The effects of war.

Matt Lack 10/24/08 War has an adverse and negative impact on young soldiers, whether it be physical effects, or the question of their mental stability and well-being. The fact that most soldiers don’t expect to feel (in all senses of the word ‘feel’) the experience of death and pain. They might play a video game, with similar experiences, but to unwillingly allow yourself to experience others being ripped to shreds around you, including friends, can be, metaphorically speaking, a bomb in its own right in your head. Destroying all logic as you know it, knowing that people, who’ve put such an effort into life, can be instantly removed from your mind. Attempt to contemplate your best friend disappearing right now, knowing you’ll never seem them again. Now multiply that with seeing them being shot, and the pain in their eyes before they die. You can see that not many people, soldier or not, could handle that. That is the most influential factor in a soldier’s mental health, death. When a soldier comes home after experiencing such horrible events, he may experience depression, or insanity, that will never allow him to function normally in a regular society. As for the physical effects, being shot, pressing yourself too hard in combat and other activities implemented in war are the causes of the physical effects a soldier may experience. Imagine being shot in the shoulder, disabling the muscles, and being unable to use them to their full extent ever again. There are countless ways to be harmed in combat, but not killed. Because of this, people who return home with such wounds may experience mental effects as well, and may not be able to continue in the profession they desired to before leaving for a war. This makes them unable to participate in a normal society as a working person, and they may not get the funding they need to stay roofed. This alone can drive a soldier insane as well. War is not for the faint of heart, and even then, the effects can and will be irreversible on a person’s life, whether mentally, or physically. “The only good general is one who can defeat his enemy without ever having to dispatch a soldier.”