Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury After War

Although veterans make up only 7 percent of the U.S. population, they account for an alarming 20 percent of all suicides. And though treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder has undoubtedly alleviated suffering and allowed many service members returning from combat to transition to civilian life, the suicide rate for veterans under thirty has been increasing. Research by Veterans Administration health professionals and veterans’ own experiences now suggest an ancient but unaddressed wound of war may be a factor: moral injury. This deep-seated sense of transgression includes feelings of shame, grief, meaninglessness, and remorse from having violated core moral beliefs.

Rita Nakashima Brock and Gabriella Lettini, who both grew up in families deeply affected by war, have been working closely with vets on what moral injury looks like, how vets cope with it, and what can be done to heal the damage inflicted on soldiers’ consciences. In Soul Repair, the authors tell the stories of four veterans of wars from Vietnam to our current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan—Camillo “Mac” Bica, Herman Keizer Jr., Pamela Lightsey, and Camilo Mejía—who reveal their experiences of moral injury from war and how they have learned to live with it. Brock and Lettini also explore its effect on families and communities, and the community processes that have gradually helped soldiers with their moral injuries.

Soul Repair will help veterans, their families, members of their communities, and clergy understand the impact of war on the consciences of healthy people, support the recovery of moral conscience in society, and restore veterans to civilian life. When a society sends people off to war, it must accept responsibility for returning them home to peace.

Rita Nakashima Brock and Gabriella Lettini, who both grew up in families deeply affected by war, have been working closely with vets on the idea of moral injury — what it looks like, how vets cope with it, and what can be done to heal the damage inflicted on soldiers' consciences. In Soul Repair, the authors tell the stories of five veterans of wars from Vietnam to our current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, to show their experiences of moral injury, their experiences upon returning home from war, questions of reparations, learning to live with moral injury, its effect on families, and the community and ritual processes that have gradually helped them with their moral injuries. In addition to describing the concept of moral injury, the book will discuss multiple approaches to dealing with moral injury and will include a resources section.

Soul Repair is a book for veterans, their families, medical professionals who are treating them, and the vets' religious communities who are seeking to help returning veterans readjust to civilian life and cope with their sense of moral injury.

*50,000 words

Gabriella Lettini is Dean of the faculty and Aurelia Henry Reinhardt Professor of Theological Ethics and Studies in Public Ministry at Starr King School for the Ministry–Graduate Theological Union. She lives in Berkeley, California.

Chapter 1: I Became a Soldier

Chapter 2: Killing Changes You

Chapter 3: Coming Home is Hell

Chapter 4: I Will Live with Moral Injury the Rest of My Life

Chapter 5: Soul Repair

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

Notes

Resources for Further Study