Tag Archives: war
Sitting in the Flames, CHAPTER TWO: Immersed in the Myth and Experience of War
In the “Gripping Hands” section of the Spring 2015 issue of the West Point magazine, a brief article about a Class of 2004 graduate reads,
Captain William N. Eberle receives Distinguished Service Cross
For his courage and gallantry while in close combat with insurgent forces during an attack at Jalalabad Airfield in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, Captain William N. Eberle ’04, a commander with 3rd Special Forces Group, received the Distinguished Service Cross on February 10, 2015 at a ceremony held at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Eberle, General Joseph Votel ’80, commanding general of U.S. Special Operations Command, said, “His actions that day epitomize determination to defeat an overwhelming enemy force, compassion for his teammates in harm’s way and valor for his courage to act in the face of danger.”
First awarded during World War I, the Distinguished Service Cross is second only to the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism and risk of life in actual combat with an armed enemy force.
Upon receiving the impressive honor, Eberle downplayed the attention saying, “This medal belongs to my team, and the honor for me is to represent the 3rd Special Forces Group”.
Que Son, Vietnam introduced the first hostile bullets that were directed my way: we were on a daylight patrol when two Viet Cong in black pajamas opened fire from our direct front. This was a fear laden encounter, survival instincts kicked-in and my head ducked automatically. However, this initial fear seemed to pass very quickly once there was awareness that the first burst of fire had been survived. The Viet Cong fled, and we neither saw nor heard from them during the remainder of the patrol.
Reflecting on this initial story about the reality of being a target for bullets, there are numerous stories one can tell about the experience of war; and each time a story is told, it is never the same because one’s experience of the times and places change. Who doesn’t want to be a hero? Who doesn’t want to have a “best seller”? My experience has been that the general content of the story remains fairly consistent; however, one’s emotional reaction to the circumstances seems to change because one’s current state of being is dynamic. Combat veterans may have a self-created “shadow side” and are at times said to create stories. Yes, experience suggests they do create stories and for myriad reasons: ego, fear, deluded knowledge, change, psychological transition and transformation, and any number of other reasons caused from not knowing the absolute truth that existed at the time an experience occurred. However, combat veterans have experienced the myth and the addiction of war, and their decorations and stories about their experiences may help future generations think straight about the perils of armed conflict and of the resolution of differences with armed violence. During a healing retreat for Vietnam War combat veterans, Thich Nhat Hanh stated,
You veterans are the light at the tip of the candle. You burn hot. You have the ability through your experience to help in the transformation of the world, to transform the violence, to transform the hate, to transform the despair. You need to talk…The non-veterans need to listen. The veterans deserve to be understood. To understand someone, you need to place yourself in his (her) skin. (Kotler, 1996, Engaged Buddhist Reader, Berkeley, CA. Paralax)
Sharing experiences of war does offer priceless information concerning the trauma of war, and these stories may help combat veterans, and others, become aware that war can be a heady narcotic, can be an addiction and a mistaken way to resolve differences. And yet, many of us may choose aggression to resolve differences because as human beings we may be fundamentally blinded by the tortures of fear, desire, envy, anger, pride and jealousy.
Why do we need wars?
Words taken from daily headlines certainly paint a sensual, harsh reality of war: “hostage slain,” “deadliest month,” “terror in the streets,” “stress disorders,” “war toll a horrific cost,” “airstrikes and bombs,” “deadly clashes,” “bloodshed,” and “prisons.” And a recorded history of 15,000 global wars, in 5000 plus years, and counting, seems to imply that the pain and suffering of war continues and will continue. As a fan of the NBC television show “Dancing With The Stars,” it has been quite moving to watch double amputee-left arm and left leg-Noah Galloway and his professional dancing partner Sharna Burgess perform. Noah is a storied Iraq combat hero and shining physical and mental example of the freedom, with proper support, that can rest beyond acceptance of the trauma of war. The question lingers: Why do we need such pain, trauma and scars to connect with life as it is intended to be?
When New York Times best-selling author Ellen Tanner Marsh reviewed Sitting in the Flames, she wrote, “In clear, heartfelt prose, DeVore describes a brave and unflinching confrontation with his past, made necessary in order for him to have a more meaningful future. War, he realized, isn’t just one man’s experience-it’s the sum total experience of an entire country. To stop wars, he argues, we must understand them and why we need them.”
As Noah Galloway can attest, transformation of combat trauma demands that one begin to become aware, understand and accept personal suffering. My Vietnam War experiences were buried for 32 years. Until support arrived to facilitate becoming aware of stuffed fear, sitting with it, reflecting on it and accepting it, the artist within was deluded and not free to create life where peace of mind, purpose and connection with each moment reside.
My intuition is offering that personal pain and suffering, our Vietnam wars, can be transformed to positive energy that can be used to model the way as a person, in relationships and when helping others. The only requirement is to sit in silence and solitude, listen to our “inner roommate” and be open to the messages we receive. If we each take this one step at a time-sit in the flames of personal Vietnam wars-the sum total experience of an entire country can begin to be healed, too. As persons, if we continue to recycle personal wars, cultures will continue to have collective trauma and wars will continue to be reality and add to the growing number of conflicts as the years pass.