WEBVTT 00:00:04.333 --> 00:00:06.999 [80.MN.3428B Reels 1-3 of 3 Source: 16mm DNS/DNT (1 Copy)] 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:09.266 [This film has been Declassified in accordance with applicable law, Executive orders, 00:00:09.266 --> 00:00:14.432 and Declassification guidelines by the National Archives and Records service.] 00:00:14.433 --> 00:00:17.133 [The classification of this picture has been changed "Restricted" to "Nonclassified"] 00:00:17.133 --> 00:00:31.733 [This film is to be shown to Medical personnel only. It is not to be shown to patients.] 00:00:31.733 --> 00:00:40.233 [United States Navy Training Film Restricted P.S.L 1944] 00:00:40.233 --> 00:00:46.099 [Introduction To Combat Fatigue] 00:00:46.100 --> 00:00:52.933 [This film was designed to be shown to patients suffering from combat fatigue. 00:00:52.933 --> 00:01:02.366 It also carries a message of value to medical officers and hospital corpsmen.] 00:01:02.366 --> 00:01:07.532 [Narrator:] You're about to see a motion picture, which is going to help you to understand more clearly 00:01:07.533 --> 00:01:11.499 some of the physical and emotional symptoms that have been bothering you, 00:01:11.500 --> 00:01:15.600 and which are responsible for you being here as patients in this hospital. 00:01:15.600 --> 00:01:20.666 To explain the causes of your symptoms to you, we are going to show you, 00:01:20.666 --> 00:01:26.766 among other things, some combat scenes, scenes just like those some of you have been in. 00:01:26.766 --> 00:01:34.166 Now, they may upset you, but just remember that no one ever had an operation or an illness or had a broken leg fixed 00:01:34.166 --> 00:01:37.066 without experiencing a little pain. 00:01:37.066 --> 00:01:38.866 It's the same way with feelings. 00:01:38.866 --> 00:01:46.566 When we dislodge sore feelings, we have to pry them loose like a bad tooth, and that hurts. 00:01:46.566 --> 00:01:48.766 Expect it to hurt a little. 00:01:48.766 --> 00:01:53.332 And strangely enough, you will find it doesn't hurt half as much as you anticipate. 00:01:53.333 --> 00:01:55.733 So now let's get started. 00:01:55.733 --> 00:01:58.999 The natural place to start is with fear. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:02.366 Everybody is afraid some of the time. 00:02:02.366 --> 00:02:09.066 And everybody going into battle is always afraid, at least if they're normal like us. 00:02:09.066 --> 00:02:14.366 And that's a good thing, for fear has its uses. 00:02:14.366 --> 00:02:20.466 It makes us alert, sends the blood through our veins, gives us strength and sharpness. 00:02:20.466 --> 00:02:22.632 Let's take a simple example. 00:02:22.633 --> 00:02:27.466 Here is a cat behaving in a perfectly normal manner eating its supper. 00:02:27.466 --> 00:02:31.899 But what happens when her natural enemy, the dog, walks by? 00:02:31.900 --> 00:02:35.400 She immediately gets into condition red. 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:38.266 And condition red means that an attack is imminent. 00:02:38.266 --> 00:02:39.866 So she's on her guard. 00:02:39.866 --> 00:02:43.132 Yet being on guard looks like fear. 00:02:43.133 --> 00:02:44.999 And that's the clue. 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:47.700 Being on guard is fear. 00:02:47.700 --> 00:02:51.600 Fear is the body's way of getting into condition red. 00:02:51.600 --> 00:02:57.400 She is, as you were, at your battle stations and in your foxholes, all set to go. 00:02:57.400 --> 00:03:02.966 That's nature's logical answer to danger, fear. 00:03:02.966 --> 00:03:10.599 Fear keys you up, sets your heart pounding, gives you that tingling feeling in your legs and up and down your spine. 00:03:10.600 --> 00:03:15.933 It makes your mouth dry and causes the all-gone feeling in the pit of your stomach. 00:03:15.933 --> 00:03:20.766 You get restless, you're on your mark, set to go. 00:03:20.766 --> 00:03:24.932 [ Artillery shells exploding ] 00:03:24.933 --> 00:03:31.366 [Soldier:] Come on, get the lead out. 00:03:31.366 --> 00:03:33.332 [Narrator:] But you know all about this. 00:03:33.333 --> 00:03:36.433 Let's go back to our cat. She can teach us a lot. 00:03:36.433 --> 00:03:41.799 When the dog, her enemy, goes, fear goes with him, and everything comes back to normal. 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:47.833 Once again, she's a peaceful tabby enjoying her supper, quite as if nothing had happened. 00:03:47.833 --> 00:03:55.633 Once our danger has passed, you and I react in the same way, go back to our normal occupations, with one difference. 00:03:55.633 --> 00:03:57.433 We remember. 00:03:57.433 --> 00:04:04.866 And sometimes this remembering business is so real, it won't let us relax. It keeps us on our guard, 00:04:04.866 --> 00:04:06.999 even though there's nothing happening to make us afraid. 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:13.733 For instance, here's a hospital ward, probably pretty much like the one you're in. 00:04:13.733 --> 00:04:18.899 And you know how the men next to you, how you yourself act when you're asleep. 00:04:18.900 --> 00:04:25.700 These fellows, like you, are behaving as if the enemy were right down the corridor, or outside the window. 00:04:25.700 --> 00:04:32.466 They're remembering, always remembering. 00:04:32.466 --> 00:04:36.432 This is patient Corporal Ben Edwards, United States Marine Corps. 00:04:36.433 --> 00:04:42.333 If we find out Edwards' trouble, it will help us to understand what's happening to these other men. 00:04:42.333 --> 00:04:49.833 And what's more to the point, it will help us find out what the trouble is with you. 00:04:49.833 --> 00:04:57.433 As you can see, Edwards is having a rough time of it, and you don't have a rough time like this without there being a cause for it. 00:04:57.433 --> 00:05:03.833 To discover that cause, we'll have to see what he's dreaming about. 00:05:03.833 --> 00:05:13.399 [Edwards:] Keep five paces. Keep five paces. 00:05:13.400 --> 00:05:19.900 Keep five paces. Keep five paces. 00:05:19.900 --> 00:05:26.900 Keep five paces. 00:05:26.900 --> 00:05:47.333 [Soldiers make their way through jungle stealthily.] 00:05:47.333 --> 00:05:55.699 [Edwards jumps out of his sleep.] 00:05:55.700 --> 00:05:58.633 [Narrator:] Well, that's why Edwards is tired each morning. 00:05:58.633 --> 00:06:03.533 Possibly it's the same sort of thing that makes you feel all wrung out these mornings too. 00:06:03.533 --> 00:06:09.066 You can see that he's remembering some battle he was in, or at least parts of it, 00:06:09.066 --> 00:06:15.899 and that his remembering has no relationship to where he is, in the safe hospital far away from the enemy. 00:06:15.900 --> 00:06:20.766 So now let's go back to the beginning and see how this came about. 00:06:20.766 --> 00:06:36.466 [ Music ] 00:06:36.466 --> 00:06:50.099 [The men sing together in their bunks.] 00:06:50.100 --> 00:06:55.300 [Soldier 1:] So I said to her, "For cripes' sake, you've had everything I got, and now you want a cup of coffee." 00:06:55.300 --> 00:06:56.933 [Soldier 2:] Gee, what a lousy babe. 00:06:56.933 --> 00:06:59.799 [Soldier 3:] Wonder how much longer before we get there. 00:06:59.800 --> 00:07:01.766 [Soldier 4:] We're seven days out. 00:07:01.766 --> 00:07:04.199 [Soldier 5:] Seven days is a hell of a long time. 00:07:04.200 --> 00:07:06.666 [Soldier 6:] I know. 00:07:06.666 --> 00:07:31.166 [One soldier plays a harmonica and others sing along.] 00:07:31.166 --> 00:07:33.932 [Soldier 7:] Jeez, do you have to go all the time? 00:07:33.933 --> 00:07:39.133 [Soldier 8:] Well ain't there some law about wetting a uniform, government property? 00:07:39.133 --> 00:07:42.766 [Soldier 9:] Wouldn't be the war, would it? Nothing like that. 00:07:42.766 --> 00:07:45.232 [Soldier 8:] No, nothing like that. 00:07:45.233 --> 00:07:49.466 [Soldier 7:] Well, it won't be long anyway. Maybe tomorrow. Then you can make fly whenever you want to. 00:07:49.466 --> 00:07:51.532 You'll know what a battle's all about. 00:07:51.533 --> 00:07:53.666 [Soldier 8:] You think it'll be tomorrow? 00:07:53.666 --> 00:07:58.066 [Soldier 7:] I hope so...kinda keyed up being a sailor. 00:07:58.066 --> 00:08:00.632 [Soldier 9:] It sure does. 00:08:00.633 --> 00:08:03.333 [Soldier 8:] We must be a thousand miles north of Tulagi. 00:08:03.333 --> 00:08:05.833 [Soldier 7:] Yeah, or west. 00:08:05.833 --> 00:08:09.999 [Soldier 8:] Jeez, for a buddy, you sure can contradict a guy. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:11.366 [Soldier 7:] Well, that's what a buddy is for. 00:08:11.366 --> 00:08:13.232 [Soldier 8:] Yeah. 00:08:13.233 --> 00:08:15.699 [Soldier 7:] Oh, is that what you're going to do with the Japs? 00:08:15.700 --> 00:08:17.166 [Soldier 8:] Yeah, and this and this. 00:08:17.166 --> 00:08:18.632 [Soldier 7:] Oh, wait a minute. 00:08:18.633 --> 00:08:23.366 [Sounds of guys wrestling on the floor.] 00:08:23.366 --> 00:08:26.999 [Soldier 1:] Kids, that's all. Wait 'til they get there. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:31.533 [Soldier 2:] Yeah, seven days. It will be soon now. 00:08:31.533 --> 00:08:35.433 [Narrator:] Well, that's where it began. 00:08:35.433 --> 00:08:38.866 You can see that Corporal Edwards is excited. 00:08:38.866 --> 00:08:43.099 Maybe the chap with the dry pipe is right. Maybe he is behaving like a kid. 00:08:43.100 --> 00:08:49.733 But that's because he and his buddy, Hal, are tense, and all the other men with them, each in his own way, 00:08:49.733 --> 00:08:54.199 they're beginning to be afraid, dreading what will happen in battle, 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:58.733 wondering whether they will master their fear or whether it will defeat them. 00:08:58.733 --> 00:09:05.033 And the answer to that they don't find out until the seven days have become eight or nine or two weeks 00:09:05.033 --> 00:09:08.633 and they are wherever it is the enemy is. 00:09:08.633 --> 00:09:31.533 [Explosions] 00:09:31.533 --> 00:09:39.699 [Edwards:] Careful of those GI pants. [Hal:] It looks like like get or get got, all right. 00:09:39.700 --> 00:09:42.500 [Narrator:] That's it. They're like the cat. 00:09:42.500 --> 00:09:46.666 They're seeing their enemy, and they're scared, but they're not yellow. 00:09:46.666 --> 00:09:53.332 All those symptoms he had were to get him ready for this, to make him a good fighting man. 00:09:53.333 --> 00:10:00.466 He's using his fear, just as you did at first, to make him keen, aware of every danger about him, 00:10:00.466 --> 00:10:04.232 so that he can meet it. 00:10:04.233 --> 00:10:07.499 Sure, he's afraid, and so is every other man. 00:10:07.500 --> 00:10:15.200 But see how his fear helps him, see it snap that rifle into firing position, see it carry him forward, pursuing the enemy, 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.566 see it give him almost second sight. 00:10:18.566 --> 00:10:20.799 Edwards is a good corporal. 00:10:20.800 --> 00:10:25.500 He's really fighting because his fear has been useful to him. 00:10:25.500 --> 00:10:34.900 [Gunfire] 00:10:34.900 --> 00:10:36.500 [Commander:] Take it easy. 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:40.866 [Hal:] Where are they? 00:10:40.866 --> 00:10:43.132 [Officer:] Block it off. They're on the run. 00:10:43.133 --> 00:10:45.333 Dig in here. Make this your position and hold it. 00:10:45.333 --> 00:10:46.266 [Stone:] Aye aye, sir. 00:10:46.266 --> 00:10:49.066 [Officer:] Over here, men. 00:10:49.066 --> 00:10:50.899 How is it out there? 00:10:50.900 --> 00:10:52.033 [Bryan:] It's pretty quiet. 00:10:52.033 --> 00:10:58.733 [Edwards:] Okay Bryan, you and Stone go on ahead for security. 00:10:58.733 --> 00:11:00.833 All right, fellows, shovel it deep. 00:11:00.833 --> 00:11:04.399 Chubby, over there on that scrub for you, there's a good spot. 00:11:04.400 --> 00:11:06.666 Lawrence, over there by that tree. 00:11:06.666 --> 00:11:10.066 Hal, you and I will dig here. 00:11:10.066 --> 00:11:29.099 [The men dig foxholes.] 00:11:29.100 --> 00:11:31.633 [Hal:] Still, I like apple pie better. 00:11:31.633 --> 00:11:36.299 [Edwards:] Oh, I don't know. My money, I'll take that blonde in Frisco. 00:11:36.300 --> 00:11:41.700 [Hal] You mean the one with hair on her legs?[Edwards:] Yeah, blonde hair. 00:11:41.700 --> 00:11:47.300 [Sounds of shelling.] 00:11:47.300 --> 00:11:52.833 [Hal:] I said I liked apple pie better. 00:11:52.833 --> 00:12:06.766 [Edwards:] The bastards don't know where we are. Come on, let's get going. 00:12:06.766 --> 00:12:08.999 [Narrator:] You see? The immediate danger has been removed. 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:11.033 At least it's not so bad as it was. 00:12:11.033 --> 00:12:14.766 And so they joke, and are, again, not afraid. 00:12:14.766 --> 00:12:18.032 Their fear was useful to them in the battle. 00:12:18.033 --> 00:12:21.599 Now they don't need it, and so it disappears. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:25.733 If it weren't to disappear now, then the men would not be well. 00:12:25.733 --> 00:12:29.133 But like the cat, they have lost their symptoms. 00:12:29.133 --> 00:12:33.466 Their dog is off in the jungle, and their fear has gone with him. 00:12:33.466 --> 00:12:39.132 Their fear has served its purpose, making them angry, putting them in condition red. 00:12:39.133 --> 00:12:43.199 It's been a beneficial tool in the time of crisis. 00:12:43.200 --> 00:12:45.400 It appeared when it was needed. 00:12:45.400 --> 00:12:53.266 But don't forget, however, Corporal Edwards remembers everything that has happened. Now he knows what fear is like. 00:12:53.266 --> 00:12:56.666 From this time on, his knowledge is always with him. 00:12:56.666 --> 00:12:59.666 Let's see where it leads him. 00:12:59.666 --> 00:13:05.499 [Men hike through jungle, rain falling and leaves and twigs crackling] 00:13:05.500 --> 00:13:08.766 [Soldier:] If we could only be sure the sons of bitches weren't out there. 00:13:08.766 --> 00:13:10.966 [Soldier 2:] My own mother told me there'd be days like this. 00:13:10.966 --> 00:13:12.999 [Soldier 3:] Yeah? Why didn't you shoot her? 00:13:13.000 --> 00:13:15.933 [Edwards] All right, fellows, knock it off. Making too much noise. 00:13:15.933 --> 00:13:20.466 [Stone:] Sure. [Edwards:] It would make things a hell of a lot easier if you could sing. 00:13:20.466 --> 00:13:32.166 [ Sounds of splashing and talking] 00:13:32.166 --> 00:13:34.066 [Stone:] Somebody ought to teach them marksmanship. 00:13:34.066 --> 00:13:36.732 [Hal:] Yeah, their chests must look mighty bare. 00:13:36.733 --> 00:13:43.966 [Bryan:] Wonder what they're doing with all that tin they got in Singapore. 00:13:43.966 --> 00:13:46.632 [Officer:] I don't know why you guys are always scrubbing clothes. 00:13:46.633 --> 00:13:50.733 With all those shots, it really makes a hell of a good washing machine. 00:13:50.733 --> 00:14:02.999 [Shells splash in the river they're bathing in.] 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:14.266 [Edwards:] Christ, my feet fell asleep. Cooped up like this. 00:14:14.266 --> 00:14:16.432 Where are they? 00:14:16.433 --> 00:14:20.499 [Hal:] I don't think they're there. It's a week now since we heard 'em. 00:14:20.500 --> 00:14:26.100 [Edwards:] No, it isn't. Eight days and five hours. 00:14:26.100 --> 00:14:29.700 [Hal:] Okay. 00:14:29.700 --> 00:14:33.200 [Edwards] Gee, who woulda thought it'd been like this? 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:36.566 Four weeks in this goddamned hole. 00:14:36.566 --> 00:14:39.999 Four weeks of lying on your belly and feeding the mosquitoes. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:48.100 [Hal:] Yeah. It's getting so I'm forgetting everything else, including what a man lives for. 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:51.366 [Edwards:] Even Sarah Ann? 00:14:51.366 --> 00:14:56.166 [Hal:] Including Sarah Ann. And that's some crock. 00:14:56.166 --> 00:15:02.332 [A soldier crawls on his belly through the brush toward the two men.] 00:15:02.333 --> 00:15:03.766 [Stone:] There isn't a goddamn Jap out there. 00:15:03.766 --> 00:15:07.999 So why in hell don't we do something about it? Why don't we get a move on? Why don't we take over? 00:15:08.000 --> 00:15:11.133 See, not a goddam...! 00:15:11.133 --> 00:15:26.633 [A shell explodes and the soldier who crawled up is silent.] 00:15:26.633 --> 00:15:36.266 [Edwards:] Come on, let's get him out of here. 00:15:36.266 --> 00:15:38.632 [Hal] Now, to cook food, all you have to do is put it in the sun. 00:15:38.633 --> 00:15:42.866 [Edwards:] Yeah, if the sun don't get it, the maggots will. [Hal:] In any case, brother, you'll eat it. 00:15:42.866 --> 00:15:44.499 [Edwards:] And like it. 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:46.200 [Hal:] K rations, X rations. 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:55.533 [An alarm sounds and the men react.] 00:15:55.533 --> 00:16:10.866 [The soldiers scramble as enemies begin shooting at their camp.] 00:16:10.866 --> 00:16:20.999 [Edwards] Every day. Every damn day. When are they gonna let us eat in peace? 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:49.433 [The soldiers wait silently in the jungle in their assigned positions.] 00:16:49.433 --> 00:17:32.633 [A shrill sound, the click of a gun, and then shouting in Japanese.] 00:17:32.633 --> 00:17:37.633 [Narrator:] We've only shown you part of all that happened, just little incidents through the weeks. 00:17:37.633 --> 00:17:41.333 But I guess you can see where Edwards is going and why. 00:17:41.333 --> 00:17:44.133 He's been kept always on the alert. 00:17:44.133 --> 00:17:51.999 Those fear responses haven't had much chance to relax because the enemy, the danger, is always present. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:59.166 It's just as if the dog never went away from the cat, left the cat always like this. 00:17:59.166 --> 00:18:05.832 Naturally, you can't freeze forever in a position like this. Something is bound to give. 00:18:05.833 --> 00:18:10.766 But usually such events as you have seen are not enough to cause combat fatigue. 00:18:10.766 --> 00:18:13.466 Some climax has to happen. 00:18:13.466 --> 00:18:16.266 And with Edwards, this is what it was. 00:18:16.266 --> 00:18:25.299 Oh, and by the way, this is the last of our really noisy scenes, so please bear with us. 00:18:25.300 --> 00:18:29.466 [Officer:] You already know what we're going to do. Anybody have any questions before we go? 00:18:29.466 --> 00:18:34.299 All right, when we leave here, you men with a machine gun, go back and join your outfit. 00:18:34.300 --> 00:18:37.566 We're going to clean out the Japs between here and the river. 00:18:37.566 --> 00:18:44.332 Our patrol will be the right assault platoon, and we'll move out of here and over towards the assembly area. 00:18:44.333 --> 00:18:47.666 When we move out, keep at least five paces. 00:18:47.666 --> 00:18:51.432 There might be some snipers. 00:18:51.433 --> 00:18:55.433 You all have your rations and ammunition. 00:18:55.433 --> 00:18:59.333 All right, sergeant, we'll move out immediately down this trail. 00:18:59.333 --> 00:19:01.566 I'll meet you at the front. All right, let's go. 00:19:01.566 --> 00:19:07.666 [Sergeant:] Okay, men, let's go. 00:19:07.666 --> 00:19:35.766 [The men walk carefully along the trail.] 00:19:35.766 --> 00:20:01.332 [Edwards, whispering:] Five paces. Five paces.Keep five paces. Keep five paces. 00:20:01.333 --> 00:20:15.999 [The soldiers pace through the trees toward their next position.] 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:21.233 [A shell explodes.] 00:20:21.233 --> 00:20:24.133 [Sergeant:] Spread out. 00:20:24.133 --> 00:20:42.166 [The men continue through the jungle.] 00:20:42.166 --> 00:21:16.566 [A shell explodes next to one soldier, who falls to the ground.] 00:21:16.566 --> 00:21:35.166 [Edwards:] It could have been me. 00:21:35.166 --> 00:21:39.199 [More shells explode.] 00:21:39.200 --> 00:22:06.166 [A barrage of gunfire begins.] 00:22:06.166 --> 00:22:08.999 [Narrator:] Well, that's it. 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:14.366 Now we know what Corporal Edwards dreams about every night in the hospital. 00:22:14.366 --> 00:22:20.432 But why? Because he'd had as much as he could take. 00:22:20.433 --> 00:22:27.266 He'd been too full of fear too long. Not that he's a coward. You've seen that he isn't. 00:22:27.266 --> 00:22:33.532 But there's a point in every man, in every man, beyond which he cannot go. 00:22:33.533 --> 00:22:37.466 That point with Edwards was reached when his buddy was killed. 00:22:37.466 --> 00:22:41.466 It could have been something else. It just happened with Edwards, that's what it was. 00:22:41.466 --> 00:22:46.799 From now on, you'll see that Edwards no longer behaves like himself. 00:22:46.800 --> 00:22:55.033 Everything he does or says is a symptom of illness. As his friends put it, it's got him. 00:22:55.033 --> 00:23:03.066 But if we interpret these symptoms, we'll see that what looks like mysterious or strange behavior isn't so illogical after all, 00:23:03.066 --> 00:23:05.399 but has meaning and purpose. 00:23:05.400 --> 00:23:19.500 It's just that Edwards won't accept fear, won't admit that he's reached his breaking point. 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:23.200 [Edwards:] Hand me that gizmo there. 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:35.866 [The guns clink as he tries to clean out the chamber.] 00:23:35.866 --> 00:23:39.599 This goddamn thing won't work, never did work and never will work. 00:23:39.600 --> 00:23:41.500 [Hal:] Don't try to rush it. Sure it'll work. 00:23:41.500 --> 00:23:43.833 [Edwards:] I said it wouldn't, didn't I? 00:23:43.833 --> 00:23:46.699 I don't think the gear we've got in this gook place is any good anyway. 00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:48.700 You'd think they'd send us the best. 00:23:48.700 --> 00:23:51.566 [Hal:] What's in your pants, red ants, or did you get hit? 00:23:51.566 --> 00:23:53.699 [Edwards:] Well, we're the ones who are fighting this war. 00:23:53.700 --> 00:23:58.133 You think they'd give us something to fight it with. 00:23:58.133 --> 00:24:07.466 [Man singing and whistling: They sent for the army to come to Tulagi but General MacArthur said no... 00:24:07.466 --> 00:24:20.899 and this is the reason it isn't the season, besides there ain't no USO...] 00:24:20.900 --> 00:24:25.866 [Edwards:] For Christ's sake. 00:24:25.866 --> 00:25:03.432 [Low cricket and bird sounds as the soldiers try to sleep and begin to dream.] 00:25:03.433 --> 00:25:39.299 [Edwards kneels, jumps up and aims his rifle, then leans against a tree, looking tense.] 00:25:39.300 --> 00:25:46.966 [Edwards fires his rifle into the trees repeatedly.] 00:25:46.966 --> 00:25:49.699 [Sergeant:] What the hell is the matter? 00:25:49.700 --> 00:25:58.433 [Edwards:] Over there behind that tree, there was a Jap, sir. I saw him, so I shot him. 00:25:58.433 --> 00:26:00.966 [Captain:] The fact remains, Edwards, that you fired. 00:26:00.966 --> 00:26:06.366 You knew the orders, you knew it meant the brig if you shot at random. 00:26:06.366 --> 00:26:08.232 [Edwards:] Yes, sir. 00:26:08.233 --> 00:26:10.366 [Captain:] Why did you do it? 00:26:10.366 --> 00:26:17.399 [Edwards:] There was a Jap there, sir. A twig snapped and I saw something move.I saw him very clearly. It was a Jap. 00:26:17.400 --> 00:26:18.766 [Captain:] Did you kill him? 00:26:18.766 --> 00:26:22.966 [Edwards:] Behind the tree, something moved. I saw him and I shot him. 00:26:22.966 --> 00:26:24.399 [Captain:] Did anybody find the body? 00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:26.833 [Edwards:] I shot him. 00:26:26.833 --> 00:26:31.466 [Captain:] I see. 00:26:31.466 --> 00:26:35.466 Not feeling very well, are you, Corporal? 00:26:35.466 --> 00:26:39.199 [Edwards:] No, sir. 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:41.500 [Captain:] How is your appetite? 00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:45.166 [Edwards:] Oh, it's lousy. What I do eat won't stick. It's the slum we get here. 00:26:45.166 --> 00:26:48.999 [Captain:] Are you sure of that? 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:51.133 [Edwards:] Well, I vomit, don't I? 00:26:51.133 --> 00:27:06.433 [Captain:] Yes, I guess you do. 00:27:06.433 --> 00:27:08.533 [Narrator:] Well, there's the story. 00:27:08.533 --> 00:27:17.199 Perhaps you recognize the symptoms: nerves and jumpiness, hostility, insomnia, vomiting. 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:21.933 Probably he'd tell you he had headaches if you asked him, or diarrhea. 00:27:21.933 --> 00:27:25.233 He's lost his sense of proportion too. 00:27:25.233 --> 00:27:30.699 He knows deep inside himself that there was no Jap behind those leaves, but he won't admit it, 00:27:30.700 --> 00:27:32.433 not even to himself. 00:27:32.433 --> 00:27:35.033 Now, how does all this come about? 00:27:35.033 --> 00:27:41.133 Well, you remember our cat, and that the cat had all these physical symptoms of fear? 00:27:41.133 --> 00:27:45.266 And you remember that Edwards had those same symptoms? 00:27:45.266 --> 00:27:49.032 The blood rushed from his stomach, his heart pounded, his hands were sweaty. 00:27:49.033 --> 00:27:54.333 And that didn't happen once, but many times over and over again. 00:27:54.333 --> 00:28:02.099 And the load kept getting bigger and bigger, always increasing until it was just too big a load to carry. 00:28:02.100 --> 00:28:08.866 And since he remembered all the times, he got so he had the symptoms even when there was no cause. 00:28:08.866 --> 00:28:11.732 That's why he couldn't hold his food any longer. 00:28:11.733 --> 00:28:15.733 His stomach was physically constricted with his fear. 00:28:15.733 --> 00:28:17.633 And so he vomited. 00:28:17.633 --> 00:28:22.366 You know that men going into battle often vomit or soil their pants. 00:28:22.366 --> 00:28:30.299 Well, men who carry their fear with them after the battle go on doing the same things because their bodies are always in condition red. 00:28:30.300 --> 00:28:35.933 And that's why Edwards is here in the hospital, because he can't forget. 00:28:35.933 --> 00:28:40.433 He always acts as if there were an enemy present. 00:28:40.433 --> 00:28:47.133 On a peaceful street, he behaves as if there were a Jap ready to jump from behind any parked car. 00:28:47.133 --> 00:28:55.899 If somebody drops something near him, he thinks a mortar's got his number, or that he's being dive-bombed. 00:28:55.900 --> 00:29:04.266 Maybe instead of getting it out, you've got it inside, and it hangs in your chest like a lump of lead. 00:29:04.266 --> 00:29:09.799 Or maybe you've thought about it so much that it makes your head swim and you're dizzy. 00:29:09.800 --> 00:29:15.700 Or maybe you're like the patient I saw the other day who took it out on his pals and his wife, 00:29:15.700 --> 00:29:19.333 and acted as if they were the Japs and the Jerries and was edgy and irritable. 00:29:19.333 --> 00:29:25.566 That's fear, if you call it by its right name, and don't blame your stomach or your eyes 00:29:25.566 --> 00:29:29.966 or your bowels for acting the way nature intended them to act when you're scared. 00:29:29.966 --> 00:29:37.832 Yes, it sounds simple, but the cure is far from easy. 00:29:37.833 --> 00:29:44.699 That's why your doctor sees you so often. 00:29:44.700 --> 00:29:52.933 That's why you have to do physical work, go to discussion groups, play games, learn about the happenings of the world. 00:29:52.933 --> 00:29:59.399 You're getting well because you're learning what fear is and how to handle it. 00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:03.966 And when you get your problem worked out, you will find you don't fight against fear, 00:30:03.966 --> 00:30:09.966 you just get it lined up so that it works to your best interest when you're face-to-face with the enemy. 00:30:09.966 --> 00:30:17.632 As soon as you've learned that the bullets shot at you yesterday or last month or last year can't hurt you today, 00:30:17.633 --> 00:30:20.599 you've learned the first big lesson. 00:30:20.600 --> 00:30:26.966 Then and only then, you get into condition red at the right time and in the right place. 00:30:26.966 --> 00:30:33.266 You accept fear as part of living, something to be taken as a help, not as a handicap. 00:30:33.266 --> 00:30:40.299 You and Edwards and the other boys, one fine day, will be as fit as a new silver dollar. 00:30:40.300 --> 00:30:48.233 And you will be shoving off well, not only better, but better than ever because you've learned something 00:30:48.233 --> 00:30:50.333 that can only be learned the hard way, 00:30:50.333 --> 00:31:01.366 that fear is a fighting man's friend, if he learns how to run it and not be run by it. 00:31:01.366 --> 00:31:08.966 [The End MN-3428b Bureau of Aeronautics 1944 P.S.L 2521] 00:31:08.966 --> 00:31:10.999 [End of Recording]