Rob Wood

From my point of view as a Vietnam combat veteran, this movie was so harmful to any veteran pondering seeking help. They erased their brains so they could be just sent back. Falls right into the national belief in a recyclable throw away military force. PTSD is surrounded by paranoia. Our local Vet Centers offer group-based cognitive therapy for combat veterans and their families. Do not subscribe to VA medical therapy through drugs before talking to a therapist at a Vet Center. With every war we have been involved in there is always a different returning the troops home scenario. No matter what is done a person that engages in combat is changed. Morally injured that can't be undone but only taught to live with. Some, as I have found, handle it better than others. This having some to do with the levels of trauma they experienced prior to the military which is compounded by the trauma war inflicts on a person coupled with the trauma of attempting to adapt to a civilized society again. Our recent conflicts have brought them home more often but this has turned about to just being a recycling program that reduces the connectedness the society at large has to people wounded or killed. In the Civil War 1 in every 68 Americans knew someone that was wounded or killed. In the conflicts today that number is 1 in 8000 creating a real disconnect of the normal citizenry to feel true empathy and be supportive. Thus, the suicide rate among veterans today is 22 every day. War is ugly, no matter how one dices it. There are numerous studies on the drone operators flying and killing people (many times civilians) from a base in Nevada or Virginia that attempt to go home and be normal bouncing their loved ones on their knee like it was just another day at the office. I have no answer except the society at large needs to take responsibility for the ones that are alienated in the process of keeping our country safe.