Moral Injury

Welcome back to SNAFUBAR, a podcast on American militarism and national myths. What do veterans, psychiatrists, and ancient Greek authors have in common? They help us understand and define the complexities of moral injury and post traumatic stress. The United States is a martial nation, the military and its pageantry is everywhere. But is that same energy found in the Veterans Affairs Offices? As a martial nation, the United States is quick to deploy and send troops abroad. But when soldiers return home, where is that same energy and support? Where are the benefits and social programs for our service members returning home from war? Do we only ‘support our troops’ as servants to fight in wars? Only when it is relevant in a nationalistic way? We’ll discuss in this episode of SNAFUBAR. SNAFUBAR is hosted by ⁠⁠⁠Sara Hart⁠⁠⁠, Chair of the Applied Humanites Department at Cal Poly Humboldt, and ⁠⁠⁠Jeff Crane ⁠⁠⁠who is an Environmental Historian and Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Research and writing for the show by Liam Salcuni and Roman Sotomayor. SNAFUBAR is produced by Abigail Smithson and brought to you by the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Cal Poly Humboldt. Works Cited: American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 1980. David M. Potter, The Impending Crisis: America before the Civil War, 1848-1861, 2011. Edward Tick, Warrior’s Return: Restoring the Soul After War, 2014. Euripides, The Trojan Women, 415 BCE. John Huston, “Let There Be Light”, 1946. Jonathan Shay, Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character, 1994. Jonathan Shay, Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming, 2003. Karl Marlantes, What It Is Like To Go To War, 2011. Lieutenant Colonel Bill Russell Edmunds, God Is Not Here: A Soldier's Struggle with Torture, Trauma, and the Moral Injuries of War, 2015. Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried, 1990. Tim O’Brien, If I Die In A Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home, 1999.