Day-to-Day
We have discussed the psychological effects of war on people not directly involved like families and friends, but what about the soldiers? How do the soldiers deal with the psychological effects? Could we all agree that the psychological effects of war on a soldier would be more difficult to handle then someone who is not directly involved? In Coping with Cliques, an unidentified soldier discusses his observations of how soldiers develop a way of “coping with the distance.”
The unidentified soldier speaks about several categories of soldiers. There are the “PT Studs” who are the muscle bound marines that spend their time coping with the distance by working out. The soldier states that the PT Studs have the time to “[s]hape their bodies into an Arnold-like state of physical perfection.” The soldier also identifies a clique of soldiers who are the Halo/Call of Duty/Unreal Tournament Super Virtual Soldiers who “spend their deployed time training their brains into becoming one with their warrior avatar.” The soldier states that he is part of the “nerdy” crowd who spend time reading and surfing the web communicating with people all across the world. The central theme of the post seems to be that becoming part of a group is a coping mechanism for soldiers.
The unidentified soldier writes that the soldiers that are unable to find a method for spending their free time are usually the ones who have the problems. These problems may affect their day-to-day lives and have serious psychological impacts in the future. Soldiers who find their way of coping with the impacts of war may have a better chance of dealing with the psychological effects. In The Things They Carried by Tim O’brien, soldiers such as Kiowa and Ted Lavender look to different ways of coping with the impacts of war. Kiowa spends his time reading the bible and mentoring his platoon members. Ted Lavender on the other hand, uses drugs and tranquilizers as a means of handling the challenges of the Vietnam War.
Although you could argue that the two wars have many differences, a soldier is a soldier and there are always going to be challenges. In Coping Cliques, the unidentified soldier mentions that no matter what the group members are always happy and giving high fives almost every morning. Soldiers have far different challenges than their family members and friends. Finding a way of coping with those challenges sounds like the only way to get through tough times and it appears that there are soldiers that find happiness in an unpleasant environment. The soldier states that taking things one day at a time actually works. Taking things one day at a time sounds easier than it probably is. I mean think about how hard it would be to not think about tomorrow, your family, or you friends. A soldier’s lifestyle must be so mentally challenging. The soldiers who are able to find happiness and wake up each morning with a positive attitude must have some special talent for coping with the distance.
The Sandbox
The Doc in The Box
4/8/08
April 16th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I also read the post that you talked about in your blog and I almost blogged about it, I thought it was interesting to see how the Men and Women of our armed forces pass their free time. What I found most striking about it was that fact that it was a post about how they spend their free time. Based on the post I had read so far I honestly thought that there was never really any down time. I mean I knew there was time in between missions and such but the idea that there is actually free time on the bases in Iraq really rocked my naivety.
If I were to ever go to Iraq I think I would fit right into the nerdy/warrior avatar cliques only because that is pretty much what I already do, minus all the soldering in between. I thought it was interesting that Dox in the Box mentioned that it was the people who do not conform to some sort of coping cliques are the ones who typically have trouble with the distance between them and their families. It brings to mind an old adage: idle hands are the devils playground.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
[...] Day-to-Day [...]