Honoring those who gave their lives to protect the United States is the point of Memorial Day and part of our integrity as a nation. Yet today an increasing number of servicemen and women survive combat and live among us with debilitating physical and mental wounds. Too often, the government and public overlook these heroes and their unique needs.
Over the past decade, roughly 50,000 military personnel have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan bearing severe wounds of war. For all our defenders, the transition to civilian life is challenging. For our wounded, it can become long-term and ruinously expensive. The resources available are simply inadequate.
In March, the Gary Sinise Foundation and the USC Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families hosted a summit to bring academics, government officials and health-care specialists together with wounded veterans and their caregivers. According to keynote speaker Army Lt.-Gen. (Ret.) Rick Lynch, polling suggests 71 percent of Americans don’t understand what combat veterans endure. Meanwhile, 84 percent of veterans polled said the public has “little awareness” of the challenges they face in life after combat.
This points to an urgent need to supplement existing government support and raise public consciousness of the urgent need to become involved in caring for our wounded veterans and their families at the grassroots level.
The conference, “Closing the Gap: Meeting the Future Needs of America’s Severely Wounded Heroes & Their Caregivers,” exposed several startling realities regarding the growing shortfalls in caring for the physical and emotional needs of these men and women who have returned home. While the national media have provided troubling glimpses of the health-related complications that veterans experience in seeking care, the bigger picture is alarming.
Emotional trauma is endemic. From 2002 to 2012, 103,972 cases of post-traumatic stress (PTS) were reported. Every day, 22 American veterans take their own life, according to a 2012 report from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Physical injuries often compound the emotional damage. The same 2002-2012 span saw 1,715 battle injury amputations performed. Beyond the personal struggles, loss of limb and/or physical disfiguration places tremendous stress on veterans’ families. Loved ones often must take on the role of caregivers — and post-traumatic stress can affect those caregivers as well.
For our wounded, just keeping access to health-care support systems is a daunting and ongoing task. Finding consistent employment and reentering society can seem impossible.
And more than half of all veterans report feeling disconnected from their communities. That sense of disconnectedness is a solvable problem. Simple awareness on the part of the public is an essential first step.
And the inadequacies of government programs supporting America’s wounded heroes must be counterbalanced by grassroots individual efforts. Local communities must identify and connect with these veterans and their families to provide assistance and care. As citizens, it’s our duty.
Very simply, if every neighborhood in every community in every town and city in every state would make it a priority to seek out, identify and address the needs of local veterans and military families, we will have the problem solved.
As Calvin Coolidge once said, “The nation which forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten.” Let each of us seize this Memorial Day to remember to honor our defenders, help close the “care gap” for the veterans in our communities and ensure that our wounded heroes are not relegated to the shadows.
It’s the least we can do in gratitude for the remarkable sacrifices they’ve made on our behalf.