserve from all vets and friends a thank you. Thank good for the American Legion and the new GI bill. With out these guys many issues would be left behind
Ymarsakar
I looked up online the name you were talking about. By reading about him I can understand people concern. I do not agree with that person did, lying is wrong. But I think people should be willing to understand there have been made mistakes, and that is part of war. When my unit and I were deployed we did our job, honored the dead, no matter who they are.
In my story I was hoping people would come away with understanding that vets needs us. There are vets who issues are being ignored, people who are being left behind, vets that are killing them selves. I just want to give a personal point of view, and I understand for some it is hard to accept that the military has made mistakes in the pass, and still makes mistakes today. But as a country we need to accept the good and the bad.
There are vets who issues are being ignored, people who are being left behind, vets that are killing them selves. I just want to give a personal point of view, and I understand for some it is hard to accept that the military has made mistakes in the pass, and still makes mistakes today. But as a country we need to accept the good and the bad.
I think part or most of Gray and other’s objections to that is that Americans should criticize themselves but they should not give strength to the arguments of anti-AMericans who use a few examples of problems in the US military in order to label all AMericans and US soldiers as out of control killing monsters.
They wouldn’t like other AMericans buying into that line or reinforcing it.
Ymarsakar,
Is that what it seems as If I am doing? If it is I am sorry. I believe in America, but I think the greatest hope of any vet is that we learn from our mistakes and move forward. We vets and everyone in some way has fought for the right of differencing point of views. I also do not think the military our full of killing machines. Every one has problems, every company and every organizations, including the military, therefore we must learn from the past to move forward. If not then things fail. There our mistakes that have happen, and there are problems with the VA that must be fixed. By sharing my story, I know I am unable to change the past, but if I can make a difference in the future for other vets, then that is my goal and my hope. If we tear one another down, and do not try to understand one another, then we surely will fail.
I just want to give a personal point of view, and I understand for some it is hard to accept that the military has made mistakes in the pass, and still makes mistakes today.
I see you pulled the fake documents, that could get you federal charges, off of photobucket, faker.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Valor_Act_of_2005
Hey! How did your punctuation and grammar get so much better in your last post?
By sharing my story, I know I am unable to change the past, but if I can make a difference in the future for other vets, then that is my goal and my hope. If we tear one another down, and do not try to understand one another, then we surely will fail.
Good use of commas and good understanding of dependent clauses
Dirty, dirty faker.
Knock it off.
I saved a copy.
Heh… I always made it a point to be nice to Warrant Officers–devious bunch, technically proficient.
Yeah, but we don’t know what his real name is. I think “he’s” a composite built by the votevets lefties, using some collected documents, to crap on Veteran’s Day.
Based on some of his outdated Army jargon and total lack of new jargon, I think he’s a Vietnam era vet faking being a current-war vet.
Oh, yeah: I was an “MI Guy” 35D in tactical units and “Echelons Above God”. Heh!
(I do different stuff in the Nat. Guard now.)
And no, I’m not a very nice guy. I’m worse in person….
That was fun–I declare it “Most fun Veteran’s Week Ever!!!!”
Thank you for letting it continue, Neo.
I know guys–like my High School pal who was shot through the neck and later, blown up in the ass in Iraq (calls it his “Forrest Gump Wound”).
He got some treatment for PTSD. He was treated with respect and care. Now he’s chomping at the bit to get to Afghanistan. He’s never been off of jump status, he’s never served on ‘staff’ and he’s never been in a non-combat unit. He’s got 22 years in.
I get pissed off on his behalf when fakers show up and claim all kinds of nonsense. There are real men serving honorably and a real Army occasionally bogged by fed regulation doing the best for them. When a faker shows up and slanders them, and my Army, I take it personally; on Veterans Day, no less….
My story is less dramatic: I’ve got 18 in Guard and Active, the Army had to care for me a bit when my family died while I was deployed to the JSA on the DMZ in Korea in ’92. That was rough, but they were there for me. I repaid it by supporting and taking care of a young troop whose mom died.
It’s a big stupid, human, organization made up of the best people you will ever, ever meet.
Gray,
You sound like a good guy who has had a positive experience. Some have not been as lucky as you have some of us have bad problems. As I said, report me, turn me, and then feel dum. I am as real as a vet can get. If you want to find me you will find me by my real name, in Albuquerque, Nm, and the VA knows me. So if fill like get laughed at, then by all means go head. By the way Vietnam era vet is my dad, Chris Poulsen, you can email him also poulsenunlimited@comcast.net, if you want to ask about me. Also my sister was a intel spc. from Fort Hucha, Az. My brother in-law is also Army, warrant officer, who is also in intelligence. So I have no disrespect for the army.
But I am happy that this has supered in to a conversation, all vets stories should be told even ones of less drama.
Man Gary I am so humbled that I could get people to talk about there stories. Here is one I think is so good. I am very thankfull to everyone that has shown support for vets, and every ones story
Kim Mcqueen:
Wow Joshua, you’re story is very similar to my husband’s! My husband Chris served four years in the army doing two tours (one in Kuwait and one in Iraq) and was sent home in Nov of 2006. I met him Jan of 07, and although he had many things to overcome from the war and army we were madly in love. He proposed Sept of 07. He was finally able to sleep at night, his temper was manageable, and he even quit drinking. Then Christmas came around and we received the evil yellow thick pakage saying he was to return to the army in Feb. 08. Our heart broke. He worked so hard to get his head on straight again just to have his life shattered to meet the government’s needs. We got married Jan 08, and decided together we were going to face this, and that we could overcome anything. He left Feb 11, 2008 to Fort Jackson. Within days of being gone everything came back to him full force. He was broken, shattered, and mentally his world was gone. Within a week or so he was then to go to Missouri. By the time he got there words of suicide and out bursts of rage flooded his every moment. I told him to go to the hospital right away and get help or I would call 911 before he hurt himself or someone else, so he went to the hospital. When he got there they put him on meds and suicide watch. I wrote a letter to counselors and all the congressmen of New Mexico. Tod Udall’s representative Sarah called within days. She was so understanding and eager to help. Meanwhile Chris was transferred to a mental ward in a hospital off of base. It took many many MANY phone calls every single day, but on April 11, 2008 Chris came home with an honorable discharged. He recently was diagnosed with PTSD and 50% disabled. He had been going to counseling on the regular, and still has trouble dealing with normal every day stuff and work, but we are just so thankful for Tom Udall helping us and Chris having a fair chance at a normal life.
Dear, God–stop the whining…
He worked so hard to get his head on straight again just to have his life shattered to meet the government’s needs.
This is precisely what he signed up for.
Now someone else has to leave his wife and family and go do it ‘cuz you sniveled out.
Notice how it’s always, always some super-left wing congress-critter that is the hero of these sob-stories?
On a cool, clear night, you can hear the high-pitched whine of America.
I agree we all sign up, we all volunteer, but then what happens when all goes to hell?
You said:
“The military is made of your neighbors, your brothers, your sisters, dads, moms, sons and daughters. Would they mistreat someone physically, emotionally, or mentally wounded?”
So if the military made up of these people, why would you if lets say he was your son feel this way:
“Now someone else has to leave his wife and family and go do it ‘cuz you sniveled out.”
I think he has the right to say help, and not to be scared of help. And we as Vets as neighbors, brothers, sisters, dads, moms, sons and daughters should come to their support. This is why I am saying thank you for your story, I hope it helps others explain their story, to open up.
PS did you have fun looking were I live? Did you see the Vet exception? That is a government site, no way I can change their documents. I pulled my dd214 because of a vet advice, that some one can use the information to steal my ID.
GOd bless every one.
I think he has the right to say help, and not to be scared of help.
Yeah… Now someone else has to leave his wife and family and go do it ‘cuz he sniveled out.
Unlike the economy, this is a zero-sum game. If he doesn’t go, and has to snivel to a lefty congresscritter, now someone else has to go.
Really, what’s the worst that happens? At long last, if you don’t come home safely–as the vast majority do now–either you get killed, or wounded, or go mad or, someone else does. They can’t eat you; except in Somalia….
There was less open snivelling when we were losing a thousand men a day in the Pacific in WWII.
I thought you might find this interesting (she lives in Rome now)
http://anglocath.blogspot.com/2008/11/beneath-poppies-row-on-row.html
“Beneath the poppies, row on row”
Yesterday was the first November 11th in many years that I have not worn a poppy. I live in a foreign country where they don’t do the Poppy Thing.
But it has been a part of my life since I was small, and among my most cherished memories of by sojourn in Nova Scotia, where the martial spirit remains strong, was attending the cenotaph ceremonies in Halifax at the Parade Square. I never fail to weep.
My great grandfather, William Doloughan, served in a mounted regiment in WWI, was captured and contracted TB in the POW camp, which eventually killed him. This did not stop him serving in the Home Guard in WWII. My maternal grandfather, Harold Burkett, was an airman in the US Air Force. My paternal grandfather, Norman White, served in a tank in in WWI and in land-based communications in WWII.
I’ve always worn the poppy with them in mind.
I don’t know if it is better to hide your mental non-physical wounds, or to actually try to get them under control. The thing that gets me is that you said,
“Would they mistreat someone physically, emotionally, or mentally wounded?”
But it sounds like you think that some one that is mentally wound is just a sniveler. So if I was a out sider reading your comments, then I would guess that yes the military would mistreat some one with these kind of wounds over some one who you could see their “Forrest Gumb” wound. I think both deserve treatment, and you might be right that things have changed changed since World War 2. I think now days for the most part people with mental disorders are more accepted, in World War 2 society did not accept this, and want soldiers with or without mental problems to move on. This was not a time when many people wanted to hear about it.
Any way God Bless you, and thank you for your opion. You do have valued and good points. Even though I may disagree with some, but this is America.
I found a article for you http://ncptsd.va.gov/ncmain/ncdocs/fact_shts/fs_older_veterans.html:
How is it possible to have PTSD 50 years after a war?
Because most World War II veterans received a hero’s welcome and a booming peacetime economy when they returned to the states, many were able to make a successful readjustment to civilian life. They coped, more or less successfully, with their memories of traumatic events. Many had disturbing memories or nightmares, difficulty with work pressure or close relationships, and problems with anger or nervousness, but few sought treatment for their symptoms or discussed the emotional effects of their wartime experiences. Society expected them to put it all behind them, forget the war, and get on with their lives. But as they grew older and went through changes in the patterns of their lives-retirement, the death of spouse and friends, deteriorating health, and declining physical vigor-many experienced more difficulty with war memories or stress reactions. Some had enough trouble to be diagnosed with a delayed onset of PTSD symptoms, sometimes with other disorders like depression and alcohol abuse. Such PTSD often occurs in subtle ways. For example, a World War II veteran who had a long successful career as an attorney and judge and a loving relationship with his wife and family might find upon retiring and having a heart attack that he suddenly felt panicky and trapped when going out in public. Upon closer examination, with a sensitive helpful counselor, he might find that the fear is worst when riding in his car, and this may relate to trauma memories of deaths among his unit when he was a tank commander in World War II.
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