Military Recruitment Crisis

31st August 2024

Hey McBeth,

Just a note on the military recruitment crisis you mentioned in one of your videos. I would have to say that you have a point about the positive stories of the military being in short supply in the modern day. I would still have to say that the G.I. Bill isn’t as attractive as it once was which is a big factor. Mental health is also an issue in the modern time.

WWII was the “greatest generation”, as we now call them, and almost all media depicting military service was heroic and positive. The Vietnam Conflict showed a change in perception of the military with vets coming back scared and broken but for nothing. I looked after a WWII vet on his death bed back in the 90’s and my old man went to Vietnam.

I had a close friend in Iraq. He was the first Striker Unit, Army Intelligence, and the man who came back was insufferable. He always thought he could get his way by yelling at people, and that just doesn’t fly with civilian life. A good deal of what happened in the Middle East is now a national embarrassment. I could say that right now I know about a dozen vets and none of them are really advertisements for the military unless I include you, and I think I should just call myself a fan.

Much like military recruitment college attendance is falling. Why go to college if it doesn’t mean you’re going to get a good job? My last job that wanted a college degree paid seventy five cents above the non college positions and my BA in Psychology doesn’t open a door for any better paying jobs in mental health.

A modern American seeking to rise out of poverty has little reason to join the military, get the G.I. Bill, go to college, and find themselves poor. Add in the fact that college loans are being forgiven and it’s just a formula for bad recruitment numbers.

Homeless veterans have been a national scandal since the 30’s but things are worse now. A man who joins the army is likely to find himself on the street with mental health issues when it’s all over. Look at films like the 2017 “Thank You for Your Service”. It was a horror story for the military that showed Americans that the country didn’t care about them. You’ll find no films of this nature about the Second World War.

The final point that needs to be made is that the youth of today come from a more mentally ill nation. They’re parents spend more time working and less time looking after them. Depression and other forms of mental illness are common in a nation where the average person working as hard as they can can’t get ahead in life.

Basic training is designed to be hard so that soldiers will react without thinking. This can save your life in the war zone but really do damage in the blue zone. There was a welding class for Vietnam Vets to get them back in the workforce, but the machines would often make a popping sound.

When this happened often times a Vet would have a bad reaction and they would curl up under the desk and need to be dragged out. What happened to them after that I don’t know. I guess a stay in the mental ward, but a job in welding wasn’t in their future.

That was PTSD and the problem has only gotten worse. We as a nation have failed to address the this, and many enlistees going into the military already have mental problems that will only get worse.

To be honest, you probably know all this, and your video wasn’t about getting more people in the army, but I figured it was worth mentioning. You may have some inside into this that I don’t have.

Best,



Richard Leland Neal

My Dear Cousin - My Body Shut Down

6^th May 2021

My dear cousin,

As we have established, by the age of fourteen I had lost my mother, was living in a slum suffering abuse on the regular, and my old man was only a part of my life on weekends. It should be no mystery as to why I had trouble in high school. I had problems and when problems go ignored they just get bigger and bigger until they force you to do something about them.

My body shut down, and I was having trouble with my grades. I remember vomiting every morning and asking the old man to take me to a doctor, but he refused. I couldn’t concentrate on most of what I was reading and had trouble holding my hands up to type.

I once mentioned to the old man that I had setup my keyboard in such a way as to make it more ergonomically sound, but my hands hurt when I typed. He sat me down and said “I’m tired, my back is hurting, I’m worried about a fight I had with my wife…” and so on. I asked him what his point was and he said I complained too much.

He labeled me a hypochondriac and the whole family called me a hypochondriac for more than ten years after that. Hypochondria being a real medical condition were a person feels bad and believes themselves to be ill were no cause can be found I asked to be treated for my problem.  You treat hypochondria like you do depression, they could be just the same thing, so I asked to see a psychiatrist. The old man said “it’s all in your head” and refused to take me.

I did participate in sports in high school. I fared as well as anyone who is dangerously depressed, but the teams I played on were so small they couldn’t practice without me. Years later my old man would mention that I passed my sports physicals as evidence that nothing was wrong with me. I reminded him that the doctor had ordered a blood test, and he had refused to take me. 

I nearly flunked out of school my third year. The old man screamed and screamed, and insisted I was just lazy. That was his Modus Operandi, he would first laugh at my problems, and when they didn’t go away, he would then scream at my problems. Never did he try to resolve them in any meaningful way. 

Two weeks before I graduated high school I got my last check from the government. Survivors benefits from my mother’s death.  That same day I got a job. After that, well, that’s for my next letter.

Best,

 

Richard Leland Neal

 

My Dear Cousin - Your Sympathies

5^th May 2021

My Dear Cousin,

Your sympathies are much appreciated but unnecessary. I came to terms with my life some years ago, and my pain greets me like the voices of an old friend. They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Well, if that were true I would be able to comfortably bear the weight of the world on my shoulders.

In the world of Psychology what these letters are is a form of systematic desensitization. That is a therapy for trauma that involves removing your reaction to painful stimuli.

You see, emotional pain is rooted in a part of the brain called the Amygdala. You have two of these almond shaped structures in the brain. These are the things that make you react without thinking. In a person that suffers from PTSD the Amygdala is often found to be swollen.

This structure inhibits the hippocampus which is responsible for long term memory. These two parts of the brain compete with each other to control our actions. They are very much like muscles. The one you use gets stronger.

With these letters I’m strengthening my hippocampus and managing the pain of the past. I’m healing in my own way. So don’t cry for me. Think of it rather as a testament to my strength that I have endured so much and I am still standing. Many doctors I have dealt with are rather impressed by my ability to function with this psychopathology.

Further, if you wish you could help know that you are helping. You’re listening, and my years working with the homeless have taught me that listening can be the best help you can give.

Best,

 

Richard Leland Neal

 

Wish I was Still this Fat

So, when I was twenty pounds lighter I wrote this as a blog and that now all but forgotten social network MySpace. I always looked at journaling as a way of documenting and evaluating my life and it never worked out that way.

Well, I found that the people in my life didn’t want me to be happy and healthy and that was the reason for my problems. I have less people in my life now but I’m still having trouble turning things around.

15^th December 2005

Okay,

          I’m no good at this journal stuff, and blogs are still a new thing for me, but I milled it over with some of you hard-core Myspacers out there and figured this was a good idea.

          To start things off I have a problem, at 285 pounds I could make a reasonable stand in for Fat Bastard, every time I try to sprint I bust a shin splint, and finding belts has gotten to be a real embarrassing exercise. So my intention with this blog is to record my feeble workout program in order to embarrass myself into good health.

          Let me start with what I know. What is the problem? I’m over weight. What causes this problem? I have no time for exercise, a bad diet, and (the biggest problem) a psychological condition that makes me feel hungry when I’m not. I know, I know now a day’s every one claims to have something wrong with their head that makes them what they are. Everyone has ADD or PTSD or some other problem. As for myself I’m not going to bother putting a name on whatever it is I have. Let’s just call it stress and say that I may or may not be taking Prozac for it. However, I have a limited supply of Prozac and once I’ve used it up I will have no more.

          Why? The point of medication is to treat illness that’s how drug companies make their money. I don’t feel I need a treatment I need a cure. Every day I will be recording my workouts, consumption of food and supplements, and sleep. I will also be blogging some of the things I do to relieve stress in my environment.