"When we found out he was going to Iraq,
we all felt upset, scared and sick”, Joe tells me. He tells me that it influence a family a lot to have a familymember
in a war, and that they all talk to one another more frequently since his brother went to the current war. I ask him what’s the worst thing having a familymember fighting in a war. “The worst is when
we hear about a soldier who as died in the same battalion and we don’t hear from him for a few days. That situation
make you scared and sick, because you don’t know if he’s still alive or not. It’s very hard to go like that
for several days, because you don’t anything”, Joe said.
Having a near relative in a war does something
with a family, and I asked Joe whether he thinks that makes people support or be against a war? “I think it’s
up to each family, and it’s also an individual issue. Taking my family as an example, I am strongly against the current
war in Iraq, while my parents strongly support it, “
Joe explain to me. It’s not hard to understand that a war is hard to handle, and that it can divide a family. “However,
we all support my brother, though we are divided on some issues about the conflict itself”, he said. On question how
Joe thinks this experience will influence his brother and his family, Joe says he guess he’s brother will have some
problems when he comes back. “He will probably have some alcohol- and emotional re;ated problems when he comes back
home. Though I don’t know how it’s going to effect my family. Some will expect things to become normal again,
but I am sure my brother will forever be a different person because of it”, Joe tells me.
Joe talks to his younger brother often,
and I ask him how it is for him to sit in America and talk
to him, and hear his stories. “It’s very hard to hear him talking about his experiences down there. It bothers
me when he talks about his friends and buddies dieing. He might have some sort of “survivers guilt” later.. However,
it’s terrifying when he talks about how many people he has personally killed.. It’s very hard to hear him talking
about that, but I am glad he knows he can talk to me openly about things that really bother him”, Joe ends his discussion.
Finally, I also want to thanks Joe for
telling me about his experience.
