Achilles in Vietnam is a documentary based upon the ground-breaking work on PTSD and combat veterans of Jonathan Shay. This documentary is not for the feint of heart as it confronts the reality--warts and all--of the psychic damage suffered by combat soldiers in, during, and subsequent to serving in fields of conflict and war. It is graphic, heart-wrenching, and should be required viewing for politicians and anyone else who thinks we should ever send people to war. I have not ever been able to watch this film in one sitting, nor have I ever watched it with any one else around: it is simply too painful and raw. Wilfred Owen captured the sentiment some 96 years ago in his poem Dulce et Decorum est: If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues, My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est Pro patria mori.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 03:39:37 +0000
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