War, trauma, and lost causes: What now for South Africa’s soldiers?

A way to deal with trauma is with humour.

Some cynical American veterans, returning from the Vietnam War in 1975, had T-shirts printed which said: “Participant, Southeast Asia War Games, 1961-1975: Second Place.”

Post-traumatic stress disorder affects many combat soldiers and has become much better known in recent decades.

For the Vietnam vets, that stress came not only from what they saw but from the fact many would have felt powerless… and that, ultimately, they did not win, which is the goal of any army.

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On top of that, many a Johnny who has come marching home discovered his fellow citizens didn’t understand him – but more importantly, that the dying and crying were for no purpose.

That is why it is crucial that the South African National Defence Force troops returning from the grisly, but losing, peace enforcement operation in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) get psychological counselling as soon as possible.

Treating the physical injuries many of them suffered in firefights with the M23 rebels in DRC will be comparatively straightforward, compared to trying to straighten the minds and souls scrambled by that experience.

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And, no matter how you feel about the competence of our soldiers on the ground or that of their leaders, these troops were let down by their own high command and by the politicians who have, for decades, bled the military dry and taken away much of its capability.

Those soldiers will, like many citizens, be wondering why we were there in the first place.

A commitment to African peace sounds high-minded, but without the financial muscle to back it up, the people you send become cannon fodder.

Nothing destroys military morale more than dying in a hopeless cause, which this certainly seems to be. We all deserve answers – but will we get them?

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