SBAND Seminar Materials 2013 Free Ethics: Echoes of War The Combat Veteran | Page 8
into
peace.
Only
when
the
warrior
was
ready
to
reunite
with
the
tribe,
and
the
tribe
with
the
warrior,
did
the
reunion
occur.22
Industrialized
nations
and
their
militaries
have
historically
taken
a
tougher
approach
with
the
psychologically
injured.
Soldiers
suffering
psychological
injuries
have
often
been
stigmatized
and
even
punished.
During
WWII,
General
George
Patton
famously
struck
at
least
two
psychologically
injured
soldiers
he
came
across
in
Army
hospitals,
calling
them
cowards
and
malingerers.
The
press
picked
up
on
the
story,
causing
a
swell
of
anger
among
the
American
people
and
Patton
was
nearly
relieved
of
his
command.23
Some
psychologically
injured
troops
received
the
ultimate
punishment.
The
British
government
recently
issued
posthumous
pardons
to
306
of
its
soldiers
from
World
War
I
who
were
executed
without
trial
at
the
battlefront
for
cowardice
or
desertion,
recognizing
today
that
they
likely
suffered
from
PTSD.24
Not
only
were
psychological
injured
soldiers
killed
during
WWI,
they
were
also
tortured.
Dr.
Lewis
Yealland
working
at
a
French
hospital
was
taking
over
treatment
of
a
24
year
old
private
who
had
received
nine
months
worth
of
the
following
types
of
treatment
for
war-?related
mental
illness:
“he
had
been
strapped
in
a
chair
for
20
minutes
at
a
time
while
strong
electricity
was
applied
to
his
neck
and
throat;
lighted
cigarettes
had
been
applied
to
the
top
of
this
tongue
and
hot
plates
had
been
placed
at
the
back
of
his
mouth.”25
The
goal
of
such
treatment
was
“necessary
to
supply
the
disciplinary
element
which
must
be
invoked
if
the
patient
is
one
of
those
who
prefer
not
to
recover.”26
Dr.
Yealland
apparently
believed
that
the
failures
of
this
young
private’s
treatment
were
only
the
result
of
too
little
electro-?shock
therapy.
Speaking
of
his
own
treatment
of
the
private,
he
said
“after
a
few
more
hours
of
electricity
the
patient
could
say
ah,
then
whisper,
then
stammer.
But
just
when
it
seemed
to
be
working,
the
patient
developed
a
tremor
in
his
left
GROSSMAN
&
SIDDLE,
supra
note
11,
at
210?16.
Private
Wrote
Family
About
Being
Cuffed,
PORT
ARTHUR
NEWS,
Nov.
24,
1943,
at
6;
Reprimand
for
Patton
is
Denied,
FRESNO
BEE,
Nov.
22,
1943,
at
1;
Patton
Regrets
Slapping
Soldier,
SAN
ANTONIO
LIGHT,
Nov.
23,
1943,
at
1;
Gen.
Patton
Slap
Haunts
Former
GI,
CHARLESTON
DAILY
MAIL,
Mar.
25,
1970,
at
12;
GI
Slapped
by
Gen.
Patton
in
Sicily
Is
Dead,
CEDAR
RAPIDS
GAZETTE,
Feb.
2,
1971,
at
7.
24
Richard
Norton-?Taylor,
Executed
WWI
Soldiers
to
be
Given
Pardons,
GUARDIAN,
Aug.
16,
2006,
at
1.
25
BEN
SHEPARD,
A
WAR
OF
NERVES:
SOLDIERS
AND
PSYCHIATRISTS
IN
THE
TWENTIETH
CENTURY
77
(2001).
26
Id.
at
76?77.
23
22
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