Why so many with PTSD?

I just watched a video on the effects of PTSD on Vets of the Iraq/Afghan war . I couldn't understand why the effect seems so much more common on current soldiers than in soldiers of previous wars. At least it seems. Perhaps it is not more it might just be talked about more frequently. But I doubt this because of the suicides these vets seem to be having.

In the video I watched several Iraq vets discussed the aspect of the war that effected them most. In their stories was one feature not found in earlier wars. That was their killing of innocent women and children. In WW2 a large percentage of the infantrymen did not fire their weapons. In spite of the fact they were in a heated battle. This fact had been noted by the Army and it found a way to train out this reluctance. So in Iraq this was not a problem. It also found a way to demonize the enemy so everyone was a possible enemy. But one thing the Marines and Army could not do was to train out was all the moral reluctance to kill ingraned in a human being. There was that little bit left that would come back to haunt the soldier eventually. That was evident because of the participants in the movie would talk about it. If they had had no moral conscience against killing women and children they would not have been tallking about it in the video.

I don't believe it was the strain of battle because can there be more strain driving down a road waiting for an IED than there is waiting to assault an enemy position where you were almost certain to die? The Third Infantry Division, my old outfit in WW2, had 25,000 casualties. Almost all of them infantry of course. So if you were an infantryman and assigned to a unit in a battle you just figured you were going to die. In 10 years in Iraq there were just 4,000 killed although several 10's of thousands were grievously wounded.

Have you ever heard of an Airman or Drone pilot having PTSD. I don't think so.

So the military has to train out this moral trait against killing another human being. Especially of women and children. That would get the cost of their war cosiderably.

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4 years in 3rd Inf in WW2 Go here My less heroic contribution. KE7PLR Established (born)Aug. 23, 1921