I just learned about 1-877-VET-2-VET, a Veteran's crisis hotline where returning soldiers and veterans can call and speak directly to another VETERAN.
In the first 131 days of this year, 115 veterans committed suicide. That's almost a veteran a day committing suicide. It is all well and goode to support our troops, but what about our veterans?
It is common knowledge that if a Vietnam veteran is blustering on about Vietnam, they weren't there. They didn't see anything. If you were there, up to your eyeballs in feces, you do not talk about it.
Afghanistan and Iraq veterans seem to follow in their footsteps. I am married to a veteran and I know less than 10 war stories and all of those are humorous anecdotes or obvious explanations, like why someone is missing a leg or why someone got a silver star. The rest... who knows?
It is noble for an idealistic 18 year old to volunteer to serve his country. It is horrifying for that 18 year old boy to go straight from boot camp to a war zone. It is worse for him to be criticized for what he may or may not done while trying to protect himself and his friends, his brothers. It is worse for him to come home and no one to care that he will never ever be the same. He will NEVER recognize the potential he had before he volunteered to do something noble.
He will never be the same and, most likely, he will not be able to talk about it. Not only is mental illness still a taboo subject for a lot of people, but also, how is a 19 year old, who had a birthday in a war zone - he may or may not have received a package, he may or may not have been shot at - supposed to explain that he is not mentally ill, he just acts like it? He is conditioned. He checks his doors and jumps at loud noises and needs his gun on him constantly because that is what he is supposed to do. That is who he is. It is normal, to him, for him.
There is an email forward that periodically goes around, explaining that our returning soldiers find it hard to be sympathetic towards our day to day woes - potholes, commutes, annoying work places - because of what they have been through. This is true. It does not explain though that some soldiers who have been through war find it hard to care about anything at all, because none of what is going on at home can remotely compare to what they've been through.
Maybe what we need to ask ourselves is not how to make these soldiers fit back into our society but how our society can create a safe space to fit these veterans.
