Vets

We watched "Brothers" last night. Why is it that we do such a crappy job of supporting our veterans once they're back? In this case, the husband (Toby Maguire) went to Afghanistan, his helicopter crashed and he and one of his fellow Marines were taken as prisoners of war. They were tortured for months and ultimately only one of them came back. In the meantime, the authorities had told his wife and family that he was dead.

So he comes back eventually when he's rescued and he's simply cleaned up and sent home. Hm, what might be wrong with this picture. He becomes delusional, obsessive compulsive, violent, depressed, you name it. Big surprise! But it isn't until he tries to kill himself (and possibly others, I don't know because I was only half listening at that point, not watching) that the authorities take him away and put him in a hospital where he stayed for who knows how long getting psychological care I would presume.

So, his family and friends had been placed in jeopardy, he was a danger to himself, everyone is miserable and they all have the armed forces to thank for it. You and I both know how many times this is happening across the country. We see it in the headlines as these situations play out in a dreadful way again and again.

There is only one excuse I can think of for why something dreadful has to happen before help and support is provided. It would be an admission that war is wrong, that war is unsupportable, that the wars we have been waging are pointless and we aren't and can't win them. All we can do is to continue to throw our young people at them as live test cases or even ammo to see if they might help to advance our questionable objectives.

But is anyone thinking about the ripple effects of the fallout from this stupid process? How do the family members (the ones who survive anyway), especially the children, get beyond the violence they are subjected to upon their vet's return without it causing some harmful character, personality or behavioral defect as they face challenges later in their own lives?

I honestly don't know how anyone could watch this movie and not have the same, exact thoughts. It's going to stick in my mind for awhile.