The war to end all warsBy: Stella PurkeyThe aroma of death circled the battlefield. Rotting bodies covered the land. Imagine walking through a trench, occasionally lifting your crunched neck, to see the deteriorating wounded skin of your combat partners and knowing that you are the reason that their lifeless bodies lay there. The immense amount of pain soldiers felt. Their hearts throbbed in terror and fear. How do you come out of war sane?
It was a long four years, filled with casualties and mindlessness. Families left behind, having to go about life with a tight unsettling knot in the pit of their stomach. Living with the uncertainty that their loved ones will return home to them. Will the wife of a soldier be able to tightly grasp the palm of her partner's hand once again? Will she be able to greet him with her arms infinitely open? For the majority, no, this was not a reality. Whether it was death, disease, or destruction, there was always something there to affect your lifestyle. War is a state of armed conflict between autonomous organizations. War effects all aspects of a soldier's life. It affects the past, present, and future. As the soldiers loaded the boats and headed home they thought about the happiness they would be filled with when reunited with their families. However, some were scared their loved ones wouldn't accept their new appearances. That gas; that awful gas that filled their lungs and forever scarred their skin. Those bullets; those undodgeable bullets that they hoped to be immune to. They were the reason people looked at them differently. World War One ended at 11am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, in 1918. Thomas Gowenlock, an intelligent officer shares, "On the morning of November 11 I sat in my dugout in Le Gros Faux, which was again our division headquarters, talking to our Chief of Staff, Colonel John Greely, and Lieutenant Colonel Paul Peabody, our G-1. A signal corps officer entered and handed us the following message: 1. Hostilities will be stopped on the entire front beginning at 11 o'clock, November 11th (French hour). 2. The Allied troops will not go beyond the line reached at that hour on that date until further orders.” It was not an immediate return home after the war had ended. At this point in time there was not the mass production there is now. People could not get the transportation needed. Thousands of people left behind for years waiting, just waiting for the opportunity to return home; suffering by themselves; surrounded by no one. Most soldiers were not able to feel the immediate affection of their loved ones. Those who returned home to America were welcomed with open arms. Parades, marching bands, and speeches were held for those who had defended our country and those who sacrificed their own welfare for the stability of our society. They were idolized and shown great amounts of respect. They were and forever will be heros. However, it was a struggle for some to return to civilian life. Bill Gammage, an Australian academic historian mentions, "For some men the hardest adjustments were those of the mind. In the cities there was an upsurge of violence and drunkenness in 1919. Men were trying to forget, to blot out the gruesome sights and the waste of a horrible past." Returning home from the first world war was like an excruciating and tender, living nightmare for most. When soldiers arrived home from World War One they experienced a sense of regret. It was a very bitter victory. They wondered if it all had been worth it. Many left with the forever consequences. Their bodies shaking from incurable terror and the sleepless nights they were soon to encounter. Post traumatic stress disorder, also known as shellshock, was, and is a prevalent disease that comes along with war. PTSD is a mental health condition triggered by experiencing or seeing a terrifying event. Many soldiers experience flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety. It takes over soldier’s lives. For example, Elizabeth Huntley, a woman who watched and suffered through World War One on the front lines and the home front, was accused of murdering her daughter in 1917 by decapitating her. In a trial she was found not guilty because of her diagnosis. She was diagnosed with PTSD. World War One caused Elizabeth to be delusional and she was seen as “insane” to the public eye. A once well liked, intellectual woman, was now corrupt and amoral due to the unsettling sights war presented. Returning home from war didn't mean peace and security, for some it meant another fight, another battle against themselves and their illness. World War One was a hard fought war by passionate men who wanted nothing more than freedom for their country and fellow civilians. Those who survived were hoping for and deserved a warm homecoming. However, there were too many things that stood in the way of this wish. In fact, it was a long, grueling life to live after fighting for years. World War One was thought to be the war that ended all wars. This was not the case. Approximately twenty one years later, the second world war had begun. |