t filled Alex with despair. If we weren’t there to win, then what were we doing? That’s a question tens of thousands of veterans would ask—but nobody ever really answered them.
https://plus.thebulwark.com/p/september-11th-911-never-forget-combat-veterans
All too often we forget about this aspect of moral injury . The sense of betrayal that what the fuck are we fighting for ? And, in the case of Alex, the lost in the wilderness desolation that comes from that lack of purpose post war, post separation from service. I too have a friend who has a similar story arc to Alex. I’d be surprised if any war veteran doesn’t know a fellow vet that traces the same story arc.
That’s why I titled this post sound familiar? But it’s not just Afghan or Iraq veterans. Jonathan Shay wrote a book about Vietnam veterans called: Odysseus in America wherein he documents this sense of betrayal and purposelessness. But of course the whole tale of The Odyssey is one of a warrior lost after war.
So if if it doesn’t sound familiar, talk to a veteran. Or, read these books.