The trauma of war and our collective responsibility

War trauma happens to soldiers and civilians alike

War-induced trauma may persist in survivors for many years if it is not transformed or healed

Veterans of war are particularly vulnerable

Veterans may experience flashbacks, nightmares, numbing and hyper-sensitivity to certain sights and sounds that place them back in the traumatic event

They may struggle to understand who they have become and whether their pain has meaning

Some veterans experience moral injury when they realize they have participated in actions that violate

their own moral principles

One U.S. veteran commits suicide every 65 minutes

…22 U.S. veteran suicides a day

Photo Credit: Eastern Mennonite University

When veterans cannot escape the torment of war within, it is not because they are weak men and

women

Rather, wounded veterans are like canaries in our social/cultural mine

Their trauma is a reflection of our collective violence and woundedness: a warning that the

toxins of war are harmful to all of us

…a painful reminder that we have failed to learn the ways of peace.

Even as we bear collective responsibility for war’s pain

…so we bear responsibility to help all, including veterans, find a return to wholeness.

Oil lamp made from cluster bomb, Laos

Photo Credit: Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

What connections do you have to the trauma and sorrow of war?

What have you observed about the impact of war’s trauma on the lives of veterans, military contractors,

and their families?

Public Domain Photos: U.S. military sources

Wikimedia Commons.org