This week, I have decided to post something I posted just a little over year ago on the blog. I know we have a few students in class who have served in the military, and I'm interested in hearing your point of view. Last year, I was watching an old episode of Boston Legal. My favorite character Alan Shore, played by James Spader, mentioned during a closing argument that in 2009, over 6,000 veterans committed suicide. That seemed like a pretty shocking statistic to me, so I decided to investigate further and what I found was appalling.
In December 2007, a Veteran Affairs (VA) internal memo written by the VA Mental Health Director said that there were 12,000 veterans attempting suicide every year. In addition, there were roughly 18 suicides per day, well over 6,000 per year, and these numbers don’t include servicemen and women on active duty. It seems the writers of Boston Legal got it right this time. The suicide rates are highest among male veterans of our current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which means for the most part, we are talking about young men in their twenties. Young men who should have their whole lives ahead of them, but for some reason feel suicide is their only option.
The Chief Clinical Psychologist for the Army Reserve and National Guard cites multiple and extended deployments as the cause. Many veterans return home suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injuries and/or depression. In many cases the VA has delayed or denied disability and medical claims from veterans because they are unable to prove that these conditions are “service-related”. When I read that, I literally felt sick.
Now I admit I’m not a big fan of our current wars. In fact, I’m not a big fan of war in general. That being said, I respect and honor those individuals who are willing to sacrifice their lives for our safety. I can’t believe that we are asking them to sacrifice so much, only to return to so little. So my question to you this week is, “What should be done to ensure veterans receive proper follow-up care when they return home? What can you personally do to support an Iraq/Afghanistan veteran?” Answers are due no later than Tuesday, August 30th, 2011.
I am a veteran of both wars... Being over there and witnessing the things I had to witness I can attest the depression and feelings that go along with these "conflicts".
ReplyDeleteYou can do your part by being sympathetic to people who have put their lives on the line for you and me. Whether you agree with it or not, it's a human being who did the unthinkable so you and I can do the possible.
There are numerous support agencies and help lines to call to help a veteran. I can not tell you how many of my friends suffer and refuse to get help or are denied and kind of compensation because there isn't enough empirical evidence to support their grief.
You and I can do our part by first being human and lending an ear to someone that needs the help. Was is nasty and yes,"war is hell"... but, it helps to be understood and to know that we are supported and that there is help. That I feel is the biggest issue. We felt helpless to do anything over there and feel even more lost when we come home...
Do your part and help a veteran by being there as a friend and confidant. Lend an ear and support the best way you can... even if it means pissing us off and making a phone call even if we don't want you to.
Unfortunately, this is a sad statistic. Although I know few soldiers, there are definitely some instances where some friends have returned home with an unbearable amount of rage, anger, or depression. Luckily, a good friend of mine is able to get help from a VA mental health psychologist and is undergoing treatment before his next deployment. Even if there is no logistical method of proving whether or not depression is service-related (although we all know it must have something to do with it), the VA should still offer assistance to servicemen and women who need it, especially because they are professionals in the field and can understand these soldiers better than a normal mental health facility can.
ReplyDeleteI've eluded to my beliefs about the military previously. I do not see them as these great heros out there defending my home from threats, they haven't done that since the 1800s. They are out there spending my tax dollars to defend the homes of people on the other side of the world that don't want them there in the first place. And while they are doing it they are making the enemies that could one day threaten my home.
ReplyDeleteI might have had some sympathy for soldiers returning home from Korea or Vietnam (or the first couple years of Iraq) because the vast majority of them were drafted (or in the case of Iraq in the service already before the wars started), but now a days we have a 100% voluntary military. They know going in that they are going into a war and they can easily see what they will be facing, and I have no sympathy for people who whine and cry about a situation they knowingly put themselves into (just like smokers complaining how hard it is to quite, you don't like it you shouldn't have been dumb enough to pick it up in the first place).
I wish there were no soldiers. Not that I wish they all suddenly dropped dead, far from it. I'm thinking more along the lines that I wish they had never become soldiers in the first place. There is no such thing as a justified war, ever. (I'm sorry if I've stepped on some toes with that statement, but I will not retract it.)
ReplyDeleteBoth my grandfathers were drafted into the military (WW2 for the elder, Vietnam for the younger), so one would assume I would be more sympathetic toward military men. I am sympathetic to soldiers, but as the people they are, not the forces they were fighting for. I don't see them as people who have fought for *insert curent military objective here*. I see them as people who didn't know what they were getting into. Which is to say, just like everyone else. No one knows what they're getting into in life, but that doesn't mean we'll get free therapists for investing the wrong stocks or having to raise a child with behavioral issues. That's life, and we gotta deal with it. And so should returning soldiers.
I agree with Ed. I've had several relatives that were in the military and went off to war. When they came back, they weren't quite the same. We made a call for my uncle on one of the help lines and didn't talk to us for a couple months but finally got over it. Even a simple thank you or a hug would help a soldier. People who've never been to war don't understand what soldiers go through. And no, I don't claim to know what they've gone through. I've just seen some of the pain and torment by dealing/helping my relatives.
ReplyDeleteDo I think that vets are getting enough help and support? No. But with a country in an economic catastrophe I don't see that changing anytime soon, if ever. I think most people would like to support the troops more, but unfortunately more people would rather spend tax money on a new stadium for sports than on helping people, and I'm not just talking about the troops with this one. If we legalized pot the government could stop putting our tax money towards a pointless drug war. Anyways, I'm just saying that we need to set our priorities with how our tax money is used, then, maybe there would be enough to help out the people that need help
ReplyDeleteI don't believe that they are getting enough help or support. You don't really see too much about the war on television. Maybe just little segments of it. Ed has a very good point because he has been through it first hand. So it's very interesting to find out how things really are there with another point of view. These soldiers go through a lot and as being an American, we focus so much more on other things when we owe it to those who fought for our country.
ReplyDeleteOur troops should get more support than they do, because they're risking there lives for us to be free. I will tell you that I will lend my ears and listen to a veteran that need help or just someone to talk too. War is one of the main causes of PTSD and affecting a lot of our troop if not all our troops. I think there should be more of a plan to help them out and to get those suicide numbers down. I was shocked when I read those numbers.
ReplyDeleteThese statics are really sad. It does make you sick when actually really thinking about it. Those soldiers that committed suicide could have been helped by the people who had no problem sending them over to war. Sad to think our government can spend tons of money on preparing them to head to war but when they come home they don't get the help they deserve. Lending an ear like Ed said could make a difference and save someones life. I really hope these people get the help they deserve when needed.
ReplyDeleteIt is really unfortunate that we do have to fight wars, but in my opinion they are necessary (to an extent.) If you think about it, could WWII have been solved diplomatically? I think not.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, and knowing that war in this country is inevitable... There is much more we could be doing for our troops. My brother is an Iraq veteran, just recently released from the Army on a medical discharge. It has been over 2 months since his discharge and he has yet to receive his payment from the Army. It should usually take no longer than 30 days. It's such a tragedy that he is in limbo now because he cannot do anything until he gets paid. Yet, the government will not pay the thousands of dollars due to him. There needs to be a better way of making sure our soldiers get paid on time. It breaks my heart to see this happen, especially to someone so close to me. I would hate to think it happens frequently.
I think, because of the negative connotations of these wars, the support system is not anything like what it should be. Everyone has see the pictures of veterans returning home on "V Day" in 1945, the celebration, and security that winning the war brought. None of that seems to exist. There is no victory, we are still over there, and unlike WWII, there are a lot of people here at home, who don't support the war, and ignorantly don't support the soldiers. If anyone, or anything deserves our support, it is our veterans.
ReplyDelete-Nick Cassady