War Zone Killing – Vets Feel Alone in their Guilt

by Reposted by Military Truth | May 8, 2018 | Atrocities and War Crimes, Research

Repost of article by PAULINE JELINEK | February 22, 2013 12:32 PM EST | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130222/us-military-moral- injury/

WASHINGTON — A veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, former Marine Capt. Timothy Kudo thinks of himself as a killer – and he carries the guilt every day.

“I can’t forgive myself,” he says. “And the people who can forgive me are dead.” With American troops at war for more than a decade, there’s been an unprecedented number of studies into war zone psychology and an evolving understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder. Clinicians suspect some troops are suffering from what they call “moral injuries” – wounds from having done something, or failed to stop something, that violates their moral code.