Achilles in Vietnam by Jonathan Shay On Killing by Dave Grossman What It is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes Military Neuropsychology by Carrie H. Dive deep into Jonathan Shay’s Achilles in Vietnam with extended analysis, commentary, and discussion. Jonathan Shay’s Achilles in Vietnam and Odysseus in. America. Richard Blucher, Department of International Studies, The Norwegian Military Academy, PO Box.
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Shay blends the Illiad with the heartbreaking words of veterans to develop a theory of post-traumatic stress disorder. Aug 04, Cameron rated it it was amazing. The CIB was one of the most prized U. They wanted to give us a fucking Unit Citation — them fucking maggots.
Contains some markings such as highlighting and writing. Simon and Schuster, The Iliad becomes a sword-and-sandals Hollywood cliche and the Odyssey becomes the original road movie. Shay concludes his book with recommendations for ways of preventing combat trauma which would require major changes in the US military.
First is keep people together. On also was stunned by the descriptions of combat in Vietnam — both the conditions of guerilla warfare against the Viet Cong and common U. Nonetheless, he still feels deeply dishonored by the circumstances of its official award for killing unarmed civilians on an intelligence error. He started to move back and I saw he had one of those commando weapons, y’know, with a pistol grip under his thigh, and he brought it up and I was looking straight down the bore.
By clicking ‘Sign me up’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to the privacy policy and terms of use. His conclusion is both instructive and practical. One love, one hate: As we recently witnessed in xchilles Persian Gulf War, defeat may not even bring the fall of the opposing government.
During the course of this man’s year with Delta Company, it suffered more than percent casualties, taking replacements into account. All of this averages out to a 6.
Achilles in Vietnam
I shall do this primarily by focusing on those things that the Iliad brings into view but which long familiarity has made invisible vietnamm us. He contrasts this with the soldiers of the Iliad who took time to mourn the dead.
Dec 16, Diogenes rated it it was amazing Shelves: They walked for a day and a half in search of water in Vietcong-controlled territory. A vast number of military shwy, civilian defense officials, and civilian contractors were involved in the specification, design, prototyping, testing, manufacture, field testing, and acceptance of the M Much of the public treated them with indifference or derision, further denying the unanchored dead a resting place.
Yet the obviousness of Shay’s points, once he has made them, is the obviousness of retrospect and hindsight. It was heavy, but at least you could depend on it.
If we ignore Achilles in Vietnam and its implications for tragedy, comedy, and every other genre of literature, we jonatan the risk of continuing to be baffled by the obvious. Note the dependency of every man on others: The Achilles argument was enlightening because it contextualized war within the scope of thousands of years of history and thousands of years of soldiering.
It made for more focused reading certainly. During a group therapy session, I aachilles blundered into a casual mention of “our defeat” in Vietnam.
We now turn to this choking-off of the social and moral world. It’s written at an accessible level. Find Rare Books Book Value.
Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character by Jonathan Shay
We cleaned the damned things every day, but they were just no fucking good. The lieutenants got medals, and I know the colonel got his fucking medal. InShay shifted from neuropathology to the study of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder PTSD and published a short article linking the combat histories of patients at the VA with the experience of war described in Homer’s Iliad. Basically, Shay is considering the traumas endured by Vietnam and other combat veterans within the context of Homer’s classic.
Remember, in the ancient world, all males were warriors so all males had experienced war.
Two and a half stars. Refresh and try again.