The act of killing in combat is associated with heightened risks of PTSD and suicide. A scholar who interviewed 30 veterans about their common experiences.
Other soldiers and vets essentially look down on you in some ways if you didn’t kill. Thankfully I never was in combat so I didn’t have to be put in that situation, even though I had a combat job. It’s so fucked.
We got our “deployment patches” in Africa because it technically was a deployment, but we never saw combat. At least I wasn’t a slick sleeve so I got more “respect” from new privates, but was never good enough for NCOs.
Edit: and it worked like a charm. When my unit got home, and we got to meet our families again, one of the first questions I got was from my Dad asking why I didn't have a badge on my chest like some of the others...
Lucky my parents didn’t know enough about that stuff and I told them not to fly to my station to see me come back. I can’t make excuses for how I was in the past other than I do not know what I know now.
Comrade, if you’re a communist and consider yourself a ML, you should look at the Party of Communists USA we have a Veterans Commission and Peace and Solidarity Commission (anti-imperialism/war) that we could use your insight on. We would actively help formulate and write the Party line on things like we have gone through and the stances on them. Feel free to PM me if you’d like.
Other soldiers and vets essentially look down on you in some ways if you didn’t kill. Thankfully I never was in combat so I didn’t have to be put in that situation, even though I had a combat job. It’s so fucked.
This problem was exacerbated greatly with 'awards' like the Combat Action Badge, if you didn't have a CAB then you may as well been a fobbit.
Towards the end of the deployment, NCO's in my unit would more frequently exit the armored vehicles and draw their weapons on whatever
We got our “deployment patches” in Africa because it technically was a deployment, but we never saw combat. At least I wasn’t a slick sleeve so I got more “respect” from new privates, but was never good enough for NCOs.
Yeah that's just it, the combat patches were awarded to 'everyone' so they invented another ornament to incentivise violence
Edit: and it worked like a charm. When my unit got home, and we got to meet our families again, one of the first questions I got was from my Dad asking why I didn't have a badge on my chest like some of the others...
Lucky my parents didn’t know enough about that stuff and I told them not to fly to my station to see me come back. I can’t make excuses for how I was in the past other than I do not know what I know now.
Comrade, if you’re a communist and consider yourself a ML, you should look at the Party of Communists USA we have a Veterans Commission and Peace and Solidarity Commission (anti-imperialism/war) that we could use your insight on. We would actively help formulate and write the Party line on things like we have gone through and the stances on them. Feel free to PM me if you’d like.