The Importance Of Friendships In War

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What does a 31 year old Iraqi Navy veteran have in common with a 61 year old Air Force brat? This is the question that fueled my interest for the completion of the audio documentary featuring Adam Nehls (Navy veteran) and Kate Baird (Air Force brat). Nehls served for five years in the Iraqi war as a fire control technician1 in the Navy. On the other hand, Baird’s father served as an Air Force pilot in the Cold War, Vietnam War, and the Korean War. Though Nehls and Baird experienced war in different eras, the concept of friendship appeared to be timeless throughout their interviews. Even so, an article written by Janet Butler, a member of the Australian Historical Association, titled ‘Friendships in war was not just confined to bonds between men’ provided more historical context to the significance of friendships in war. The article focuses on Australian nurses who participated in World War I, and extracts historical information about friendships from the diaries of army nurse Kit McNaughton. I used the article on the World War I Australian nurses to shape the outline of the audio documentary for Nehls and Baird. The article serves as a guide for the three main points discussed by the interviewees in the documentary: the stability that friendships provided in war, the volatile nature of friendships due to military transitions, and the persevering sense …show more content…

The article explains that “McNaughton’s diary contains much evidence of the nurses “yarning” with the soldiers and of the soldiers confessing their fears and the harshness of their experiences” (Butler, 2015). Friends were able to give emotional support and a listening ear to confide in. Nehls details that military feels more comfortable around other military due to their shared experiences. Similarly, Baird presently has friendships that have resulted from the united experience of being military

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