“I don’t even like to say I’m a combat veteran. I don’t even like to say I’m a veteran.”These were the words of the sole combat veteran of the class. Given the near universal adulation for the military and veterans in our nation this may seem like a strange reaction. Why wouldn’t he proudly claim his veteran and combat veteran status? Aren’t our veterans routinely described as bonified “heroes”? His answer boiled down to this: he wasn’t convinced most people really wanted or cared enough to understand the complexities of his military experience. As he spoke two more hands in our small class darted up.
Wikipedia writes about U.S. military veterans and their high rates of suicide:
"A 2021 study by Brown University estimated that 30,177 veterans of post-9/11 conflicts had died by suicide. When compared to the 7,057 personnel killed in the conflicts, at least four times as many veterans died by suicide than personnel were killed during the post-9/11 conflicts.[10]
"According to a 2022 report by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, nearly half of U.S. military service members have seriously considered suicide since joining the Armed Forces.[11]"
Now, perhaps the problem is war itself; perhaps it is not normal or healthy for one human being to kill another human being for no reason other than he or she is another nationality or religion or political affiliation or for whatever reasons humans engage in war, such as the needless taking of land, resources or to increase the profits of the War Industry.
All of this and the many other reasons I have not cited combine to make being a military veteran an unhealthy choice.
That it is; and some reports indicate that veteran suicides might be double the accepted figure of 20 to 44 veterans a day taking their lives. The discrepancy is a result of many drug overdose deaths marked as accidental.
Thank you for this. My partner is a combat veteran who suffers from PTSD. I cringe when I hear the hollow "thank you for your service" quip tossed casually in her face. I rank it up there with saying "everything happens for a reason" to someone deeply suffering a loss. However well meaning, it's still flippant, casual cruelty.
Thank you for reading and sharing. The "everything happens for a reason" is a great point of comparison. Perfunctory expressions like this tend to tell us as much or more about the larger culture as they do the individual person expressing such ideas. And for that reason they are very interesting and I think important to examine. There tend to be many built-in assumptions underlying the statements which point us to the dominant values of the society.
Have you run across Drew Cameron in your travels? I found Combat Paper years ago and was so impressed, inspired, and grateful for his heartfelt ingenuity of meaningful expression; that I committed to sending him a small monthly donation. Today, I thank him for his
Wikipedia writes about U.S. military veterans and their high rates of suicide:
"A 2021 study by Brown University estimated that 30,177 veterans of post-9/11 conflicts had died by suicide. When compared to the 7,057 personnel killed in the conflicts, at least four times as many veterans died by suicide than personnel were killed during the post-9/11 conflicts.[10]
"According to a 2022 report by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, nearly half of U.S. military service members have seriously considered suicide since joining the Armed Forces.[11]"
Now, perhaps the problem is war itself; perhaps it is not normal or healthy for one human being to kill another human being for no reason other than he or she is another nationality or religion or political affiliation or for whatever reasons humans engage in war, such as the needless taking of land, resources or to increase the profits of the War Industry.
All of this and the many other reasons I have not cited combine to make being a military veteran an unhealthy choice.
Something like 20 veterans a day commit suicide. It's a national disgrace.
That it is; and some reports indicate that veteran suicides might be double the accepted figure of 20 to 44 veterans a day taking their lives. The discrepancy is a result of many drug overdose deaths marked as accidental.
https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2022/09/17/veterans-suicide-rate-may-be-double-federal-estimates-study-suggests/
Thank you for this. My partner is a combat veteran who suffers from PTSD. I cringe when I hear the hollow "thank you for your service" quip tossed casually in her face. I rank it up there with saying "everything happens for a reason" to someone deeply suffering a loss. However well meaning, it's still flippant, casual cruelty.
Thank you for reading and sharing. The "everything happens for a reason" is a great point of comparison. Perfunctory expressions like this tend to tell us as much or more about the larger culture as they do the individual person expressing such ideas. And for that reason they are very interesting and I think important to examine. There tend to be many built-in assumptions underlying the statements which point us to the dominant values of the society.
Have you run across Drew Cameron in your travels? I found Combat Paper years ago and was so impressed, inspired, and grateful for his heartfelt ingenuity of meaningful expression; that I committed to sending him a small monthly donation. Today, I thank him for his
“after-service”! ✌🏼❤️🙏🕉
https://www.combatpaper.org/