Journalism in War

Last week in class a fascinating guest speaker, Dodge Billingsley came and spoke in my class. The two hours he spoke were some of the most interesting two hours I have ever spent in college. He addressed war and explained some of the up-close and personal battles he's witnessed while covering the war. Billingsley told us, being embedded with a platoon has given him more frontline time then most journalists. I think he was initially asked to speak to our class on trauma in journalism, but spoke most of the time on different war tactics. I thought he would be traumatized from his experiences, but he said he really wasn't affected. He did say seeing women and children involved in the war disturbed him. I found this interesting. Why would he not be affected? Is he just past feeling toward the tragic events of war because he has been involved in it for so long? Is he just in denial?