Letters
For a long time, we have heard of stories where soldiers have killed civilians malicious with even the slightest provocation. While many have been dealt with as the law accords, the fact remains that these people if left unchecked remain a threat to civilians if it means that provoking them leads to a bullet in the head.
When I look at soldiers, these are people who deserve our full respect. Not only do these people defend our country when there is a security threat but in defending our country, they are forced to face death and look it in the eye.
Do you have any idea what this can do to any human being? The trauma it creates can make a sane person go insane. But because soldiers were trained to be brave, many leave war without any indication of mental instability.
In saying this, I am not implying that we should give them a leeway to behave inappropriately. My wish is that we should try to be empathetic whenever they lose their minds.
When judging them for the crimes that they do, we should remember that these people are encouraged to act like beasts while in war zones. In such times, it is ingrained in them by their commanders that they should hate and show no mercy to the enemy on the other side of the battlefield. To them, a show of mercy to an enemy is a risk to their lives.
So, when they come back to the civilized world, they come with such malevolent anger and teachings embedded in their brains. A mere provocation can take them back to the war time. In such a situation, a civilian becomes a war enemy who deserves to be shot dead.
My point here is that these people need a special kind of psychological therapy especially when they come home from war. The purpose of this is to monitor their behavior and help them learn to adapt living with civilians.
I am saying this because the death that these people face and see out there in war zones triggers a certain level of madness in them. So, if we let them to loom free without this kind of therapy, we risk our lives given that a slight provocation can prompt them to get a gun and shoot.