2nd multi

2nd Multi-Media Blog
The Quiet Mutiny is a documentary about Vietnam. It was made by Australian journalist John Pilger. He interviewed soldiers that had been a part of the Vietnam War for at least a couple of years. The former soldiers all came up with the conclusion that the war was the most miserable experience they have had or ever will have. The interviews showed a few different soldiers who were in there by a weird predicament. They did not just join the army for no reason. They all had their reasons, and they all regretted them.
The most interesting thing in the interview was when they interviewed the man that was convicted of a felony and was supposed to go to jail for three years. He decided that he would just go to Vietnam for two years, which was allowed in this case. When looking back on his decision he said, “I would have rather went to jail instead of going through what I did for two years. Yea jail would not have been so bad” (Interview Part 2). This shows how horrible the war was; no person in their right mind would want to go to jail over something like that. That is until they realized how bad war just is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXeJIir0MGw&feature=watch_response

book

Book Review
In Lloyd DeMause’s novel The Emotional Life of Nations, the effects that war has on soldiers was proven to be dramatic. But he also showed how the years before joining the army can affect a future soldier. The book mainly focuses on the physiological parts of the war. Whether it is about the greatest and most evil leaders of all time or about the effects that the environment had on soldier’s mind-set, the book got to the point of proving war can have its psychological effects on everyone involved.
My personal favorite part about the novel was his section on Hitler and his childhood. When hitting on Hitler’s childhood he mentioned, “Hitler’s childhood had been so abusive – his father regularly beat him with a whip… many times he was nearly killed” (DeMause 49). When a person has that rough of a childhood, it makes it very believable that they would turn out a mean person in life. Not only did Hitler endure a brutal childhood, he also suffered from a mental disorder that made him think his sperm was poisonous to women. Hitler had an extremely abnormal childhood, which can be easily linked to his horrifying acts that he committed once under control of Germany.
Overall this was a pretty good book. Although it was quite boring at times, it still kept me somewhat interested for a majority of the book. Most of the claims that the book made can easily be backed up, but still there were times where DeMause made some kind of outrageous claims. Of course the most interesting, and backed up, claim was on Hitler. I enjoyed this book, but would rather read something more interesting to me.


Book was online, url:
http://books.google.com/books?id=MdR8EhAxtgQC&dq=The+Emotional+Life+of+Nations++by+Lloyd+deMause&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=wlbrS9GYJcWqlAfYw7GcBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q&f=false


DeMause, Lloyd (2002). The Emotional Life of Nations. New York: Karnac. pp. 454. print

How the Violence of War Can Affect a Soldier

First Multi-Media Review

A short documentary, “The Iraq War: A Soldier's Perspective”, shows what the violence in war can do to a person was filmed to get the view of the Iraqi war from two soldiers whom had experienced a lot of violence in their time at war. One of the veterans that they interviewed was a PFC; he was in charge of deciphering the interrogations they would have on the captives. His first story is talking about when he had a soldier next to him get blown to pieces because of him. He said that “I was smoking a cigar in a cloud of mushroom smoke, and I had no idea”. Because of what he did, he lost a friend.
Losing a friend can really tear someone up inside. Especially when it is your bad choice that got him killed. Russell will never be able to forget something like that. Russell also killed some people. He said when he first killed people that he “didn’t think it was that bad, even laughed a little bit”. He was a part of something that war does to everyone. War changes the way people are. No one person comes back the same after being in the war. Russell said he was diagnosed with a Physiological disorder after he left Iraq, and that he cannot even be around things like fireworks without it affecting him.

"The Iraq War: A Soldier's Perspective ." Web. 08 April,2010. .

Brutality in Soldiers

In Joan Smiths article, “Now we see what war does to those who wage it”, it is shown what the type of personality a soldier can have. The article starts off by stating what two soldiers were saying when they killed what they thought were Iraqi soldiers. But the soldiers were mistaken, because little did they know that that they shot were actually journalists. The first shot fired was followed by a compliment on his shooting along with, ‘Yeah, look at those dead bastards” (Smith).The video also shows when the soldiers open fire on innocent civilians. These videos prove that soldiers are brutal, they show no mercy to anyone, and that is not a good thing to be.
Anyone that is has that kind of a personality is not going to be normal. That type of personality has to be a form of a disorder, because no one should be that brutal, especially to civilians. Although the reporters were armed, that does not mean that they were planning on killing anyone. In a place like I Iraq, you have to be ready for whatever comes your way. There is no way of knowing what is going to happen next. When the journalist was lying on the ground, bleeding to death and unarmed the soldier could only make it worse by taunting him. He went as far as saying, “"Come on, buddy. All you gotta do is pick up a weapon" (Smith). This is unacceptable behavior, and is just more proof that war can have physiological effects on its soldiers.
Smith, Joan. "Now we see what war does to those who wage it." (2008): n. pag. Web. 01 April, 2010. .

Affects World War 2 had on American Soldiers

Every soldier from the war was not sure what to expect when they came home. Almost everyone that returned suffered post-traumatic war stress. Of course one of the main problems they dealt with when returning home was the loss of jobs that America had faced. Since America was still dealing with parts of the Great Depression, jobs were much more rare than normal. This caused even more stressed than expected for the returning soldiers. In fact at this time women had begun working more than ever, leaving less and less soldiers with jobs due to the fact that there were none to obtain. And of course this was the beginning of the baby booming time. This was costing lower to middle class families much more money than they could afford. All of this combined lead to serious health issues with these former soldiers.
Soldiers from America during World War 2 were faced with many of the same issues that people fighting right now are. Of course people that were fighting from Europe were faced with a much different type of atmosphere. The one thing that Americans faced that not many faced was the warfare Japan used. Their fighting style was quite similar to the fighting styles of Vietnam. This fighting style was used to scare, wear, and tear down the United States Military Program. All of this lead to serious issues with the United States soldiers during World War 2.
http://www.cyberessays.com/History/139.htm

Emotional Effects of Trauma on Soldiers

Years upon years soldiers have been fighting for what they believe is right. Not only does it show how they can get Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from going to war, but it also shows how it can affect things such as their love life. In fact it says that war can affect somebody’s love life by, “that they find it hard to be the same, emotionally, ever again. Some may say that their inability to form close bonds with loved ones is due to the experience of near death and the fear that they will leave someone behind” (Tian). This shows how much of a psychological-emotional effect war can have on a soldier.
I think that this article shows how war can truly affect the soldier’s brain. It does a great job of showing the scientific facts. The part that makes this article stand out is the way it shows how war affects a soldiers personal life. War can have a very negative effect on a person’s relationship because that person would not want to go through with losing another close person in their life, something that happens often in war.

Tian, Stan. "The Emotional Effects of War on Soldiers." (2010): n. pag. Web. .

2nd Review

This week I read an article talking about the effects that the Iraq War has had on our soldiers. The first thing it talks about is how when a person returns home, he or she still may not be over the horrible thing that is war. The article say that the road back home, and back to normal involves, "Usually [involves] some degree of anxiety, depression, intrusive thoughts or flashbacks, and nightmares, as the most common symptoms. Fear and anger are also common." (Harris). The article says that it is almost necessary to be treated when arriving home from war. It says their are three ways to treat the soldier. The first being Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), this is where you go to a therapist and he or she shows you a better way to deal with trauma. The therapist also helps with the soldiers stress (Harris). The next way of helping a soldier become "normal" again is through the Exposure Therapy. This helps a patient by talking about whatever that person wants to get out of their system, involving trauma and other terrible thing from the war. The last treatment, which usually is a sort of "last resort", is medication. The medication is usually something serotonin, used to help a person feel better (Harris).
I used this article because it shows how a war can have an intense effect on a soldier in great detail. This shows that a person has to have a form of treatment, if not they are at risk of something as small as an "interference in the person's everyday life to the possibility of suicide" (Harris). Another thing that I liked about this article was how it showed the way to treat post-war trauma. The three ways to help get over the trauma can take some time. And that is what makes the post-war trauma so bad. The article did a great job of showing just how serious it is to go to war, and to come home.

Harris, Sherry. "Emotional Effects of War on Soldiers - It Can Be a Real Battle." (2008): n. pag. Web. 1 Apr 2010. .

First Critical Review

Search and Destroy

This book is mainly talking about why a person wants to go to war. For instance, the main character Rick went in to war to hide from people. Little does he know that war can be the most important thing he does in his life. Most people come out completely different after being in war. He enlisted in the army.

More than likely throughout the book Rick will learn a life lesson. Not only because that would fir the story, but because that is real life. When you go through an experience like you get from going through the army, you are changed. Although it is hard to prove, people change when they go in to the army.

Hughes, Dean. Search and Destroy. New York: Mass Market Paperback, 2008. Print.