Meeting the physical and mental demands of soldiering is the ultimate test when in very dangerous circumstances. It requires the ability to endure day after day and week after week in the most hostile environment that both Mother Nature and Man can create
The keys in meeting such challenges include one of the most respected military commandments which is “Look after your mates.” It is a belief applied with reverence, particularly on operations where you rely on your comrades with life itself.
Sooner or later after military service, veterans trade uniforms and rifles for mufti, brief cases, desks, tools or tractors and seemingly are safe from harm; yet a storm is gathering. Sadly, for many of them, another war is about to begin and their loved ones will be in the front line as well.
The enemy will be an insidious seemingly un-scalable mountain called PTSD. They can no longer rely on their mates now scattered far and wide who shared, cared and understood each other in dire circumstances. More often than not, such veterans are surrounded by those who do not understand their plight.
It is interesting to note that soldiers hospitalised with sickness or wounds often fret and are quite restless until they are back with their unit again. In WW1 it was officially recorded that AIF soldiers and non- commissioned officers rebelled on parade when told their close and tested unit was being disbanded to provide reinforcements for other units. (Which also implied their particular family of brothers would be scattered to the winds)
PTSD can be caused by guilt, failure, betrayal or flitting images of past fear, violent death, suffering and misery, to name but a few. Equally the very sensitive triggers include the sounds familiar with the battlefield; broken political promises; lack of recognition; harassment; rejection, loneliness and failed relationships
Thus my scribble below is as a result of countless conversations over the years with comrades fighting their personal wars. Hopefully it will remind all of us of how many of them may well experience the past while seeking precious sleep to gather confidence and strength before once more trying to scale that mountain tomorrow.
All of us should make it our war as well and offer a helping hand even though many who seek it are too proud and reluctant to grasp it. Just as importantly, our leaders must find ways of strengthening mind, body and resilience of soldiers prior to operations to help reduce the number of casualties to such an affliction. It will require more than meaningless talkfests orchestrated by politicians.
SLEEP
If I could only sleep the sleep of sleeps
To capture sweet deeds I can keep
In the cloak of night greet blissful rest so rare
To dream of peace and even love should I dare
I cannot escape this shrinking smothering room
Painted with spite, hate and terrible doom
I am shackled to the past and never to be free
Deep sleep in pure white sheets is not to be
Oh to be deaf to shrieks and howls spat from spiteful guns
Blind to flitting silent shadows mid the last rays of dying suns
Be gone the shuffling file of haunted faces never to smile again
If only a welcome storm to wash away the guilt and pain
In this lonely bed, to dream of peace, goodwill and love
To walk mid young green forests reaching high above
To hear the joyful welcome calls of feathered birds so bright
To shut out the darkness of yesterday and seek tomorrow’s light
George Mansford ©September 2016
PTSD DIDN’T EXIST in 1957 , when I took my “D”. No one gave a “sh#” then and so it goes……