War Story #19 Beyond Endurance

How long could you take it?

Living hour by hour, day by day, in terrible conditions, thinking you might die at any moment, whether you make a mistake or not. You constantly think about how to outsmart the enemy and live when you make direct contact with the enemy.

Then there are the mines, Bouncing Bettys, booby traps, Punji Pits, Claymore’s, IEDs or improvised explosive devices, roadside bombs, and so many other killing gadgets and machines that create a world where no matter how well-trained, experienced, smart, courageous, cunning, and physically strong you are, if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, your number may be up.

For soldiers, the U.S. Civil War lasted 4 years and was the deadliest of all American wars; the average time a soldier spent serving in that war was about two and a half years.  I could find no records of how often they would see combat. But the numbers speak for themselves: over 752,000 to 851,000 died, plus hundreds of thousands without limbs, eyesight, or other severe ailments. Mostly white soldiers fighting to free black slaves. It was a gruesome war.

World War II lasted less than four years for the U.S. The average American soldier saw 43 days of actual combat, and over 405,000 died.  This was when we heard about a phenomenon called “shell shock.”  In WW II and Korea, there was the “Thousand Yard Stare.” In Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan it was PTSD.

In Korea, a war that lasted 3 years, American soldiers saw combat for an average of 180 days, and 40,000 died.

Vietnam lasted over 8 years, and the average soldier saw combat for 260 days, and 58,000 died. However, that is far less than upwards of 300,000 reported to have died to date from the deadly Agent Orange afflictions.

In the combined wars of Iraq and Afghanistan, still unresolved after decades, soldiers went beyond 320 days of combat in total, with many going on 5 and 6 tours of duty.  Many of those tours were one year long, some longer, some less.

The trend is ominous.

Lieutenant Calley and his Company in I Corps, South Vietnam, committed the heinous crime of killing between 350 and 500 civilians in the My Lai Massacre. Yes, it was done by American soldiers – most were teenagers.

Staff Sergeant Robert Bales completed 3 tours in Iraq and was on his fourth tour in the other war, Afghanistan. He volunteered right after the awful events of 9-11. He wanted to serve his country and take the war to those who would harm us.

He went into harm’s way, and then something went terribly wrong for Sergeant Bales and some poor, innocent Afghans.

Neither a draftee nor a kid, Sergeant Bales was experienced, educated, well-trained, and a professional, as shown by his rank and tenure. Bales is an “American mass murderer and former Army sniper who fatally shot or stabbed 16 Afghan civilians in a mass murder in Panjwai District, Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, on March 11, 2012 – an event known as the Kandahar massacre”.

But does anyone really think Calley, his men, or Bales did it of sound mind?

This is the cost of war. Massacres happen due to fear, frustration, and folly of war.

We may think we can fight a war cleanly, antiseptically with precision strikes and laser-focused arms that fly through windows from drones hundreds of miles away with pinpoint accuracy.

Gaza is a recent example of how ugly war is, and the pain and suffering will go on for lifetimes. As advanced as Israel is with military capability, the surprise attack by Hamas shows the insanity, treachery, and viciousness of hatred by Hamas radicals. In turn, Hamas has invited revenge of a horrific kind. Clearly, they misjudged the fury of Israel.

War is won with boots on the ground. As a result, the costs of war continue for many years after the war is over, and the guns fall silent. Gold Star families and the severely wounded have a lifetime of pain and suffering. The loss of a son or daughter at war is a life changer, mostly for the negative side, where few can break out of the agony, marriages end in divorce, kids are torn, families turn to drugs, and suicide is common.

After all these centuries, the Middle East religious tribes are still fighting each other, and more massacres happen all the time. Radical Islam did not save it then and will not now. Muslims are lost for generations to come. Radical Islamic wars/Jihad against Jews and Christians will continue for hundreds more years. Hatred is taught to the next generation, so the battles continue.

Today, there is outrage against Israel. The false suggestion is that Hamas is the victim. Hezbollah is only defending itself. Iran is a friend trying to help friends. All this is total nonsense, of course. But the protests by ignorant, ill-informed fools at U.S. colleges/universities are shocking. Most of these college kids can’t spell Hezbollah or explain why Hamas is fighting Israel or being supported by Iran. Don’t laugh when you ask about the Houthis or the difference between Shiite and Sunni.

The shock is that American youth by the thousands shout, “Death to America”, without knowing why they are demonstrating. They are lost in their spoiled world of privilege in the face of egregious evil against humanity. What do they claim will satisfy them when America has no troops on the ground or is directly involved in Gaza except to offer humanitarian aid? End investment by corporations into the college trust funds. How lame.

Where was the outrage all these years to the tens of thousands of others who have died at the hands of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Al Shabab, ISIS Khorasan, Boko Haram, and other corrupt criminal radical murderers who have no mercy on men, women, and children?  Worse, they continue massacring hundreds of people with suicide bombings and other attacks nearly every day. Try staying alive as a member of the LGBTQ community in the Middle East.

The whole situation is completely outrageous and inhuman. The level of torture, destruction, and death is massive and continues every year for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

The simple fact is that much of the World is not only uncivil but also barbaric.

There is no simple answer, but humanity must stop the insanity.

Otherwise, humanity seems to have more endurance for death.