The tragic news last week that ranger Margaret Anderson was shot and killed in Mount Rainier National Park by Benjamin Colton Barnes brought with it national attention and a litany of sensational headlines. (What came first, the national attention or the sensational headlines, is a chicken-egg debate for another time.)
Some form of PARK RANGER MURDERED BY IRAQ VET splashed across the top of many prominent newspapers and news sites alike. And while technically not incorrect – Anderson was a park ranger, Barnes was an Iraq vet, and there was a murder – the simplicity of the narrative established by that headline does us all, vets and civilians alike, a great disservice.
The much vaunted military-civilian divide has created a curiosity and demand for stories about service members and veterans, which is a good thing. Knowledge is power and all that. The downside of this though, is in an ADD-addled culture and news cycle, there’s very little room for nuance and depth – and the road to and from combat is both. The result of this incongruence tends to result in sloppy stereotypes that belong in bygone eras. Such was the case here.
Generally speaking, there are three types of basic vet narratives in contemporary American media. One, the Hero Vet – a noble savage, ever-sacrificing and a bit dense. (See: The Hurt Locker.) Two, the Broken Vet – down on his or her luck, ravaged by memories of war, a pawn of a fake neo-empire. (See: The nightly news, every night.) And three, the Crazy Vet – PTSD, PTSD, PTSD! VETS ARE TRAINED KILLERS THAT WANT TO KILL YOU AND YOUR ADORABLE LABRADOR PUPPY! (See: this topic.) The latter narrative is where most of the Mount Rainier stories drifted, at least initially. MSNBC, for one, cited a protection order (rather than, you know, medical documentation from the military or a doctor) that claimed Barnes suffered from “possible PTSD.” Photos of a topless, tattooed Barnes posing with firearms started making the rounds at the same time, and the next thing you know, we’re an Antoine Dodson away from a “Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife (From the Vets)” remix.
First, let’s cover the PTSD aspect. Yes, according to a RAND study, nearly 1 in 5 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans report symptoms of PTSD or major depression. That’s terrible. But PTSD is not equitable to being a bloodthirsty, homicidal maniac. It’s actually not just something that results from combat either, as it can result from any number of things, like a car accident, growing up in a foster home, or losing your band’s drummer to a bizarre gardening accident. PTSD is treatable and something millions of Americans overcome every day, not just veterans, and the vast majority of them are leading stable, productive lives. I don’t know how to be any clearer about that. This is the dark underbelly of PTSD awareness, I guess.
Are there veterans out there that fit the typical vet narratives, be them the hero, broken, or crazy? Of course. Most of us though, are some combination thereof, a combination that ebbs and flows depending on the day and the moment – the same as it does for our civilian peers. We’ve all had our heroic moments, and can only hope they trump our broken and crazy moments. As Brandon Friedman, the VA’s Director of Online Communications, wrote on Twitter after the Mount Rainier news broke: “The Mt. Rainier shooter is an Iraq vet. Also veterans: Kurt Vonnegut, Hitler, Tim McVeigh, and Johnny Carson. Weak correlation.” (Friedman has been all over this topic, by the way, getting the writer of the aforementioned MSNBC article to pen a thorough walkback of his own piece.)
There are 2.4 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. We’re a community as diverse and varying as any other of that size. And the overwhelming, 99.999999% majority of us want nothing more than to lead stable, productive lives – just like the rest of the nation. Fear not America -your Lab puppies are safe.
SOURCE: Battleland
Bob Eaton
1 month ago
"In the decade since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, 2,333,972 American military personnel had been deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or both, as of Aug. 30, 2011. Of that total, 1,353, 627 have since left the military and 711,986 have used VA health care between fiscal year 2002 and the third-quarter fiscal year 2011."
"2,594,000 Personnel served within the borders of South Vietnam. Jan. 1, 1965 – Mar. 28, 1973" Source ABC news.
They say 1 in 5 vets has some sort of PTSD, I think it's more, and if that is the case then by the medias standards incidents like the Mt. Hood killer should be happening on a daily basis. But it isn't, the media is perplexed by that and so they take a few nutbags and perpetuate the stigma that we are all emotionless, mindless killers.
Being diagnosed with or having symptom of PTSD does not make you a killer, this guy was a loser long before the military got hold of him. This kind of stigma is a repeat of what we Nam vets went through with civilians after returning. So we just shut up and stuffed it. Most of us suffered and are still suffering for that 40+ years later.
If you suffer PTSD and you let the stigma of being a loser or murderer get a hold of you and hide from it or you use it as an excuse not to recover back into the world then you are in serious trouble.
Time to drop " 't " from the word can't and the resources to do that are almost overwhelming. I wish I had those resources 40 years ago.
For those who think you have to be getting shot at or shooting somebody to have PTSD.
If you can imagine yourself awakend in the middle of the night to the sounds of the air being shredded from incoming, explosions, flying metal, wood and debris and having to make your way outside in complete screaming chaos and run to a bunker made from several half culvert pieces covered with sandbags and sit there in the pitch black with the rats, dogs, muck and mud as terrified as the guy trembling next to you waiting for it to stop, only to go through it again the next night, and the night after that, and the night after that sometimes for every night for weeks……and the next day be expected to just carry on like it was just a nightmare you might get a feeling as to what carrying that home with you can be like.
What’s worse is seeing the aftermath of those rockets and mortars, even the ripped up so-called safe bunkers stuffed full with your dead and wounded friends. Rockets and mortars that are just lobbed in with no special target in mind and then perhaps having to clean up what was left of friends and then feeling everyday like tonight is your turn as the odds seem catch up, and you carry that thought everyday for the remainder of your tour all the while doing your job.
That my friend is fear, and coming home doesn’t make it go away. That’s something an 18 year old mind is not prepared for, nor any age for that matter. I have seen battle hardened grunts break under this kind of war begging to be sent back into the jungle.
That is just one of the traumas most of us were exposed to.
There are no bunkers to run to at home. Just the bunker in your head, and no that bunker is not safe either. That my friend is PTSD and it doesn’t make me or anyone else a deranged killer.
Bob Eaton
Nam Vet, 1st Cav Arty
1969-70 and 1972.
Admin (Dan)
3 weeks ago
Thank you for your sacrifice and service, Bob!
Godspeed,