A brief thought on Fort Hood
November 6, 2009 by christina
I have to think about the Fort Hood shootings for my job, and today it’s all I can think about. The reptilian part of our brains are taking over again, and fear threatens to overwhelm empathy and rational thought.
I know people struggling with great mental burdens. But I do not know what our military goes through when they are deployed. I know what it is like to be in grave, personal danger. But I do not know what it is like to be faced with the imperative to kill or be killed.
Such sorrow to have lost so many so senselessly.
And I thank every one of our soldiers for the role they play in my life. I know that our men and women serving our country in the military are what make it possible for me to sit, comfortable in my home, and drag out my soapbox on any issue and speak freely about it.
I have no soapbox today. Just sadness for the destruction that has been wreaked upon so many families that have already sacrificed so much.
Advocate for better medical help for our soldiers. Advocate for state-of-the-art mental counseling for those who have been traumatized by war.
And give blood to the Red Cross.
I will not be a downer forever, people. I promise. But man, what a week.
Be safe. Be loved.
I heard a friend of the shooter’s on GMA this a.m. saying that there’s no caretaker for the caretakers. Not to excuse what he did, but it is something to think about. My heart goes out to the victims’ loved ones.
April, I think we react too quickly with fear and don’t give ourselves time enough to understand what the real story is. I hope that, in the new stories and alleged links to this that and the other thing that will keep our country gripped by fear for another decade, we do not lose sight of the dismal support our military men and women receive in dealing with the emotional and psychological strain of the job they are asked to do. We need to support our soldiers, not cast them aside.