ABSTRACT
For centuries, religious rituals have been available to wounded soldiers as ways to name, frame, and offer respite from moral trauma brought on my combat. Soldiers and their caregivers have found peace in traditional practices developed over millennia within communities around the globe. A close study of contemporary veterans’ practices reveals that when they seek peace, they often generate practices on their own that replicate centuries-old traditions. Specifically, they engage in pilgrimage, public testimony or “prophecy,” acts of atonement, or memorial-making. As veterans and their caregivers act in these ways, they are able to own their feelings of shame, guilt, or betrayal. In so doing, they connect the veterans with community and offer a path forward.
