Once a Soldier, Always a Soldier

     I understand that life is a balance of good and bad, but let's pretend reality doesn't exist for a second. Let's imagine that we lived in a world without war, chaos, and conflict. You would think would be any soldiers dream right? Who would want to return to I.E.D.s, rockets, machine guns, explosions in the middle of the night? Let's not leave out the long hours of they spend patroling and putting their lives in danger, the crappy food, depression, and worst of all PTSD. No soldier would want to return to that right?  Think again. What we fail to realize is that certain individuals crave the excitement and recklessness of war. They crave the adrenaline rush they receive in combat. In many cases, soldiers find themselves addicted to something that makes them feel good but is morally considered bad, war.

     Authors such as David Axe know exactly what I'm talking about. David Axe is the author of the graphic novel War is Boring. The novel illustrates Axe's entire journey as an american military war correspondent. The novel is based off his travels to Iraq, Lebanon, East Timor, Afghanistan, Somalia, Chad, and everything in between. The major question that Axe asks himself is, " Did I choose war, or did war choose me?" Axe reveals something new about his outlook on war in every country he visits. While war reporting proved to be physically, emotionally, and mentally, draining, Axe can't seem to stop going to war. He comes to the conclusion that is not in him not to continue to take advantage of the opportunity he has to capture war on film to share with the civilians back home. He finds life at home unacceptable, and war as necessary for his sanity.












     


     In the article Wired for war, and other lies, author Helen Redmond discusses War by Sebastian Junger. It is a first hand account of Junger's experiences at the Korengal Valley in Afghanistan. Redmond makes a statement within the article that striked me. She states, " Junger believes that the brain is wired for war and that the dopamine reward system in men drives them to become obsessively involved in such things as hunting, gambling, computer games, and war. He concludes that collective defense, bravery, and heroism produces so many chemically induced highs that soldiers become addicted to war." Junger basically claims that war gives these men the same high as cocaine. They become so infatuated with war that normal civilian life is not satisfying enough, it doesn't give them the rush they desire.


     War is a lot of things to these soldiers and unfortunately exciting is one of them. These men secretly love every aspect of war. They are intrigued by the fear involved, the killing, and the unknowns of war. War is addictive, not just to soldiers, but war correspondents, and anybody else involved in the intensity of war. I don't believe individuals such as myself, who have never experienced the "joyousness" of war, will ever understand why or how they find war so refreshing. But it's not up to us to decide what they find exciting, as long as their doing what they find fun, that's all that should matter.