You, too, can be emotionally scarred for life.

I'm confused by the current series of "Join the Army" commercials. In one, a kid is going to work on a helicopter, and some idle comment by a new colleague inspires a flashback of trying to either get in or out of some war zone. They try to sell it as a good thing, as if a lot of Americans wish that they could walk the Earth with a mind full of buried memories that would drive others to insanity.

I probably don't want my aircraft being worked on by a guy that while very qualified, may flip out and destroy things when he remembers watching his friends get blown up. And it's sad - the people who went through those things provided defense for people like me. They deserve a lot of respect, and it's not their fault that in some cases they end up bat shit crazy because of it. That's a hell of a sacrifice, and I guess it's part of the reason that First Blood was written. And, well, Trautman did kill Rambo at the end of the book (though not the movie).