Which world would you rather prepare for?

[LifeHiscost]

Quote:

http://afghanistan.nationalpost.com/haunted-by-the-ghosts-of-war/

Posted In: Features

By John Ivison

CFP PETAWAWA — Corporal Shaun Arntsen and his buddy Richard Green were playing cards near Kandahar in April 2002, when they were forced to abandon their game and head to the anti-armour range for night training. Both were members of Third Battalion of Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. Before dawn broke the next day, Private Green and three other members of the Princess Pats — Sergeant Marc Leger, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer and Pte. Nathan Lloyd Smith — were dead, killed in the Tarnak Farm friendly fire incident by an American F-16 fighter jet that dropped a laser-guided bomb on the Canadians by mistake.

Jim Lowther, a veteran of tours in Bosnia and Afghanistan, experienced an operation stress injury five years after being in a combat situation. “It’s not just the combat, it’s the death and smell and the bodies and being shot at; it’s picking up your buddy’s leg, seeing dead kids and genocide; it’s wondering why they’re lining people up and shooting them. Eventually, it will come out,” he said.

She said around 6% of cases are clinically diagnosed as post-traumatic stress disorder, a very precisely defined anxiety disorder with specific symptoms like nightmares, flashbacks, irritability and avoidance of people and places who remind the patient of their experience.

Another group that appears vulnerable to slipping through the safety net are those who have developed problems after leaving the Forces, which often means they have no military pension.

Shaun Arntsen is living proof that the road to recovery, while long and winding, is navigable. In 2006, he moved to Canmore, Alta., and began to work as a ski instructor. He still feels agoraphobic but said he’s rid himself of many of his ghosts, largely by talking about his experiences with other veterans. He currently works as a ski racing coach and professional driver. “When I first got out, I couldn’t work, I couldn’t get up in the morning. I felt like I’d been shunned, labelled a bad soldier and I fell into depression. But now I’m highly motivated and I’ve got my work ethic going. I’m back to who I was before I went overseas in ’02.”

I wonder what kind of flashbacks the pilot responsible for dropping the bomb has at night.

"Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me."John 12:25,26 NLT

"And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life."Revelation 21:2-6 NLT

Even come, Lord Jesus!

God blesses!

[Stan]

We never saw anything like looked or sounded like an apology or remorse.

[LifeHiscost]

My understanding of "friendly fire" incidents is that when it happens it's just one regrettable hazard of the war.

Another regrettable hazard of much greater significance, and more so if true, is that the million or so starving to death in Somalia is a direct result of manipulation keeping the humanitarian services out of the area that needs the food, by the "powers that be".

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

God blesses!