National Veterans Foundation

Is it human nature to be indifferent to that which does not directly impact us, to ignore that which we don’t understand and to delude ourselves into believing false truths to avoid feelings of shame? Or perhaps, it is human nature to care, to empathize and display acts of compassion, but we feel helpless, do not know how to help, and as a result we feel too embarrassed to ask for direction. I hope, no in fact, I pray it is the latter. We just celebrated the 5^th Anniversary of the War in Iraq. For five years we have sent our young men and women in harms way, and asked them to sacrifice their life, their liberty to protect our privileges and our pursuit of happiness. So I ask you, in the course of these five years, what have you done in return?

 

Those brave men and women who decide to join the military make many sacrifices, one of them being a sense of alienation at times from civilians. A soldier lives the life and makes his observations based upon his first hand experience, a civilian watches movies and the news and makes a judgment based upon hearsay at best. I, myself, am a civilian with many friends in the military. I have had both the fortune and/or misfortune to view their sub-culture close up. I have never had the honor to hang out with braver, smarter and funnier individuals, yet they face a silent battle when they come home that most of us civilians are blind to. We think the Department of Veterans Affairs takes care of veterans- we don't know anything really nor do most of try to find out. Our ignorance and apathy towards veterans is simply unconscionable, and the root of some serious problems.

The great majority of the men and women who join our military are truly heroes for their willingness to sacrifice everything to protect and defend the American way. A shadow should not be cast on their courage, their bravery or their honor because a few commit one of the most dishonorable and degrading of all crimes — sexual assault again fellow members of the Armed Forces, mostly the women.

They are your neighbors, your co-workers, your friends, your family. They are citizen soldiers. Since 2001, 4 out of 5 Guardsmen have been sent overseas in the largest deployment of National Guard since WWII. Over 400 Army National Guard soldiers have died in Iraq, more than quadruple the amount that died in the entire Vietnam War.

Combat stress is a term tossed around a lot these days. However, if you stop and think about it, do we really know what that means? As a civilian, without any combat experience, of course the answer is no. As a soldier or veteran, the experience varies, so even soldiers may not be clear what falls within this broad term.

Well, here are some facts which shed some light. We see the 15 second sound bite clips on t.v. or read about it in articles and get chills. They live in a reality, which mirrors nightmares. Combat stress in this war in Iraq and Afghanistan actually entails the following:

In Iraq: Soldiers in Army and Marines have the following experience: