I haven't been able to watch the whole thing yet, but I'll echo Greg's comments, especially about improvising when you don't have the resources you need. Full disclosure: I spent close to 2 years in Iraq: I never made it to Afghanistan.
The smells she mentions at the very beginning is absolutely a real phenomena. It'll knock you off your feet and you'll never forget it. I will somewhat disagree however about the rich not sending their kids. While there is some truth to that I am sure, I think it is important to mention that I knew several well off kids who just wanted to join. There are plenty of kids from poor families that don't. One Jr officer I was in Fallujah with was a congressman's son and a few others came from very well to do families. There are people from all walks of life in the military, and people who joined for every reason that can be thought of.
On the PTSD front, I have heard it is more pronounced these days after the Vietnam era(ish) because in earlier wars there was time to decompress and talk to teammates on the long ride home. Now they're back in 2 days and thrown out into the world, albeit with some relatively minor screening by a psychologist. I hope in the 15 years I have been on the outside they have amped that screening up.
While I'd have to really think about it, I suspect more guys from my units have committed suicide after getting back, including at least 2 senior SNCOs, than we lost in actual combat. That is just the ones that I know about...there could be even more that I never heard about. PTSD affects everyone differently and even very mentally tough people can be broken down by it.
Last edited by T_Inman; 03/15/24.
