On the problems of those returning from the war fronts

The collectivist one-world thinkers of the left, who have invaded our state-run education system (over the last 100+ years) have much to do with the problems encountered by those in the military today when they return from their sometimes protracted service in Iran, Afghanistan or elsewhere.  They have led us to a society that is much different in the U.S. than it was, say, in the days of World War II.

Those fine soldiers who went off to fight in WWII against the Nazis and the Japanese were (for the most part) very clear on what the U.S. stood for in the world.  They understood that we were engaged in a fight for "liberty" against expansionist military threats in Europe and the Pacific theaters.  And, as Eisenhower put it, after exposing his troops to the discoveries in the Nazi concentration camps: "They may not know what they were fighting for, but they sure as hell will know what they were fight against."

Furthermore, those soldiers knew clearly that they were being fully supported back home -- not by "some Americans," but by virtually "all Americans."  They knew that, partly due to the U.S. citizen's clarity on the issues at stake in the war effort and partly due to social norms of the day, that their spouses and sweethearts would (with great likelihood) be true to them until they returned.

And, when they did return, these men (and women) were treated as the genuine heroes that they were.  There was no mish-mash of opinions about the nature of their service.  There was no question about whether they were "liberators" or "occupiers."

War places tremendous strains on human relationships (e.g., marriage, family) and our culture today simply does not honor those relational commitments the way it did 60 years ago.  Marriages and marital fidelity frequently does not have the strong support from family and friends that it had then.

So, what do you expect from those returning from a war zone?  They come back having seen and done the necessary but hellish things often required of them by the nature of war.  They have been changed, undoubtedly.  Some of them have been seriously injured, having lost a limb, suffered brain injuries, or been permanently scarred or otherwise disfigured.

Meanwhile, they too often return to wives (or husbands) or sweethearts that have not been faithful to them in their absence.  They too frequently find that friends and family are more than ambivalent about the purpose of the war in which they had been engaged.  They are not heroes in the minds of many, and they find themselves being merely "acquaintances" with those who were once their mothers, their fathers, their spouses or their children.

It is no wonder that some of them they suffer mental breakdowns that may lead to divorce, hostility (when turned outward) or suicide (when turned inward).  This is not the fault of war, nor is it the fault of the military.  If anyone is to blame, it is our American society that has lost its "roots" and fidelity in so many, many ways.

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