What's Happening To Our Veterans

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What’s Happening To Our Veteransby: H. A. Goodman on September 24th, 2010
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IAVA volunteer embraces an amputee at Dodger Stadium. From ptsddiary.com.

Contrary to popular belief, our soldiers are currently fighting three wars – two in the Middle East and one at home. With politicians and pundits endlessly evoking the “war on terror” and security concerns, it is the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces that back up all the tough talk and rhetoric. However, when these brave souls return from combat, our society is not adequately prepared for their arrival. The regrettable treatment of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan is shameful.



Over two million men and women have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more than 40 percent of these soldiers have served at least two tours. In addition, around 300,000 troops have served three, four or more times. As a result, American soldiers today have spent more time in combat than at any point in U.S. History.



A Pentagon report in 2006 stated that the Army was “stretched to breaking point.” That year, a Congressional report claimed that “this strain, if not soon relieved, will have highly corrosive and potentially long-term effects on the force.” In 2009, Secretary of Defense Gates warned that “the Army faces a period where its ability to continue to deploy combat units at acceptable fill rates is at risk.”

Currently, official Pentagon estimates list over 5,600 dead and 36,700 wounded from both wars. However, these official statistics don’t include serious health issues like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, certain traumatic brain injuries, and other combat related wounds. One in five of the two million veterans of both wars suffer from PTSD and a greater number suffer from depression. An unofficial and potentially more accurate estimate of casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan (an estimate that includes issues like PTSD) from a Los Angeles Times article in 2010 cites a figure closer to 500,000 wounded veterans. As a result, the VA has a backlog of 1,000,000 claims, with new claims often taking around six months to receive an initial answer. To further highlight this epidemic, 9 out of 10 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan return home with some form of pain (60% have significant pain according to VA pain clinicians speaking at an American Pain Society meeting).



Fighting the “war on terror” has also taken an immense psychological toll on our warriors. According to a Rand report, “up to 31 percent of soldiers returning from combat in Iraq experience depression or post-traumatic stress disorder that affects their jobs, relationships, or home life.” As stated recently by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, “of the more than 30,000 suicides in this country each year, fully 20 percent of them are acts by veterans.” Depression and suicide is such a concern for veterans that from 2005-2009, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) cites 1 suicide every 36 hours. The issue of suicide and depression is magnified when taking into account that traumatic brain injuries are often times difficult to initially diagnose and directly linked to depression.



Before sending troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, elected officials failed to estimate the cost of taking care of returning soldiers and now veterans are paying for this negligence. Both sides of America’s political spectrum owe an enormous debt to our troops for the incredible sacrifices they’ve made. Whether it’s President Obama authorizing a surge in Afghanistan or people like New Gingrich evoking the “war on terror” continuously, the entire United States has a responsibility to address this pressing issue. It’s time for all Americans, regardless of political orientation, to make this an important voting issue in 2012.



In a world where many citizens equate patriotism with dressing up like Samuel Adams or wearing a flag pin, the soldiers who risk their lives daily deserve to be treated like patriots – as opposed to the lack of funding and attention they are currently faced with. Since elected officials unfortunately place so many foreign policy objectives squarely upon the shoulders of the troops, ensuring their wellbeing upon arriving home should be a foremost concern.



We have no right as a society to ask these men and women to fight in wars without adequately preparing for their arrival and welfare.