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After reading the letter by Lee Vander Jagt ("Stress Disorder Used To Be Called Cowardice") concerning a young soldier suffering from his Iraq War experiences, I was struck by Mr. Vander Jagts’ equating combat stress with cowardice. As a former National Guard member who served in the safe 1980s, the closest exposure to ‘combat’ I ever had was listening to older Guardsmen, who were Vietnam veterans, reminisce about their war experiences, often in tears.
Mr. Vander Jagt made reference to General Sherman in his letter, which called to mind for me another famous general, General Patton, who had slapped a soldier who was suffering from PTSD-or “Battle Fatigue", as it was called-during WWII. Patton, too, was incensed at the soldier’s seeming “cowardice". Perhaps Mr. Vander Jagt is himself a combat veteran, who was able to endure the horrors of war. Unfortunately, not all soldiers who experience combat are able to withstand the trauma it entails. Does that make them “cowards"?
The soldier referred to in the letter was, in my opinion, courageous even to have joined the Army in a time of war, knowing that he would very likely experience Sherman’s “Hell” of battle-a choice he freely made, and a choice not given to the soldiers who were drafted to serve in WWII and Vietnam. I can’t say that I would have joined the military now, with a war going on, so perhaps I am guilty of cowardice as well.
We should pray for the young soldier, and for all his comrades who are now in harm’s way- and we should not be too quick to judge those who have gone through what many of us have not.

Frank W. Berger
Lakewood

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