War and Moral Injury: A Reader
392
War and Moral Injury: A Reader
392eBook
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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781498296793 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Wipf & Stock Publishers |
| Publication date: | 04/03/2018 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 392 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Douglas A. Pryer retired as a lieutenant colonel from the US Army military intelligence corps in August 2017, last serving on the Joint Staff as a Middle East political-military advisor. His military experience includes five years supporting combat operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo, and his essays and book, The Fight for the High Ground, explore warfare’s moral and psychological dimensions. He is pursuing a PhD in International Politics at the University of Aberystwyth, Wales.
Other Contributors:
Anthony Camerino, Anthony J. Jack, Bill R. Edmonds, Bob Darlington, Braden Allenby, Brian Turner, Charles Pacello, Chester Nez, D. William Alexander, David Peters, Doug Anderson, Edward Tick, Eric Newhouse, Erik D. Masick, Euripides, Hamilton Gregory, HC Palmer, Jonathan Shay, Joshua Phillips, Kristen Leslie, Michael Lapsley, Michael Putzel, Monisha Rios, Peter D. Fromm, Peter G. Kilner, Peter Marin, Sean Levine, Shannon French, Siegfried Sassoon, Stefan J. Malecek, Steve Mason, Timothy Kudo, Tom Robert Frame, Tyler Boudreau, Wilfred Owen, William Allen Miller, William P. Mahedy, and William Shakespeare
Robert Emmet Meagher is Professor of Humanities in the School of Humanities, Arts and Cultural Studies at Hampshire College, Amherst, MA. With degrees from the University of Notre Dame (summa cum laude) and the University of Chicago, he joined the Hampshire faculty in 1972. Prior to that, he taught religious studies and theology at Indiana University and the University of Notre Dame. He has also held visiting chairs and professorships at numerous colleges and universities, including Trinity College Dublin and Yale University. His publications include over a dozen books, as well as numerous translations and original plays. His most recent books are Herakles Gone Mad: Rethinking Heroism in an Age of Endless War and Killing from the Inside Out: Moral Injury and Just War. He has offered workshops on the translation and contemporary production of ancient drama at colleges and universities here and abroad, and has himself directed productions at such venues as the Samuel Beckett Centre, Dublin and the Nandan Centre for the Performing Arts in Kolkota, India. In recent years he has directed and participated in a range of events and programs concerned with healing the spiritual wounds of war in veterans, their families, and their communities.
Table of Contents
Permissions ix
List of Contributors xiii
Foreword William P. Nash Christa Davis Acampora xxii
Introduction Robert Emment Meagher Douglas A. Pryer 1
Poets
1 Brian Turner 11
2 HC Palmer 13
3 William Allen Miller 14
4 Doug Anderson 17
5 Steve Mason 18
6 Edward Tick 20
7 Bob Darlington 22
8 Wilfred Owen 26
9 Siegfried Sassoon 29
10 William Shakespeare 31
11 Euripides 33
Warriors
12 Bill Edmonds-God Is Not Here 37
13 Tyler Boudreau-The Morally Injured 51
14 Douglas A. Pryer-What We Don't Talk about When We Talk about War 60
15 Tony Camerino-What Buddhism Can Teach Us about Moral Injury 74
16 Timothy Kudo-On War and Redemption 79
17 Monisha Rios-The Glue Is Still Drying 83
18 Pete Kilner-Leadership, War, and Moral Injury 95
19 Peter Fromm-Cool on Honor 103
20 Charles Pacello-Moral Trauma and Nuclear War 114
21 Hamilton Gregory-They Were Called Morons 121
22 Doug Anderson-Something Like a Soul 131
23 Chester Nez with Judith Schiess Avila-Code Talker 137
Reporters
24 Eric Newhouse-Recovering from Moral Injury 147
25 Joshua E. S. Phillips-Torturing Torments the Soul 158
26 Michael Putzel-Survivors' Guilt and Recompense 163
27 Peter Marin-Living in Moral Pain 172
Chaplains
28 Tom Frame-Moral Injury and the Influence of Christian Religious Conviction 187
29 D. William Alexander-Gregory Is My Friend 197
30 David W. Peters-Sin Eater 208
31 Sean Levine-Legal War, Sin, and "Moral Injury" in the Age of Modern Warfare 219
32 Michael Lapsley with Stephen Karakashian-Owning the Past, Healing the Future 231
33 William P. Mahedy-Excerpts from a Chaplain's Notebooks 236
Scholars
34 Kristen J. Leslie-Betrayal by Friendly Fire 245
35 Brad Allenby-Respecting Moral Injury 256
36 Shannon E. French and Anthony I. Jack-Connecting Neuroethics and Military Ethics to Help Prevent Moral Injury 270
37 Erik D. Masick-A Moral Injury Primer for Military Commanders and Lawyers 285
38 Stefan J. Malecek-The Moral Inversion of War 292
39 Jonathan Shay-Moral Leadership Prevents Moral Injury 301
40 Edward TicK-Military Service, Moral Injury, and Spiritual Wounding 307
41 Robert Emmet Meagher-Hope Dies Last 317
Bibliography 329
Index 345
What People are Saying About This
“This book is a tremendous contribution to understanding Moral Injury, an impact of war largely unseen through ignorance or design. It should compel us individually and as nations to tackle mythologies contrived to glorify wars at the cost of the moral wellbeing of those sent to fight them—and to stop ignoring the costs to any nation's collective soul.”
—Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize, Founding Coordinator, International Campaign to Ban Landmines
“War and Moral Injury is not only a work from the conscience, but from the heart. This earnest and moving collection of essays, poems, memoirs and meditations gives us a much-needed view of what it is to be human in the face of war, of how we are not made to kill, and of how doing so injures the human soul. A stunning and essential book.”
—Helen Benedict, Columbia University, author of Wolf Season, Sand Queen, and The Lonely Soldier.
“If you are a non-combatant interested in a life with depth, with real humanity, then allow yourself to be guided into the inner darkness of war, and beyond, by the courageous, no bull-shit, truth-bearing veterans in this volume. While the focus is on the consequences for conscience and soul when the blood of war is visible on your hands, in the process a precious window is opened for all of us to grapple more honestly, more humbly and more hopefully with accepting our share of responsibility for violent conflicts, with transforming the profoundly dehumanizing legacy of war, whether justified or not.”
—Wilhelm Verwoerd, Philosopher and International Peace and Reconciliation Worker, Director of the International ‘Beyond Dehumanization Project’, author of My Winds of Change
“War and Moral Injury is a profound and courageous reader that gathers the voices of warriors, chaplains, reporters, poets, and scholars to open an honest place for our generation to deepen the timeless conversation about what constitutes Moral Injury and how we might restore our humanity by repairing and atoning for what violence has done to all of us. In a world increasingly numb to what we do to each other, it is clear that unless the wounds of war are forthrightly addressed, the violence will keep permeating the societies we live in. This book and the integral voices it carries helps to stop the cycle of violence and to begin to heal the trespass.”
—Mark Nepo, author of More Together Than Alone and Seven Thousand Ways to Listen
“This brilliant, timely, and compelling collection of essays, poems and reflections on the experience of war from those who fought the fight and are still fighting war’s demons, sheds urgently needed light on the moral “wounds” of our combat veterans and how we, our society, and especially faith organizations can reach out to assist them in their time of need.”
—John Scott, Retired United States Major General, Deacon, Roman Catholic Church, Diocese of Phoenix, Arizona
“Moral Injury, an ancient idea with a new name, is not PTSD. But, like PTSD, it deserves in-depth exploration. Meagher and Pryer compiled such an exploration with disparate viewpoints from poets to professors, and from warriors to chaplains. Moral Injury’s guilt and shame festers in darkness. War and Moral Injury: A Reader brilliantly sheds a much-needed, antiseptic light on this terrible wound.”
—Colonel Clark C. Barrett, Iraq War veteran, infantry officer, and military ethicist
“As a field battalion surgeon in Vietnam, I am a witness to the moral and physical injury inflicted by war. Thanks to the contributors for the healing made possible by the compassion and wisdom that is woven into every page of this magnificent volume.”
—Larry Dossey, author of Recovering the Soul and Healing Word
“This compilation of essays and poetry is a large and important step in our understanding of the tremendous psychic wounds that typically result from participation in war. No one is immune. In my military career I witnessed many—including career special operations soldiers—who found their lives undone by this wounding. This book offers varied insights into the phenomenon of moral injury and sends a clear message to those afflicted—you are not alone and there is a way out of the hell you have found yourself in. For therapists, counselors, and healers, it provides understanding and effective methods for bringing our warriors home and, in the process, healing the society. An important work.”
—Paul L. Henderson, Retired Lieutenant Colonel, United States Amy Special Forces
“An invaluable guide on the path to a fuller understanding of moral injury.”
—David Wood, Pulitzer Prize journalist, author of What Have We Done: The Moral Injury of Our Longest Wars
“Honoring our military veterans is right and necessary. However, it too often leads to glorifying war itself. The stories in this collection are a powerful antidote to that false logic. They tell us that while respecting veterans' bravery and sacrifice we must not forget the true nature of war: when unnecessary, a crime, and even when necessary, something to grieve, not celebrate.”
—Arnold R. Isaacs, former Vietnam war correspondent, author of Without Honor: Defeat in Vietnam and Cambodia and Vietnam Shadows: The War, Its Ghosts, and Its Legacy
“As William Tecumseh Sherman remarked, “War is hell.” This book explores that truism and offers a way to find the journey out of hell. In the opening pages, you will find a reason for the descent into hell: "no matter what crackling pain and anger you carry in your fists, my friend, it should break your heart to kill.”
—Robert G. Certain, Chaplain, Retired United States Air Force, Military Chaplains Association past president
“The finest resource yet on Moral Injury, this collection—historical, literary, contemporary, scholarly, and experiential—offers us all deep knowledge to understand and address the suffering revealed in these pages.”
—Rita Nakashima Brock, co-author of Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury After War
“This wide-ranging collection of different intellectual disciplines, professions, and voices provides many doorways into one common room—a deeper appreciation of war’s costs on both individual humans and our common humanity. This excellent volume adds to our growing understanding of Moral Injury—one of the signature wounds of the post-9/11 era—and what is required to heal it.”
—Elizabeth A. Stanley, former United States Army intelligence officer, associate professor of security studies, Georgetown University, author of Paths to Peace
“By bringing together multiple voices—warriors and poets, scholars, journalists, and chaplains—this book is a rich, nuanced approach to the complex issue of Moral Injury, which can and does arise in all manner of conflict situations, not just war. It will work on readers like a haunting portrait, lingering in heart and mind long after the last page is read.”
—Elizabeth Eowyn Nelson, Pacifica Graduate Institute
“This wonderful collection of writings goes to the moral and spiritual heart of the psychological wounds of war, so poorly understood through the general and somewhat misguided term, posttraumatic stress disorder. It should be essential reading for all those working with veterans and their loved ones, and I hope that many isolated veterans will find in these pages words that can help them find their way home.”
—Roger Brooke, Professor of Psychology and Director, Military Psychological Services, Duquesne University
“Recent decades have brought increased attention to PTSD as a cost of war. The post-911 conflicts have added traumatic brain injury. But soldiers have always known that the dangers are deeper, threatening their very moral foundations. This brilliant book gathers an amazing collection of material, from poetry through social science to philosophy, that illuminates the dark forces that war can unleash.”
—Stephen Soldz, Director, Social Justice and Human Rights Program, Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis
“Dutifully edited by two of the top scholars and military experts in the field, War and Moral Injury is invaluable not only for our returning veterans, but also for non-military readers. It should be read by anyone concerned about sustaining and strengthening the health of our nation’s military and its veterans into and beyond the 21st century.”
—Lionel Beehner, West Point Modern War Institute Director of Research
“War and Moral Injury presents compelling perspectives on the emerging science of Moral Injury, the existential trauma that can accompany even such legally justifiable combat actions as the taking of human life. This volume’s diverse views will help those who suffer the unseen wounds of moral trauma and serve a heuristic value in generating future scientific study.”
—Michael D. Matthews, West Point Professor of Engineering Psychology, author of Head Strong: How Psychology is Revolutionizing War