MORAL INJURY

Provide a 250-350 word response to student’s response, and justify and support your answer using your experience and source support from the assigned readings. Jay Allen’s Initial Post (Question B) This discussion will review defining moral injury and whether it is a leader's responsibility to mitigate the opportunities for moral injury before it occurs. Moral injury is defined as the lasting psychological, biological, spiritual, behavioral, and social impact of perpetrating, failing to prevent, or bearing witness to acts that transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expec¬tations (Bachelor 2015, 2). According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), moral injury in the context of war comes from participation in actions related to combat warfare, such as killing or harming others. Moral injury can also come indirectly from acts like witnessing a death or others dying, failing to prevent similar immoral acts, and granting or receiving orders that can be viewed as immoral or inhuman (Disabled American Veterans, Moral InjuryLinks to an external site., 2024). Desmond Doss was one of the 70,000 men designated conscientious objectors during WWII. He held strong views against killing, working on working on the Sabbath, and refusing to bear arms; however, he felt the calling to help serve his country. During his basic training, many of the men verbally harassed Doss and stated that when they went to combat with him, they would make sure Doss did not come back alive. He was ostracized by both the enlisted men and his commanding officers. His commanding officer tried to discharge him for reason of mental illness. Another commanding officer tried court-martialing him for refusing to hold a rifle. With all of these challenges, Desmond kept his faith. Throughout the war, Doss witnessed the carnage of deaths all around him. He never gave hope and was recognized for saving 75 men or more (Martin, Private First Class Desmond Thomas Doss Medal of HonorLinks to an external site., 2020). Reflecting on the question above, is it a leader's responsibility to mitigate the opportunities for moral injury before they occur? A standard answer is that leaders should advocate for their troops because it is their responsibility, creates group cohesion, and is morally just. However, in Desmond's case, his commanding officers should have reconsidered their priorities and made better decisions by supporting him. -Allen For context, in the text below is the initial question: • QUESTION B: Define “moral injury.” Is it a leader’s responsibility to mitigate the opportunities for moral injury before they occur? If so, how? If not, why not?