Packing Inferno

Packing Inferno PDF Author: Tyler E. Boudreau
Publisher: Feral House
ISBN: 1932595716
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Tyler E. Boudreau is a twelve-year veteran of the Marine Corps infantry. He trained and committed himself physically and intellectually to the military life. Then his intense devotion began to disintegrate, bit by bit, during his final mission in Iraq. After returning home, he discovered a turmoil developing in his mind, estranging him from his loved ones and the bill of goods he eagerly purchased as a marine officer. Packing Inferno is the spectacularly written story of the ordeal of a marine officer in battle and then coming home. It is the struggle with a society resistant to understand the true nature of war. It is the fight with combat stress and an exploration into the process of recovery. It is the search for conscience, family, and ultimately for one's essential self. Here are the reflections of a man built by the Marine Corps, disassembled by war, and left with no guidance to rebuild himself. This is Tyler E. Boudreau's first book. He currently lives in western Massachusetts, where he works with other veterans on many projects related to war.

Packing Inferno

Packing Inferno PDF Author: Tyler E. Boudreau
Publisher: Feral House
ISBN: 1932595716
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Get Book Here

Book Description
Tyler E. Boudreau is a twelve-year veteran of the Marine Corps infantry. He trained and committed himself physically and intellectually to the military life. Then his intense devotion began to disintegrate, bit by bit, during his final mission in Iraq. After returning home, he discovered a turmoil developing in his mind, estranging him from his loved ones and the bill of goods he eagerly purchased as a marine officer. Packing Inferno is the spectacularly written story of the ordeal of a marine officer in battle and then coming home. It is the struggle with a society resistant to understand the true nature of war. It is the fight with combat stress and an exploration into the process of recovery. It is the search for conscience, family, and ultimately for one's essential self. Here are the reflections of a man built by the Marine Corps, disassembled by war, and left with no guidance to rebuild himself. This is Tyler E. Boudreau's first book. He currently lives in western Massachusetts, where he works with other veterans on many projects related to war.

Grateful Nation

Grateful Nation PDF Author: Ellen Moore
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822372762
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
In today's volunteer military many recruits enlist for the educational benefits, yet a significant number of veterans struggle in the classroom, and many drop out. The difficulties faced by student veterans have been attributed to various factors: poor academic preparation, PTSD and other postwar ailments, and allegedly antimilitary sentiments on college campuses. In Grateful Nation Ellen Moore challenges these narratives by tracing the experiences of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans at two California college campuses. Drawing on interviews with dozens of veterans, classroom observations, and assessments of the work of veteran support organizations, Moore finds that veterans' academic struggles result from their military training and combat experience, which complicate their ability to function in civilian schools. While there is little evidence of antimilitary bias on college campuses, Moore demonstrates the ways in which college programs that conflate support for veterans with support for the institutional military lead to suppression of campus debate about the wars, discourage antiwar activism, and encourage a growing militarization.

The Bloomsbury Guide to Pastoral Care

The Bloomsbury Guide to Pastoral Care PDF Author: Bernadette Flanagan
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1441125175
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
One-stop reference work for clergy, pastoral workers, and all those in caring professions for whom healing and spiritual growth in the midst of daily life challenges is important.

Pursuing Moral Warfare

Pursuing Moral Warfare PDF Author: Marcus Schulzke
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 1626166595
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
During combat, soldiers make life-and-death choices dozens of times a day. These individual decisions accumulate to determine the outcome of wars. This work examines the theory and practice of military ethics in counterinsurgency operations. Marcus Schulzke surveys the ethical traditions that militaries borrow from; compares ethics in practice in the US Army, British Army and Royal Marines Commandos, and Israel Defense Forces; and draws conclusions that may help militaries refine their approaches in future conflicts. The work is based on interviews with veterans and military personnel responsible for ethics training, review of training materials and other official publications, published accounts from combat veterans, and observation of US Army focus groups with active-duty soldiers. Schulzke makes a convincing argument that though military ethics cannot guarantee flawless conduct, incremental improvements can be made to reduce war’s destructiveness while improving the success of counterinsurgency operations.

Moral Injury and Soldiers in Conflict

Moral Injury and Soldiers in Conflict PDF Author: Tine Molendijk
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000365069
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
This book advances an interdisciplinary understanding of moral injury by analyzing the stories of military veterans of combat and peace missions. In the past decade, the concept of moral injury has emerged to address the potential moral impact of deployment. This book contributes to an interdisciplinary conceptualization of moral injury while, at the same time, critically evaluating the concept’s premises and implications. It paints an urgent and compassionate picture of the moral impact of soldiers’ deployment experience and the role of political practices and public perceptions in moral injury. It does so by drawing on the experiences of close to a hundred Dutch veterans deployed to Bosnia (Srebrenica) and Afghanistan, and analyzing their stories from the perspectives of psychology, philosophy, theology and social sciences. Ultimately, this book advances the understanding of moral, political and societal dimensions of moral injury and contributes to practical efforts aimed at its prevention. This book will be of much interest to students of ethics and war, cultural anthropology, conflict studies and international relations.

Twenty-First Century Military Innovation

Twenty-First Century Military Innovation PDF Author: Marcus Schulzke
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472220411
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
Contemporary war is as much a quest for decisive technological, organizational, and doctrinal superiority before the fighting starts as it is an effort to destroy enemy militaries during battle. Armed forces that are not actively fighting are instead actively reengineering themselves for success in the next fight and imagining what that next fight may look like. Twenty-First Century Military Innovation outlines the most theoretically important themes in contemporary warfare, especially as these appear in distinctive innovations that signal changes in states’ warfighting capacities and their political goals. Marcus Schulzke examines eight case studies that illustrate the overall direction of military innovation and important underlying themes. He devotes three chapters to new weapons technologies (drones, cyberweapons, and nonlethal weapons), two chapters to changes in the composition of state military forces (private military contractors and special operations forces), and three chapters to strategic and tactical changes (targeted killing, population-centric counterinsurgency, and degradation). Each case study includes an accessible introduction to the topic area, an overview of the ongoing scholarly debates surrounding that topic, and the most important theoretical implications. An engaging overview of the themes that emerge with military innovation, this book will also attract readers interested in particular topic areas.

Toward a Pastoral Theology of Holy Saturday

Toward a Pastoral Theology of Holy Saturday PDF Author: Adam D. Tietje
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 153265779X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 103

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Book Description
Veterans who experience the overwhelming trauma of war are often still stuck in the far country. In the aftermath, many feel abandoned by God. Adam D. Tietje suggests that Holy Saturday, Christ's descent into hell, is the place where God fully identifies with our God-abandonment. In light of the resurrection, it can be seen that the complete hiddenness of God on Holy Saturday is in fact the fullness of revelation. God has chosen to be revealed precisely through the cross and the grave. The author takes a Chalcedonian approach to the problem of relating a theology of Holy Saturday to the psychology of trauma. Through the use of this method, he suggests that pastoral caregivers might understand trauma and moral injury as soul wounds. Sanctuary, lament and confession, and forgiveness and reconciliation are found to provide a direction for the care of such wounds.

Moral Injury and Beyond

Moral Injury and Beyond PDF Author: Renos K. Papadopoulos
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351862464
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Moral Injury and Beyond: Understanding Human Anguish and Healing Traumatic Wounds uniquely brings together a prominent collection of international contributors from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, philosophy, theology, military chaplaincy and acute crisis care to address the phenomenon of moral injury. Introduced in the 1990s to refer to a type of psychological trauma, experienced especially by soldiers who felt that their actions transgressed the expected moral norms, this innovative volume provides a timely update that progresses and redefines the field of moral injury. The ten ground-breaking essays expand our understanding of moral injury beyond its original military context, arguing that it can fruitfully be applied to and address predicaments most persons face in their daily lives. Approaching moral injury from different perspectives, the contributors focus on the experiences of combat veterans and other survivors of violent forms of adversity. The chapters address thought-provoking questions and topics, such as how survivors can regain their hope and faith, and how they can, in time, explore ways that will lead them to grow through their suffering. Exploring moral injury with a particular emphasis on spirituality, the early Church Fathers form the framework within which several chapters examine moral injury, articulating a new perspective on this important subject. The insights advanced are not limited to theoretical innovations but also include practical methods of dealing with the effects of moral injury. This pioneering collection will be essential resource for mental health practitioners and trainees working with people suffering from severe trauma. Due to its interdisciplinary nature, it will be useful not only to those academics and professionals engaged with moral injury but will be a source of inspiration for any perceptive student of the complexities and dilemmas of modern life, especially as it interfaces with issues of mental health and spirituality. It will also be invaluable to academics and students of Jungian psychology, theology, philosophy and history interested in war, migration and the impact of extreme forms of adversity.

Multireligious Reflections on Friendship

Multireligious Reflections on Friendship PDF Author: Anne-Marie Ellithorpe
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1666917362
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
Multireligious Reflections on Friendship: Becoming Ourselves in Community presents a multi-religious discussion of spiritual and ethical formation through friendship. Contributors discuss the positive effects of friendship and some of the culturally diverse ways that friendships develop. Friends help us co-exist in diverse societies, live sustainably in our ecosystems, heal from trauma, develop inner virtues, engage wisely in social action, and connect with the divine. While friendship is a core human value, cultural traditions have used different tools to build friendships. For example, Indigenous communities emphasize reciprocity on the land; Jewish traditions encourage respect for study partners; Buddhist teachers suggest discernment in befriending; Christian texts speak of bringing God’s love into community. The fifteen scholars contributing to this book draw on the teachings of six different global traditions: Indigenous, Hindu, Jewish, Buddhist, Islamic, and Christian. Each scholar applies the tools of their tradition—reciprocity, respect, discernment, love, and more—to discuss how we might become our best selves in community.

Killing from the Inside Out

Killing from the Inside Out PDF Author: Robert Emmet Meagher
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1630874523
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
Armies know all about killing. It is what they do, and ours does it more effectively than most. We are painfully coming to realize, however, that we are also especially good at killing our own "from the inside out," silently, invisibly. In every major war since Korea, more of our veterans have taken their lives than have lost them in combat. The latest research, rooted in veteran testimony, reveals that the most severe and intractable PTSD--fraught with shame, despair, and suicide--stems from "moral injury." But how can there be rampant moral injury in what our military, our government, our churches, and most everyone else call just wars? At the root of our incomprehension lies just war theory--developed, expanded, and updated across the centuries to accommodate the evolution of warfare, its weaponry, its scale, and its victims. Any serious critique of war, as well any true attempt to understand the profound, invisible wounds it inflicts, will be undermined from the outset by the unthinking and all-but-universal acceptance of just war doctrine. Killing from the Inside Out radically questions that theory, examines its legacy, and challenges us to look beyond it, beyond just war.