Saturday, April 14, 2007

The hidden cost of war

My view of the cost of war has always been more in terms of those who die and those they leave behind -- my great-grandfather died at the Battle of Somme in WWI and my great-grandmother was left to raise their 4 young boys on her own. But the cost that isn't talked about as much is the life-changing trauma inflicted on the soldiers who live through the horror and how they deal with it when they come home.

If you don't read anything else on the web all weekend, take a look at this post, "The Abyss", by Dave at the Galloping Beaver. It's about the hidden cost of war, post-traumatic stress disorder, and how it affects service people who've been in theater and seen war up close. A very personal and moving piece, it was no doubt difficult to write. It called my attention to yet another cost of war, and made me wonder: why are we still doing this to our young people?