There is a movie coming out very soon that presented a trailer on television the other day. I will never be able to watch that movie about Viet Nam, but one of the characters said something in that trailer that reached me very deeply.

That movie is, “The Last Full Measure.”

“The Last Full Measure” tells the true story of Vietnam War hero William H. Pitsenbarger, a U.S. Air Force Pararescueman (also known as a PJ) medic who personally saved the lives of more than sixty men in 1966. The character in the trailer said: “There are worse things that can happen to a man than being killed in a war.”

WOW! I knew that there are things that I am glad did not happen to me in war, but I had never contemplated that before. That started me on a deep, deep assessment of that statement.

I think everyone knows that I am an accredited Veteran Service Officer with the Viet Nam Veterans of America and with the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In that position I deal with veterans of all ages, all branches of service, and many different experiences in the military in trying to help them get the government benefits that they are qualified for.

In that position I have heard some stories and have realized that this statement is very, very true. Many of those stories have helped me bring into perspective my own personal experiences. Many of those stories have deepened the confusion and unrest in my soul.

I have met military men and women that have very traumatic injuries that are worse, I believe, than being killed in war. I have met a man that had a plate in his skull from a traumatic brain injury, three fingers of one hand missing and a major portion of his forearm muscles missing, and had more than a dozen feet of his intestines removed by shrapnel or during surgery to save his life. He struggles to consume enough of the right food to sustain his life, not to mention the emotional struggles to understand his injuries and what they do to his life. I have met a man that lost both legs, one arm at the shoulder, and the other hand. I know people that have injuries that left them in constant chronic pain at a level of 8 – 10 on a scale of 1 – 10.

In my combat, or war, experience I have had to kill. I submit to you that killing is worse than being killed in a war. Until you have looked through your gun sights at a man and pulled the trigger and watched them die, or worse stuck your knife in their body or choked them until the life drained out of them, you can never understand. Until you have had to live with that, you can never understand.

In our military training there is preparation for such experiences. For some it is enough, for others it is not.

Many of us have tried to self-medicate with alcohol and drugs, to dull this guilt, pain, and rage which can result in violence But I think that most of us have come to realize that this not only increases the problems, it creates new and deeper issues.

I have met people that are virtually unable to function as a human being, because of what they witnessed, experienced, or had to do in war. As a protective measure they retreat into their minds, into deep dark places that are hard to get out of, in efforts to shut out the world. Sometimes this is because experiences in life remind them of combat experiences that are too painful to remember. Sometimes this is an effort to shut down the anger, guilt, anxiety, pain, and rage that are a reaction to those combat experiences.

Living with these experiences can create a hopelessness that can become all-consuming and completely overwhelming. Many reach a point where they cannot believe that they can go on.

Many have even taken their own lives to escape from these experiences.

I believe that living with all of these things and many, many more are worse than being killed in a war.

This movie looks like a good one, but I will never be able to watch it because it would take me into deep, dark places that are hard to get out of.

What do you think? If you think about it, could it be true that: “”There are worse things that can happen to a man than being killed in a war?”

Please Remember: Many of our young men and women have sacrificed greatly around the world, to protect our country, our rights and freedoms, our allies, and the Flag of the United States of America. I am proud to have been one of them, and would gladly defend this great country again today or any day.

Jim Daly, a retired captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, is a member of the Aberdeen Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post 224 and its Veterans Service Officer. He is also a member of the Vietnam Veterans of America.