Providing for the Casualties of War: The American Experience Since World War II
Abstract
War has been part of the human experience since before recorded history (see Keeley,1996). Sigmund Freud suggested that this may be an inherent trait, that conflicts of interest between man and man are resolved, in principle, by the recourse to violence(Einstein and Freud, 19311932). Although people have not been able to overcome their essential proclivity to make war on one another over the millennia, there has been some progress in how the casualties of war are treated. Early efforts to care for those maimed in combat were established for four reasons. First, the wounded represented a valuable asset that, with proper care, could be returned to duty and could continue to serve. Second, without proper care of the wounded, the morale of the troops would suffer. Third, for those unable to return to duty, this was a way to deal with the potential problem of disabled veterans who were unable to work resorting to theft and other unruly behavior. Fourth, without guaranteeing some degree of care for the injured, the state would not be able to recruit additional soldiers. Despite the rather altruistic rationale said to underpin todays policiesthat the state has an absolute obligation to care for those who served it on the battlefieldthe four historical concerns of conserving the force, ensuring good morale, placating veterans, and bolstering future recruiting still underpin todays policies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1115146
Entities
People
- Bernard Rostker
Organizations
- RAND Corporation