Sheepdog Tip of the Day, During Combat tip 108
Of all the actions you could take in combat, the one most likely to destroy you is to commit an atrocity or a criminal act. Your unconscious mind, you "puppy" knows that you are not at peace with the "pack" and that can eat you alive. ... Earlier, I talked about how pain shared is pain divided. This is a powerful tool, but when a warrior commits a criminal act, he cannot share that pain. I also talked about how you are only as sick as your secrets. If as a warrior you commit a crime or an act of vengeance, you cannot share that secret with anyone, and it will only eat away at you. When we are young and hard, we think we can get away with anything. A World War II veteran once sat across from me, wracked with sobs. He was, to my mind, a magnificent noble American, but he had made one tragic, horrific mistake in his life and it was eating him alive. He looked at me, tears streaming down his cheeks, and said, "Colonel, I'm an old man now, and I'm going to have to answer to my maker soon. I'm going to have to answer for that day it was inconvenient to take those German soldiers back. The day we shot them while they were quote, 'trying to escape.' I murdered those men that day; we murdered them. We didn't have to kill them. We murdered them, and soon I will have to answer to my maker for what I did." What do you tell a man like that? No one is beyond redemption, but I know what that old soldier would advise us: "Don't do it."
Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, On Combat
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Additional Resources
For PTSD, Shepherd Resource Group.