Is This How We Treat Our Soldiers?

There is a story that came out this week about the Navy SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden.  According to a story from the Center for Investigative Reporting and Esquire Magazine, this highly decorated combat veteran currently has no pension, no health care and no job.

I’ve spent most of the week trying to wrap my head around this concept. It was hard for me to imagine one of our most elite operators killed the most wanted man on the planet and we give him nothing. We offer him no reward, no safety net, no transition into civilian life. We toss him aside like a used condom.

Is this how we treat our soldiers?

As I listen and talk to more people about this story, I’m coming to the conclusion that it is not unique. Another former SEAL, being interviewed for The Takeaway said that it has always been this way ‘In the US military, the moment you stop being an asset, you become a liability’ and we get rid of you like soiled toilet paper.

Is this the fate that we want for our protectors?

Consider the sacrifice that elite special forces have to endure to even do their job. Most of them give up their bodies, sanity, relationships and families. Some of them give up their lives. Now consider the rewards that they get; elite training that they can’t use in the civilian world, stories they can’t tell, medals they can’t show, poverty, pride and the enduring connection to the people they served with. The satisfaction and camaraderie that these shooters enjoy comes at an extremely high price. Based on the way we repay them, our country hardly deserves their sacrifice.

Is this how we treat our heroes?

What does this state of affairs say about America, a country that leans so heavily on our military strength? What does this say about you and I who are citizens of this country? Jaded shame is the only honest response I can feel. Shame because I benefit from something fundamentally unfair and jaded both because I’m not really surprised and I know that I won’t care enough about this issue long term to do anything to change it.

As a writer, I try to use the news to enhance my work. The rejection mentality that these men feel will definitely play a role in the mentality of my characters. For some, it will be fear of civilian life. For others it will reveal itself as pessimistic mercenary greed. If this Esquire story is true, then in many ways our soldiers are too good for us. The least I can do is recognize their experience with my craft.

Have fun.

G

The Horror That Lives Just Around the Corner

                  

When I was learning to write, I was taught about the distinctions between different types of fiction. Horror, of course, was one of the main genres and came in two varieties. It was broken down into natural horror (stories based on threats like criminals, sociopaths and the violently insane) and supernatural horror (stories based on unconfirmed concepts like vampires, zombies and ghosts).  Right now the craze in horror is completely of the supernatural variety. All you have to do is look at all the media devoted to the zombie apocalypse to see what I’m talking about. But in spite of the current trend, I write natural horror because I believe that it makes the stories much more frightening.

I have three urban horror stories currently available for free on Smashwords:

• The Replacements is a story about three high school boys who are forced to face their worst fears when they try to buy a girl in the sex trade.
• Spare Some Change reverses the power dynamic between an urban yuppie and a homeless man deep in the tunnels under New York City.
• Finally, Afraid of the Dark is set in a near future society where government sponsored killers roam the streets answering to no authority but their own.

I try to create a sense of realism in my horror that infects the mind of the reader. I don’t want you to imagine a theoretical horror. I want you to feel like “This could happen to me.” That’s when you get scared. That’s when horror works.

I know Halloween is traditionally about supernatural horror. I know that vampires and zombies have a lot of cache in modern entertainment. But I don’t relate to supernatural horror, so I don’t have any inspiration to write about that. Stories about being terrorized by homeless maniacs or slave traders might not be the trend now, but try not to follow the trends. I’m trying to tap into primal fears and the fear of someone who might be just around the corner is more powerful than the fear of something that might only exist in our collective imagination.

Have fun.

G