"The Damage Done" photo essay of America's Wounded

[G_j]

www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2004/03/03_100-8.html

It's easy to send soldiers off to war. It's a lot harder to face them when they come home.

Photo Essay byNina Berman

Text By Verlyn Klinkenborg

(from Mother Jones March/April issue)

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outraged? join the world in saying NO to war March 20 !! www.unitedforpeace.org

[eileen_d]

1. Thank you for posting this

:kick:

[izzie]

2. And one beautiful man. Like a God.

I recall an artist I knew who painted the men he saw on the streets of Germany after WW2 and he was taken with the lose of legs and arms. What a sinful waste.

[gorrister]

3. reminds me of a song...

The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

By Eric Bogle

When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll go a waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong
Who'll go a waltzing Matilda with me?

[G_j]

14. "and another"

John Brown by Bob Dylan


John Brown went off to war to fight on a foreign shore.
His mama sure was proud of him!
He stood straight and tall in his uniform and all.
His mama's face broke out all in a grin.

"Oh son, you look so fine, I'm glad you're a son of mine,
You make me proud to know you hold a gun.
Do what the captain says, lots of medals you will get,
And we'll put them on the wall when you come home."

As that old train pulled out, John's ma began to shout,
Tellin' ev'ryone in the neighborhood:
"That's my son that's about to go, he's a soldier now, you know."
She made well sure her neighbors understood.

She got a letter once in a while and her face broke into a smile
As she showed them to the people from next door.
And she bragged about her son with his uniform and gun,
And these things you called a good old-fashioned war.

Oh! Good old-fashioned war!

Then the letters ceased to come, for a long time they did not come.
They ceased to come for about ten months or more.
Then a letter finally came saying, "Go down and meet the train.
Your son's a-coming home from the war."

She smiled and went right down, she looked everywhere around
But she could not see her soldier son in sight.
But as all the people passed, she saw her son at last,
When she did she could hardly believe her eyes.

Oh his face was all shot up and his hand was all blown off
And he wore a metal brace around his waist.
He whispered kind of slow, in a voice she did not know,
While she couldn't even recognize his face!

Oh! Lord! Not even recognize his face.

"Oh tell me, my darling son, pray tell me what they done.
How is it you come to be this way?"
He tried his best to talk but his mouth could hardly move
And the mother had to turn her face away.

"Don't you remember, Ma, when I went off to war
You thought it was the best thing I could do?
I was on the battleground, you were home . . . acting proud.
You wasn't there standing in my shoes."

"Oh, and I thought when I was there, God, what am I doing here?
I'm a-tryin' to kill somebody or die tryin'.
But the thing that scared me most was when my enemy came close
And I saw that his face looked just like mine."

Oh! Lord! Just like mine!

"And I couldn't help but think, through the thunder rolling and stink,
That I was just a puppet in a play.
And through the roar and smoke, this string is finally broke,
And a cannon ball blew my eyes away."

As he turned away to walk, his Ma was still in shock
At seein' the metal brace that helped him stand.
But as he turned to go, he called his mother close
And he dropped his medals down into her hand.



Copyright © 1963; renewed 1991 Special Rider Music

[izzie]

19. That is so sad. All the loves they never knew. War is just hell.

Each year I become more anti-war. And I lived in the middle of the whole war culture for 20 years and still live partly off a pension from it.

[leftchick]

4. Thanks for posting this Gj....

I read this last week when my issue came and have been looking for it on line. It still amazes me how these soldiers feel they were "protecting our freedom" when they were wounded. I guess I would have to cling to that too, because to realize I was wounded as a result of this mis-administration's continual lies would be much too hard psychologically. Good Lord this is so sad... :(

[G_j]

6. give them time

it's a long road they will be travelling.

[Cannikin]

5. Thank you...

I just sent it to my war mongering local radio host. I'll be posting his hateful rationalization later on, I'm sure.

[Cannikin]

15. That didnt take long......

I thank these men for their service and for the price they have paid for our freedom and security. As a veteren I understand the price any member of the Armed Forces may be asked to pay.


(Regardless if it was in vain or not)


Ok...I added the last part.

[Skittles]

20. I am a veteran and I cannot understand this AT ALL

WFT were those guys in Iraq for?

[Spentastic]

7. Truly eye opening

Now, this is probably going to get me excoriated.

There is substantial rationalisation in those stories.

The one about the tank driver crippled whilst toppling a wall made me incandescent. What a waste of a life.

Overwhelmingly these guys seem proud of what they have done. Anyone else willing to argue that there is nothing to be proud of whatever?

[G_j]

8. the grieving/healing process

is long and hard. We would probably do well to recognize this (denial) as a natural stage in the process. As I said above, give them time.

[Spentastic]

11. Yes you are probably right

It just kind of made me angry and sad.

The use of youth to fight useless wars always gets me.

[G_j]

12. no doubt some will cling

to the idea that what happened was for the good of their country etc. while others will come to terms with the way in which they were used.
They also have been isolated and kept out of the loop of information.
Of course, counciling is crucial, but not expected to be a Bush priority. Another reason he must go!

[Kelvin Mace]

9. They have to believe as they do...

or they would simply curl up and die. They *must* believe what they were doing was important.

In ten years, they will see things differently.

This is why young people are sent to war: They are naive.

[Cannikin]

13. I'm glad they have a positive attitude about the situation....

But the fact is...most of those injuries occurred because of false pretenses, lies, deciet.....in short...unless they happened in Afghanistan, they didn't need to occur at all.

[Jivenwail]

10. Tragic

And these guys are just the tip of a mounting iceberg of young lives ruined. It's amazing how some of them still maintain they did the right thing in Iraq. I do believe that will change, however, over time. When they truly have time to reflect and understand the why and how their lives were changed forever. I, for one, will never be able to forgive what this admininstration has done to our military, to their families. to this country and to the people of Iraq.

I don't think God will have mercy on the souls of these bastards for what they have put them all through.

[Mari333]

16. No its not easy to send soldiers off to war

I wish she wouldnt have said that.
christ. bad form, whoever created that headline.

[G_j]

17. yes but

the flag waving masses were so eager. The criminals in power so quick to sacrifise the children of others. The media so willing to go along.

[eileen_d]

18. kick to page one

:kick:

[G_j]

21. kick

[G_j]

23. kick

[jansu]

22. Joined untiedforpeace.org a while back. Will be going to the March/March

Make sure that you take many pictures, because the media and Bush gang will tell the world that there really wasn't that many protesting. We need the proof! Be sure to ask your "white haired" family members and friends to join you.
1. It plays better to the viewers if there are more than just the "hippy" "commie" types there. They will be more willing to re-think their positions, when they see others like them there.
2. It makes it harder for the police to get nasty! And, it makes for much bigger news if they do. Besides, it looks bad to arrest or beat up on granny! So lock arms with us oldies!
3. It gets the oldies (I'm there, almost) out of the house! It's good for them! We know how to do things and really we like to be asked to help out. What else do we have to do, but sit and wait for death to find us.....just joking....I am very busy, but nothing is more important than I help to give a better world to the younger ones!

"They better not touch one gray hair on this old gray head"! I know and live with pain, and I am one angry old broad!

[gorrister]

24. this will probably offend some people but...

I believe these men have suffered more than Jesus.

(mod: delete this post if you must, but it's what I believe)

There's more important things going on in the world than the Passion, folks. Let us not forget the real human suffering that's going on now.