Cheryl Softich, the mother of veteran Noah Pierce who committed suicide, says, “the United States Army turned my son into a killer...They forgot to untrain him, to take that urge to kill away from him.” (qtd. in Wartorn) Noah Pierce served two tours in Iraq and claimed he did terrible things. As a result he suffered the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD and eventually committed suicide. In Ashley Gilbertson’s “The Life and Lonely Death of Noah Pierce,” Ira R. Kats states that around “550 and 650 veterans are committing suicide each month” (qtd. in Gilbertson). This is surely due to the tasks carried out by these veterans, which is eliminating enemy threats regardless of collateral damage which can include non-combatants such
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Additionally, though wars are universally considered a bad thing, sometimes they are necessary to eradicate evil factions such as the Nazis. This in turn produces a mindset in some that fighting for your country is glorious and patriotic in order to fend off those who are attacking you like in the American Civil War. For instance, in Ashley Gilbertson’s “The Life and Lonely Death of Noah Pierce” when veteran Noah Pierce brought enlistment papers home shortly after 9/11 and told his mother that he would be enlisting whether or not she showed her support by signing off on the papers (Gilbertson). Another ideology of going to war was that those who fled from the battlefield were cowards. Also, those that were frightened in the war were ridiculed and sometimes even labeled as disgraceful to their country and family. In the documentary Wartorn: 1861-2010, Angelo Crapsey wrote about some of the men in his company returned home. He wrote, “they are cowards. I won’t disgrace my parents by deserting or turning back. A soldier’s life is hard but I should be able to take care of myself.” (qtd. in Wartorn) However, that method of thinking starts to change upon entering boot camp and being brainwashed into an aggressive killer used to wage …show more content…
Specialist Noah Pierce was part of a unit that was involved with the Iraq invasion and was assigned to the frontlines. When Pierce’s unit was conducting house raids, Noah came into close proximity with an enemy soldier who was on “his knees with his hands on his head” and Noah shot the enemy contact (qtd. in Gilbertson). However, not all the time are soldiers partaking in skirmishes with enemy forces. There are times when soldiers witness and deal with the aftermath of an engagement between opposing forces. In one of his letters, Angelo Crapsey writes about how one specific day on the battlefield was spent burying the dead. Crapsey wrote that, “the 18th was spent burying the dead. It makes me feel lonesome. So many killed and wounded.” (qtd. in Wartorn) In addition to the aftermath of a battle, sometime when firefights occur between forces there is always a chance of collateral damage. Sometimes this collateral damage just affects the surrounding environment such as causing buildings to collapse or charring grass fields due to fires and explosions. But sometimes the things affected are non-combatants such as women and children. In an interview from the video clip “Numbing & Horrible,” former drone operator Brandon Bryant talks about an operation where he fired upon a group of targets where only three of the
Additionally, though wars are universally considered a bad thing, sometimes they are necessary to eradicate evil factions such as the Nazis. This in turn produces a mindset in some that fighting for your country is glorious and patriotic in order to fend off those who are attacking you like in the American Civil War. For instance, in Ashley Gilbertson’s “The Life and Lonely Death of Noah Pierce” when veteran Noah Pierce brought enlistment papers home shortly after 9/11 and told his mother that he would be enlisting whether or not she showed her support by signing off on the papers (Gilbertson). Another ideology of going to war was that those who fled from the battlefield were cowards. Also, those that were frightened in the war were ridiculed and sometimes even labeled as disgraceful to their country and family. In the documentary Wartorn: 1861-2010, Angelo Crapsey wrote about some of the men in his company returned home. He wrote, “they are cowards. I won’t disgrace my parents by deserting or turning back. A soldier’s life is hard but I should be able to take care of myself.” (qtd. in Wartorn) However, that method of thinking starts to change upon entering boot camp and being brainwashed into an aggressive killer used to wage …show more content…
Specialist Noah Pierce was part of a unit that was involved with the Iraq invasion and was assigned to the frontlines. When Pierce’s unit was conducting house raids, Noah came into close proximity with an enemy soldier who was on “his knees with his hands on his head” and Noah shot the enemy contact (qtd. in Gilbertson). However, not all the time are soldiers partaking in skirmishes with enemy forces. There are times when soldiers witness and deal with the aftermath of an engagement between opposing forces. In one of his letters, Angelo Crapsey writes about how one specific day on the battlefield was spent burying the dead. Crapsey wrote that, “the 18th was spent burying the dead. It makes me feel lonesome. So many killed and wounded.” (qtd. in Wartorn) In addition to the aftermath of a battle, sometime when firefights occur between forces there is always a chance of collateral damage. Sometimes this collateral damage just affects the surrounding environment such as causing buildings to collapse or charring grass fields due to fires and explosions. But sometimes the things affected are non-combatants such as women and children. In an interview from the video clip “Numbing & Horrible,” former drone operator Brandon Bryant talks about an operation where he fired upon a group of targets where only three of the