Old Soldiers Never Die

 By Dewey Roberts - Posted at Vanguard Presbytery:

One of my favorite pastimes is to read spy stories. It is a fascination that began during my teenage years as I would read various articles in The Reader’s Digest about Soviet espionage and the dangers it posed for the freedom of America. That is probably also where my lifelong interest in Russia began. When I was commissioned as an officer in the US Army in 1987, those interests were increased a dozen fold. The Soviet Union was the great perceived enemy of freedom for the US and most of our war planning was a preparation for a conflict someday with that nation. That brings us to today. Russia is in the news again after being mostly a sleeping bear since the fall of communism in 1990-1991. But warring nations never really know how to live in peacetime. And, as the motto in the Army says, ‘old soldiers never die.’

Recently, I have been reading Scott Anderson’s, The Quiet Americans, about four World War II veterans—Michael Burke, Edward Lansdale, Peter Sichel, and Frank Wisner—who were some of the first spies for the CIA. All of them had difficulties adjusting to civilian life after their war service in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, or the Pacific theater. The adrenalin rush they experienced while carrying out secret missions in World War II made it difficult to acclimate to normal life in the American business world. We often think of all soldiers as suffering from PTSD in one form or another. Yet, there is another side of things. Some soldiers find their greatest joy in combat. The intense excitement, and even fear, that accompanies preparation for battle gives some soldiers their true purpose in life. They never feel so alive as when they are planning for battle and risking their lives. That adrenalin rush is something I routinely felt in the days when I could still run. After a good run, I felt I could conquer the world. When my doctor told me that if I wanted to be able to continue to walk I would have to stop running, it was a crushing blow. Burke, Lansdale, Sichel, and Wisner must have felt that same way when they returned from war to the mundane duties of life. No doubt, that is why they readily agreed to become some of the first spies for the CIA.

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