Bales is a married man with two children back at home. An interview with Matt Lauer can be viewed here, in which Bales' wife defends her husband, saying that "he would not do that." Bales was unexpectedly deployed a fourth time, which his wife says was "a big shock" because he was not on schedule to do so. Lauer asks the question: "Is it possible that this is just the stress of war?"
This incident reminds me of some research I came across while working on my junior theme. During the Vietnam War, there were over 500 incidents of "fragging," an episode in which U.S. soldiers murdered their own officers. Although a different situation, "the stress of war" was regarded as the main factor behind these episodes.
However, there is a big difference between the Afghanistan War and the Vietnam War; The Vietnam war had a draft. To me, this makes the incidents with the Vietnam soldiers less surprising because I would expect that a greater number of soldiers were fighting against their will--making them more susceptible to well, going crazy.
But if incidents like Bales' are still occurring, what does that suggest about our military today? With an absence of a draft is there the same amount of stress amongst soldiers? Maybe this war has just dragged on too long?
Hi Sarah! For one I think that your correct in saying the war has dragged on too long. I don't know if it's possible to measure the amount of stress, but I believe it is a different type of stress experienced by soldiers in this war. In the Vietnam War, there was indeed a draft and therefore some soldiers did not want to be there. They were I'm sure nervous and unhappy and secretly resistant. In this war, those that enter the army do so ideally knowing what could possibly happen to them. Therefore, this modern stress is possibly mixed with guilt and anger towards themselves for being in this situation.
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