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War and Its Impact on Society

July 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment

War is one of the most prevalent things that can occur to a society, having lasting impacts on its citizens. Many times there is controversy within the nation as to whether or not a country should get involved in a war.

When war is imminent for a society to get involved in, sides can often be taken by its citizens who have definite opinions about the issue. Many take a strong stance in support of the military and in them being sent to the scene to fight. These people may have family members in the military or have been in the service themselves. There are also those who feel that the country should stay neutral regarding other country’s affairs or are strongly opposed to violence.

These feeling can often be inflamed by what people see, read and hear from the media. Stories of atrocities, fighting and critical issues can bring these feelings to a strong edge. Often, people have to be very careful what they take as the truth from one source or another. Propaganda and biased interpretations of events can be used to influence people’s opinions one way or another. Citizens have to get information from a variety of sources and work to find the real facts beyond what is being said. This can help them to make a more educated decision about the real situation and what action should be taken.

War and the efforts necessary to fight one can run deep into a country’s culture, government and people.

Filed Under: War Tagged With: , , ,

Our Troops Are Coming Back Home – Let Us Give Them The Respect They Deserve

June 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment
French soldiers from the 27ème bataillon de ch... 

Image via Wikipedia

President Obama has announced that he would be withdrawing 10,000 troops from Afghanistan and would bring them back home. This is indeed a happy moment for the families of all those individuals who are serving in the troubled country.

It is important to step ahead and express one’s appreciation and gratitude to the personnel of the armed forces. Many persons adopt an ideological stand and focus on whether the war in Afghanistan was necessary or not. However, the ordinary soldier does not have the option of questioning orders.

He or she will simply follow them and try to do the best for the country. In such a scenario, one must adopt the same approach and one should focus on the personal bravery of the soldiers and applaud the same when they return. The best way to respect the efforts of the military personnel is to ensure that families of those who lost their loved ones in the war effort are taken care of. It may not take a lot to ensure that any such family in your neighborhood or community is taken care of. Financial support is not a big problem because the government invariably ensures the well being of such families. However, the loss of a loved one cannot be overcome by simply receiving more cash.

Organizing a function or event that celebrates the life of those who lost their lives in the campaign will be a good gesture. One must remember the age old military proverb-there are no bad soldiers, only bad generals. When the soldiers return home, one must not insult their efforts in any manner by involving unnecessary ideological stands.

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Military Family, War Tagged With: , ,

Support our Military, Not Our War

March 9, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Support our Military, Not Our War

Here is some food for thought: People often believe that in order to support our troops, you have to be completely in support of the war. But who is really completely in support of the war, anyway? Do we need to be at war? Here is something to consider instead: You can be completely in support of the United States military, all branches and all soldiers, without actually believing in whatever the war is about, or without actually supporting the war effort at all.

How you feel about the war is ultimately up to you to decide, but this is the food for thought: Do your feelings about the war have to impact how you feel about the troops? Can you be completely, 100 percent in support of the soldiers that are over there fighting for us without being completely 100 percent in support of the war? Of course you can. So tuck away your feelings about the fighting, and focus all of your attention on those who are fighting. Our sons and daughters, our sisters and brothers, our mothers and fathers are all overseas and they are being heroes because that’s who they are and that’s what they do. Let’s focus on what really, truly matters: The heroes of our country, that will do anything to defend us, because they are all that really matters, they are all that really should matter. Keep this in mind and it may completely change how you feel about the war in general.

Filed Under: Military, War Tagged With: , ,

Military Families Are Under Pressure

March 7, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Military Families Are Under Pressure

Supporting your local military can be done in a variety of ways that are not related to actually going off to war. For those that are not military that want to show how much they appreciate the work that the military is doing on their behalf there are several great ways you can help. Taking the time to volunteer to help with whatever the families are in need of will help them to cope while their loved ones are fighting for the country. This is one of the reasons that many find it helpful to talk with the local military bases in order to determine where the greatest need is for these families. There are a number of ways that the military has in place for volunteers to help the families through the difficult and stressful time. Waiting for someone you love who is fighting a war and praying for their safe return is extremely taxing while trying to maintain a regular life.

Many military families need simple things such as someone to help with meals or carpooling and others need things like babysitting and daycare for the children. Taking the time to find out what the needs are and then working to fill the needs is the best way to accomplish these goals and let the family know that you care about what they are doing. You may be surprised to find that there are also many support groups for these families. They suffer a great deal of stress and trauma and often have trouble adjusting to the person in their family being missing. They need the reassurance of other military families who have been in the same situation and survived through the tension.

Filed Under: Military Family, War Tagged With: , ,

How to Take Action to Stop War

February 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment

How to Take Action to Stop War

War is a devastating action and it creates its side effects for many years, sometimes the effects of war become permanent. Most people around the world oppose war and most wonder what action to take to stop this war. Here are few steps and actions that could be taken to stop the devastating war.

First step is to create a petition. This can be created by opening a word document and create a page with a headline that starts with stop war and it should include some interesting content that a person actually believes in. then lines along with number can be inserted, the lines should be properly printed out so that all people around the world can easily print the signature as the sign of acceptance. Next step is creating signs. The signs can be created in the form of banner or just pocket signs that can be easily carried around.

The signs can be of any form, but it should convey the message properly. The words in the signs should be painted in dark colors so that it will be visible to all people. The words in the sign should be catchy and make people to sign the petition. Followers are very important because the truth is if there is no one following a person then no one will care about the petition or action a person is taking against the war.

The first easy thing is make friends to sign the petition first, then one ask their families and know person in the society, and finally a person can approach strangers to sign the petition. The protest should be done on places where there is huge crowd such as the public places so that many people will notice the protest and try to support the right cause. Finally, information about war and its effects should be spread to stop it.

Filed Under: News, War Tagged With: , ,

Supporting Military Families Keeps Soldiers Safe

February 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Supporting Military Families Keeps Soldiers Safe

Military families have a difficult job while waiting for their soldiers to return from countries under fire. These families have no idea where their soldiers are, when they will hear from them and when they will return. The worry associated with being a military family can be overwhelming and for this reason many families need the support of both the military and the communities around them to make it through the difficult times. This may require that the local government provide counseling for the family members as well as offer some basic supports such as group gatherings where the families can get together and discuss their fears and concerns in the world of waiting that they live in.

Holding on to a regular lifestyle while praying that their soldiers return from war safely is a huge challenge for many and difficult to get through. This doesn’t change simply because the family has been down the same road on more than one occasion. Finding support with the other military families is the only way for many families to feel as though they will make it to the end of the tunnel and be whole when the soldier returns to them. Another support that is necessary for these families to make it through is the support of the community. It is important for these families to know that the community is behind the soldier’s decision to go to war and fight for that communities rights of freedom. This is paramount to helping the family feel justification in their lives missing their family member who is doing battle and protecting the country.

Taking the time to talk with local military base personnel about how the community can best support these families is the only way to be sure that you are providing useful help to these military families. There are many ways you can give them the moral support they need to get through the battles their soldiers are facing and be ready to open their arms to the soldiers when they return.

Filed Under: News, War Tagged With: , ,

Support Military Families and Support the Soldiers

February 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Support Military Families and Support the Soldiers

There never seems to be a shortage of war in the world. One ends and another begins and soldiers are away from their family protecting their countries for extended periods of time. This means that their families are left to tend to themselves often short handed. Supporting families of the military is a vital part that communities can take part in to show they appreciate all the work the soldiers are putting in. This support can come in a variety of ways including putting together a series of pot lucks and events where the families can get together and be supportive of each other. In addition there are little things that can be done to help lift the burden of being a single parent home such as helping with car pooling and offering babysitting. You can even set up some support groups for the families so that they can alternate out dinners once a week giving the remaining parent a break from the hectic schedules.

Taking some time to research how you can help your local military families will go a long way to helping the military function properly while at war. Knowing that their families are cared for while they are at war is how they are able to do their jobs and keep themselves and fellow soldiers safe from harm. This is vital to being able to complete their tour and coming home to their family. The best thing you can do for the safety of the country and the military is to keep their family safe from harm and help them cope with the missing family members who are doing the hard work at war. Taking time to check with the families that live near you about what you can do to help them get through the tough times is a great way to show your support for your country and it’s hard working soldiers.

Filed Under: News, War Tagged With: , ,

Don’t Forget the Reporters

December 22, 2010 by Leave a Comment

The television flashes images into living rooms around the world. The news comes in short bursts of devastating pictures and catastrophic stories. When war is the subject, the pieces regularly make the viewer feel sympathy for the cause, or more specifically the sympathy for the soldiers on camera. However, it is not only those soldiers that are risking their lives and putting themselves in dangerous situations daily. The footage of these soldiers is taken by reporters who are, in many cases, right there with them in the line of danger.

While the correspondents of war zones are not always in the most highly dangerous positions, they are certainly not free of the rigors of war. They are regularly faced with the same horrendous imagery as those in the service. Unlike the military personnel, though, the media has been charged with capturing the emotion and the gravity of these situations. They are the ones who have to carry the mood back home to the public, who are comfortably watching from their sofas. In many cases, this can be as mentally burdensome as actual combat.

Why then, are reporters putting themselves in these incredibly risky situations? What is it that draws them there? While this can only be completely answered on a personal level (everyone is driven by different things) it is fair to suggest a few generalities. Journalists are, as a group, focused on retrieving and reporting the best stories. This is what journalism is. So, it stands to reason that these war correspondents are simply pursuing the story as far as they can. They are putting themselves at risk to show these war stories to the general public. By spreading the word and gaining the empathy of the people, the horrors of war become much more real and the world becomes more informed. These correspondents put themselves at risk in order to bring a high level of transparency to the world.

Filed Under: War Tagged With: , , ,

Information Wars

December 19, 2010 by Leave a Comment

It is not news to anyone that technological advancements are changing the way people interact at an incredible pace. Cell phones have made it seem that everyone is always available, social networking websites have created new ways to think of friendships, and privacy is changing right alongside all of this. It was not long ago that war media was limited to a small amount of productions funded by news sources and designed to tell a certain story. It wasn’t long before that when people saw some of the very first video footage of war zones. For better or for worse, the way the world views war has changed greatly along with advancements in technology and it is continuing to change constantly.

While the citizenry used to be subject to the filters of media outlets and the inadvertent bias of the reporters that covered a story, they can now get a much more raw version of the situation. Communication has moved from the occasional letter and military report to a constant flow of information. Members of the military can now upload videos to the internet almost immediately. They can talk to those back at home through email, or chat face-to-face on the computer. The sheer number of pictures that can come back from a war zone is like never before. With the ease and widespread use of personal cell phones and digital cameras, information has little boundary left to contain it.

This can be good and bad. While it is exceptional that those serving can more readily talk to their loved ones, it can also be alarming how much information is freely distributed. The available quantity of information can make it easier to track troops and predict military strategy, which is dangerous. But, whether we like it or not, the world is changing and war is changing along with it.

Filed Under: Media Workers, War Tagged With: , , ,

The Need to Prepare Our Troops to Come Home

December 16, 2010 by Leave a Comment
CHICAGO - OCTOBER 17: Chester Taylor #29 of th...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

When the national news stations send reporters into the battle zone, there is a lot of preparation and work that goes on behind the scenes. There are psychological screenings, background information given, lists of safe zones and other helpful information. That wave of preparation is followed by more assistance when a reporter returns from the war zone. At that point, the media member goes through debriefings, has psychological screenings and goes through counseling. With all that being done for media workers you would assume that our troopers get even more assistance when they return – but that’s not the case.

A solider who is off in war is often times set back into the heart of daily living with little or no preparation given. They were given a mission, the mission is complete and they are no longer needed. They are not run through tests, forced to go through counseling or even informed about the programs that are available to them in some cases. Instead they are handed brochures, like ones you might see for apartments for rent in Seattle, on ways to get a job after being a solider and sent on their way.

Our soldiers deserve a more intensive preparation period before they are sent on their way. They deserve to have someone sit down with them and walk them through what options they have, what programs are available and just basically guide them back to normal living. It can’t be easy to have to spend every day fighting for your life and your country’s freedom and then be dropped unexpectedly back into the real world.

After all, we spend thousands of dollars to make sure our media workers don’t suffer while they are in the war zone. Why not do the same for our troops who are making sure our rights are protected?

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Filed Under: Media Workers, War Tagged With: , ,
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