Point of fact, if it matters, I copied and pasted from this very thread, I never actually opened the link, having already heard more than I can stand. I didn’t read the Rolling Stone article, and have no intention of doing so.
We are discovering something that should have been obvious for years and years. We operated under a myth, than you can take an ordinarily decent human being, soak him in blood and fear for the term on his enlistment, then muster him out, given him a couple weeks R&R, and he’s all set to go back to his civvy job in Accounts Receivable.
What we are finding, and what we should have known, is that dread and horror cut grooves into the psyche. But perhaps more importantly, it changes the chemistry and structure of the brain. Our soldiers are physically not the same people any more. Their very brains have been altered. PTSD is just what we know, it is the visible tip of an iceberg of ignorance.
I am not surprised that there is good reason to doubt that story, but in my heart of hearts, I know I wouldn’t have believed it anyway. I can’t. If I had seen it with my own eyes, I probably still wouldn’t believe it. If that’s a flaw in my character or my mind, I shrug. Got lotsa those.
As for “flowery”, well, I’ve heard that before, I could probably make a long list of different posters making the same “accusation”. I heap sarcasm and contempt upon your opinions, Nadir, because you are an asshole, my natural enemy and preferred prey. You don’t like it, tough shit, stop being an asshole. Percy Dovetonsils, I ain’t.
I have a minor gift for wordplay. Its not a virtue, its a talent, merely a characteristic. Its how, when, and upon whom I use it that makes me who I am. If you could, you would, but you can’t, so you don’t. Eat your heart out.
