It has always struck me as strange that, for a country as preoccupied with war as America is (between actual wars and clandestine wars America has been involved in some kind of conflict since the beginning of the 20th century), we do such a lousy job of taking care of our Veterans. Although the aftermath of the Vietnam conflict first brought the issue to the attention of the American public in some detail, every war America has engaged in has resulted in refugee warriors whose capacity to re-enter society was negatively affected by their experience in the theater of conflict. This has only been increased by the use of guerrilla warfare - now referred to as asynchronous warfare. The tactics used in this type of war - traps, roadside explosives, ambush and targeting of civilians - has made it far more difficult to adjust to the return to "normal" (as if civilian life were somehow a benchmark of normality) life.
As a result of this, suicides are up, homicides are up, domestic violence (also look here, and here and here) is up and drug and alcohol use is up. These things are, of course, inter-related, but the simple fact is that the conflicts were are involved in today are doing great damage to people. In particular the multiple deployments - something new and specific to these conflicts - are quite devastating to servicepeople and their families.
The tragedy is that these veterans - and regardless of how you feel about the conflicts, they are people who served their country at great personal cost - are not getting what they need (example, another and another - I could go on.) This, to me is simply immoral. I am not a supporter of war - particularly the aggressive wars of political adventurism that are at the basis of the conflicts this country has engaged in over the last 50 years. But, my god, if we are going to send these people into harm's way, we should at least have the decency to support them when they come home.
In the military there is a creed that "you never leave a soldier behind." But we are - not our leaders, not our government, not the military - we are. In America we have a civilian controlled military. That means it is "we the people" who are responsible for this travesty - quite simply, we don't want to spend the money on veteran care
This is an excellent story by Brian Mockenhaupt, an Iraq vet, in this month's Esquire Magazine. Read it. And then think about it when you are warm and safe and comfortable in your bed at night.
As a result of this, suicides are up, homicides are up, domestic violence (also look here, and here and here) is up and drug and alcohol use is up. These things are, of course, inter-related, but the simple fact is that the conflicts were are involved in today are doing great damage to people. In particular the multiple deployments - something new and specific to these conflicts - are quite devastating to servicepeople and their families.
The tragedy is that these veterans - and regardless of how you feel about the conflicts, they are people who served their country at great personal cost - are not getting what they need (example, another and another - I could go on.) This, to me is simply immoral. I am not a supporter of war - particularly the aggressive wars of political adventurism that are at the basis of the conflicts this country has engaged in over the last 50 years. But, my god, if we are going to send these people into harm's way, we should at least have the decency to support them when they come home.
In the military there is a creed that "you never leave a soldier behind." But we are - not our leaders, not our government, not the military - we are. In America we have a civilian controlled military. That means it is "we the people" who are responsible for this travesty - quite simply, we don't want to spend the money on veteran care
This is an excellent story by Brian Mockenhaupt, an Iraq vet, in this month's Esquire Magazine. Read it. And then think about it when you are warm and safe and comfortable in your bed at night.
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The way we treat our veterans is
ReplyDeleteunforgivable! The VA system has some folks in it who are trying desperately to get resources for what vets are really dealing with, but it is an uphill and as of now, losing battle. The US gov't's willingness to walk away from - or worse discount the existence of - PTSD, depression, domestic abuse and the frightening rise in suicides says it all. How immature of this country to think that human beings can be exposed to war and come back, function normally and THEN can sent back - again, and again with no ramifications. Shame, shame, shame!! We have left many soldiers "out there".