As it continues, the Iraq War takes its toll

From the UDK today:

I’m terrible with birthdays. I remember only three: My dad’s, my wife’s and my son’s.

My son’s is easy for two reasons: I’ll never forget the rainy morning we brought him home and I pondered how anyone could be so small and fragile; and, he was born the day the war started in Iraq.

Being a veteran, this connection started pulling at me immediately, especially when I realized I was the same age as the average soldier serving on the front lines in World War II. The difference between the average age of a World War II soldier, 27, and the average age of a soldier in Vietnam, 20, is one factor explaining a high occurrence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in Vietnam veterans. The argument holds that a 27-year-old, which happens to be the average age of a casualty in Iraq, is better equipped, psychologically, to handle war. Currently the average age for military members is 25. The average age of a soldier in Iraq could be lower, since the average infantry soldier is only 19.

Another difference between World War II and Vietnam that may contribute to a high occurrence of P.T.S.D. is the time served in combat zones. World War II soldiers experienced about 60 days of combat spread through a few years while an average Vietnam soldier saw 240 to 300 days of combat in a single year.

In the Iraq War, preliminary numbers indicate a routine similar to Vietnam. Around 50 percent of the servicemen in Iraq are on their second tour and 25 percent are on their third. This many deployments can easily add up to years away from home for soldiers. If a child was born around the time of their deployment, those soldiers would miss out on practically every major event of the child’s early development—their first words, first steps and if it had been me on my second 18 month tour, I would have missed my son’s first day of preschool.

Up to 90 percent of the soldiers in Iraq have been in a fire fight because, unlike in World War II, there are no front lines. Fighting can happen anywhere.

Dustin Crook, a KU junior, fought in Iraq for a year when he was 20. He provided security to convoys going in and out of Iraq from Kuwait. He said attacks were sporadic, with numerous close calls happening in one month and then a month or two with none. The attacks included 10 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and numerous small arm and rocket propelled grenade fire fights. He said overall he experienced 10 “really close calls.”

Crook was diagnosed with P.T.S.D when he returned from Iraq and simple activities, such as driving or smelling red meat as it cooks, began to trigger emotional episodes. This caused him anxiety at friendly barbecues when he suddenly thought of dead bodies.

The Pentagon’s current troop deployment policy deviates from a long standing, informal policy of giving soldiers two months home for every one month in combat, according to Larry Korb, former assistant secretary of defense. He said by not honoring this “social contract,” our country is failing to fulfill its moral obligation to its soldiers.

Korb said the Iraq War has depleted military resources and manpower, undermining efforts against terrorism elsewhere such as on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where Al Qaeda has reconstituted itself.

He said the War on Terror should not include occupations of countries as large as Iraq and America should either get a bigger force or not wage war. Korb said a military draft would be one way to solve the problem.

When the war started, I chose not to rejoin the military because I wanted my son to grow up with a father in his life. But now, my son and the war Donald Rumsfeld said would take only six weeks are both going on five year and I wonder if losing my son to a military draft in 14 years is becoming a plausible fear. President Bush said the War on Terror will take years, which if you apply the Rumsfeld coefficient equates to us fighting terrorism for decades. Factoring in that the Iraq War may be undermining the true War on Terror and that tensions are rising with Iran, I’m left wondering: Will my four-year-old son get drafted?

Foster is a Lawrence junior in journalism and creative writing.