One would almost have to go to the Book of Revelation to visualize the cost of modern war. The weapons of a modern war are so hellish that they wound friend and foe alike. The fumes and chemicals are so deadly that, years later, even the survivors may be struck down. If Americans cannot feel the cost of our wars on other peoples of the world, if we do not care about the pollution and emptying of our own resources into the empty hole of empire, perhaps we could find a tear for the veterans who are now at risk of depression, memory loss, paranoia and suicide as a result of being in proximity to the explosions of war.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/15/degenerative-brain-disease-afghan-war-vets_n_1783293.html