Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for April 23, 2010

Why do I think that Melissa will see through the captain’s new suggestion?

This is such a great plot-line.

GEE1G: it’s good that you know what’s best for Mel. I bet your friends and coworkers love it when you tell them the same thing.

Sheesh, because telling Mel she’s not fit to be in the Army right now’s a terrific way to bolster her spirits.

Most soldiers don’t like to be benched and don’t want to be benched.

Comments above are valid, but one of the main benefits of the captain sending her to the Center is that she will see he is not the same as the guy who abused her. He has her best interests in mind - and this alone can have a huge positive, healing impact on her.

Some time at the center may be helpful, too, but I suspect the main thing is to let Mel really take in the idea that not every guy is an abuser.

agreed cdward.

Geeg1, Joe:

Because, we are all so bleeepin’ sure of ourselves, that the best way to get over a trauma is to avoid ever being in the same situation ever again. Or talking about it. Or getting into a similar situation. Or a situation that might lead to a similar situation.

Heck, Mel just should never have gotten out of bed. Is that where she went so tragically wrong?

It might be hard to give up enough condescension to think that some people, sometimes, are able to get past their past and have a future.

Or have you just determined, even though millions of people decided that some time in the armed forces would be their best choice, that no-one should ever do it? All those poor, tragically ruined lives. So glad you know better. Aren’t you?

But thanks for the link, Joe; good article.

BrianCrook,

Why do I think that Melissa will see through the captain’s new suggestion?

I had the same thought.

But it’s all good: if she thinks about it for a minute, he has no reason to (agree to) send her other than because he thinks it’s best for her. Still shows her that there’s 2 kinds of men.

This is such a great plot-line

Amen, brother.

THE STRESS CLINIC? There was one in the Green Zone. I have no idea what went on in there. I heard one soldier from the finance detachment went there.

I wonder if Mel would do exposure therapy? Of course for sexual assault that therapy would have to fall in the realm of what we consider kinky.

If nothing else, Mel needs a time-out, whether she likes it or not. She can’t be fixing choppers if she’s hyper-stressed. Staying with the outfit as if nothing’s going on isn’t an option.

I have an innate distrust of men, er, people of the ‘cloth’, but I’m really liking this Chaplain. Kind, compassionate, non-judgmental, one who finds innovative and creative ways of getting things done.

Joe, I don’t think releasing Mel from active duty solves her problem.

If she left the military, her PTSD would follow her. Presumably any male boss she would have could become the trigger for her anxieties. Also, just because she went to a VA mental health clinic before does not mean she’d seek help there again – she walked away from that once already when she re-enlisted. Just the embarrassment of admitting that she couldn’t fix her problems on her own, or a perception of being released from the military as failure could keep her away from the help she needs.

I enjoy reading the comments and ocassionally I post. Most of the posters read far too much into these things. It is a editorial comic strip for gosh sakes. The lesson here is not to prejudge. All the comments for the week were that the Captain was a slimeball. Seems he probably was not. Lessons- not all men are bad, do not prejudge, chaplains can be nice caring folks. All those posters that get into military jargon and who can look at personnel files etc need to adjust their meds.

It’s fascinating how many Tough Guys comment on this strip. Mel is NOT a nut case. If you think people who have been raped and suffer from PTSD are nut cases – you have just closed off channels of communication with people who are close to you.

One woman in six has been the victim of rape or attempted rape. Are you Tough Guys under the impression that you do not know a single one of them? Get real. This problem is in your own household. Your mother, your sister, your wife, your daughter. The tougher you are, the more you talk about these women being nut cases, the more you create an atmosphere of suspicion and dishonesty.

Incidentally, this includes women who claim they agree with you. Think about it.

Delta, I think you are being a bit hard on your fellow posters.

A number of us were thinking the Captain might be alright, including me (although I was wrong about him being just another ops officer who never thought he had enough people working for him). The great thing about the strip is that GT gives his characters enough depth that we can do all this ruminating about what’s going on, and have those “Ah ha!” moments.

As to the military types here, I think there are those among us who enjoy picking at details we don’t think are accurate/plausible. I do the same thing with war movies. I bet cops probably do it with crime shows. I think on the whole we’ve been pretty civil with each other while doing it.

Unfortunately I think there are a few others who try to snipe at GT just because he’s a liberal and they think he’s out to smear the military. Other posters have different axes to grind. I can overlook that.

brewwitch,

I’ve met a few chaplains (Army and Air Force). Most of them tell me they’re usually the highest-ranking officer on their base (the base commander salutes them). They all see their job as “making the system serve the soldiers.”

They use their position and rank to cut through red tape and get people what they need.

90% of the Christian chaplains’ jobs has nothing to do with religious services. It’s closer to 98% for the Jewish chaplains. (Probably similar for Muslim or Buddhist or others.)

This gal is just like all the chaplains I’ve met (except they’re all guys). Think about it: each chaplain is a member of a specific denomination, but normally the sole chaplain for a large number of soldiers, only a minority of which are of the same denomination. If they’re not compassionate and respectful of everyone, they’re not doing their job.

One of the reasons GT does so (very) well at making the military parts realistic is because he has spent time with people in those positions, so he knows what it’s really like.

“Herbabee” That was “Re-silience training”

Herbabee,

If I read your post correctly, the word you’re looking for is “resilience” as in “psychological resilience”.

Or it might be “toon deafness”. No coffee yet.

resilience!

This comic has resilience.

Does GT do his own lettering?

What great confusion a hyphen can make sometimes.

I think Mel will find some way to draw on her resilience!

I’m thinking the Captain should rehearse his lines a few times before Mel steps in. Any slip-up could make her suspicious, and that’s the last thing the Chaplain wants.

boy-oy-oing!! Those hyphenated word wraps’ll get ya everytime. Bogus alarm dispatched to the memory hole. Mea culpa, & thanks for setting me straight, y’all.

(the loose/lose, they’re/their/there remark still stands, though)

cdward: It’s good that at least he’s a decent guy who means well – if she sees that it might make a difference. She’s been hating men for awhile now.

Herbabee: And if you’re a professor these days you get to teach the difference between “then” and “than”

Nothing has been decided or proven by the chaplain’s or Captain’s actions yet. I see problems in the future.

diggett:

I think/feel that the one in six fact terrifies us. (It terrifies me!)

Some folks may retreat to easy denial instead of facing their fear. I know that I would feel helpless if I had to face a friend who was a rape victim.

I would not know what to say or do. I’d know that nothing I could do would change the terrible truth. I think I’d feel all alone. (And I’d worry and worry over MY paltry incompetence) I would want to RUN. Only communal help could make any difference, and my trust in that community is frail.

A huge part of me still files that one in six fact in a “safely” hidden but not very honest place.

There is no excuse for this!

“We are Family” is a truth that has been buried under a flurry individualism. I don’t know how we can return to the truth but we must. Only the broad sense of Family can help meet the real needs of the world.

And I still feel helpless.

Susan001, I haven’t personally been to one of the centers, though others I knew in Iraq did go.

This is just my opinion – feel free if someone wants rip into me for it.

Combat stress teams are a force multiplier because they are designed to help a soldier enough that he/she can be relatively quickly returned to the deployed unit, instead of being sent back stateside. In my opinion, since returning soldiers to their units are often soon exposed to further trauma while deployed, the end result is sometimes worse for the soldier than if he/she had been evacuated for more lengthy treatment in the first place

Thanks for the insight Chrisnp. Scroll on.

Taking a break for Mel may be good … for the short term. Must be tough with everybody in the forum looking over her shoulder.

That Art’s a card, where does he get that stuff.