Timmy Overby Ms. Hollingsworth Senior Project 12 Oct.

2012 Sacrifices of a Soldier A soldier makes a great multitude of sacrifices, and most regular citizens find themselves ignorant of the substantiating hardships and troubles a soldier must face. Usually, when someone thinks of a problem for a U.S. soldier, a person thinks of the physical challenges, explosions, or, most commonly, a soldier getting shot. Many people find themselves unaware of the immense mental troubles a soldier can experience daily. Even though the problems for a soldier really seem to never end, striving for solutions should have a major priority for politicians and the superiors of the military. In some cases, the mental damages on a soldier can cause more harm than the physical hurt. U.S. soldiers can face Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), emotional depression, and feelings expendable. During a soldiers service, he or she may receive orders for deployment to a hostile area for combat. When a soldier faces combat, he or she can endure a traumatic event that could change his or her life forever. Many people do not understand PTSD and its effects on a person. Authors Smith and Segal explains that [p]ost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop following a traumatic event that threatens your safety or makes you feel helpless (Smith and Segal). Cases of PTSD accumulate from a traumatic event that leaves the person with a constant fear of danger and having a constant sense of the painful memories that triggered PTSD. Many people know about the physical injuries a soldier can receive in combat, but many overlook

Overby 2 PTSD and choose to ignore and not treat the increasing problem that can leave the diagnosed mentally crippled. Through medical research, treatments for PTSD have been discovered that significantly improve the patient. The disorder can remain dormant for an inconsistent and unexpected amount of time, but the victims should try to receive help as soon as possible, no matter how small the case or symptoms. Diagnosed patients have a window of opportunity to seek help before it escalates in their lives. Certain forms of therapy can help soldiers diagnosed with PTSD to get weaken the traumatic thoughts. Smith and Segal explain that [t]herapy also involves identifying upsetting thoughts about the traumatic eventparticularly thoughts that are distorted and irrationaland replacing them with a more balanced picture (Smith and Segal). Soldiers have an opportunity to receive help to stabilize their lives from PTSD through treatments and family help. After successful therapy and treatments, a soldier can usually return back to his or her normal life without constant fear and pain. Soldiers not only suffer from PTSD, but a soldier endures other emotional challenges that can wreak havoc on the soldier mentally and physically. During deployment, soldiers begin to feel emotions that can lead them to believe their family and friends do not care or have forgotten about them. These feelings can subject the soldier to feelings of depression and other degrading emotions. Brittany Brown establishes that [t]he only word, or feeling, Ive found that remains constant, is loneliness (Brown). The soldier usually does not mention the feeling of being afraid or the feeling of being weak. The soldiers loneliness in combat can result in effects worse than fear and feeling frail. Even though the soldier can have many people around him or her, the feeling of being with friends and loved ones from home remains absent. Also, the feeling of being away from their significant other can create heartache and worry. Because of these feelings

Overby 3 of loneliness, the soldier may not properly function, make life-threatening mistakes, and may begin to have thoughts of suicide. These feelings of seclusion and depression can evaporate with the right support and love from people at home. During the soldiers deployment, regular communication with family and friends can result in a mentally resilient soldier. Keeping consistent interaction with a soldier through video calls, phone calls, or especially something the soldier can view repeatedly such as a letter, can prevent a soldier from feeling displaced. In the article The Emotional Cycle of Deployment: A Military Family Perspective, the author explains that [o]n the positive side, the ability to communicate home from any other site, is a great morale boost (Pincus 3). Within a healthy marriage, steady contact between spouses and friends and the soldier can relieve stress and help fight loneliness and depression. The adage make the little things count can go a long way for a lonely soldier. Simple items such as letters or care packages can make the difference between misery and contentment for a soldier. While many soldiers suffer from depression, many feel as if they have become expendable. Every soldier begins his or her service with the signing of a contract; however, after a few years of service, a soldier may begin to feel expendable to the government and his or her superiors. Most soldiers experience deployment to different parts of the world that may have hostiles, and he or she may obtain injuries, but some soldiers may experience injuries during training. In the article A Morally Bankrupt Military: When Soldiers and Their Families Become Expendable, the author reveals, According to military records, over 43,000 troops classified as nondeployable for medical reasons have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan nevertheless (Jamail). Instances such as these escalate the question if the soldiers now have become expendable to the country they serve because the military sends off those who have already

Overby 4 received injuries. United States soldiers should not have the characteristic of expendability to his or her superiors, but instead, the superiors need to observe the soldier as a person with a family and not a pawn in their game of war. Even though soldiers feel expendable, a few actions can occur to avoid this feeling. Soldiers have minute windows of opportunity to request time to go home to avoid feeling expendable. For businesses in the United States, U.S. companies have obligations to the regulations and laws established by the Better Business Bureau and the government that they must abide by. The military should follow the same basic principles by treating its employees, the soldiers, with more care instead of using them for their immediate needs and wants. The Military Deployment Guide establishes that [t]he Rest and Recuperation (R&R) leave program provides service members who are deployed to certain locations, an opportunity to have a few days away from a hostile fire and imminent danger area (Department of Defense 111). Soldiers need to attempt to familiarize themselves with the multiple types of leaves and benefits they can receive. By having adequate knowledge of the different forms of leave available, a soldier can take every opportunity he or she can to have rest and gain a sense of worthiness for him or herself. Soldiers come in contact with diverse problems that can leave them with physical and mental struggles. Soldiers should have no exception when it comes to the rules and regulation of business. Soldiers make a great sacrifice and give up so much to protect the peoples freedom. They face pain and difficult challenges throughout their entire service. While most people ignore the fact of global problems and terrorists, some citizens become courageous and patriotic enough to sacrifice their lives to protect America. A U.S. soldier defends the freedom of the people. U.S. citizens can at least try to help protect the lives of those who make possible the freedoms,

Overby 5 abilities, protection, and opportunities that people have today.

Overby 6 Works Cited Brown, Brittany. Loneliness of Combat. U.S. Army Live. U.S. Army, 9 Mar. 2011. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. http://armylive.dodlive.mil/index.php/2011/03/loneliness-of-combat/. Jamail, Dahr. A Morally Bankrupt Military: When Soldiers and Their Families Become Expendable. Truthout. 11 Nov. 2009. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. www.informationclearinghouse.info/article23952.htm. Smith, Melinda and Jeanne Segal. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Symptoms, Treatment, and Self-Help. Helpguide.org. N.p. June 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. http://www.helpguide.org/mental/post_traumatic_stress_disorder_symptoms_treatment.ht m. Pincus, Simon H., Robert House, and Joseph Christenson. The Emotional Cycle of Deployment: A Military Family Perspective. Operation: Military Kids. N.p. U.S. Army Medical Department Journal. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. http://4h.missouri.edu/programs/military/resources/manual/Deployment-Cycles.pdf. United States. Dept. of Defense. Deployment Guide: Preparing You and Your Family for the Road Ahead. Feb 2012. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. www.public.navy.mil/surflant/.../PreDeployment%20Guide[1].pdf.