April 26, 2015
By Mickey Friedman
Sometimes something happens we know nothing about. Down the road a bit. Around the block. The other side of town. In another state. Or the other side of the country. And so it’s understandable if we don’t know about it.
A couple of weeks ago, on one of those bitter cold Saturdays, I stood with my “Support Our Troops: It’s Time To Come Home” sign as the snow went straight for my face. My dear friend Peter who often joins me to demonstrate for peace, bringing his painful proud years of service, had had enough of the chill and headed back to his store, Hildi B’s. Sometimes, standing there alone, I think maybe I’ve had enough, tired of it all, reminding us we’re at war and that our soldiers are far from home. Wet and cold and depressed and feeling sorry for myself. Fighting the desire to pack it up and head home for some TV.
But the other day I read about the twenty-two times a day and found a reason to continue on.
Because what I’m talking about happens twenty-two times a day. And I imagine that you like me will be surprised by the news.
Almost every hour an American vet kills himself. Twenty-two veteran suicides a day. That’s 1,892 former soldiers who have killed themselves since January 1, 2014. And according to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), that well might be an underestimation because there’s no system keeping track of veteran suicides.
An IAVA survey found that more than fifty percent of vets since 9/11 knew at least one fellow soldier who tried to kill himself.
Who’s talking about this?
I find this so very disturbing. So Sad. So shocking.
We’re surrounded by patriotic blather. We pledge allegiance. We start ballgames with our Star-Spangled Banner. The TV overflows with politicians arguing over who loves America best. And when in doubt about events overseas, the talking heads always seem to suggest we go to war.
Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk. We’ve got Memorial Day and Flag Day and July 4th and Veterans Day. Parades and more parades and speeches long and short.
But what of those who have served? Those who have done the real fighting the politicians talk so glibly about, the real dying in the seemingly endless war the politicians called for, and voted for.
What has happened to our warriors? What have they seen, and what have they done, and how do they feel that they come home to kill themselves?
And how can we not know about this? Not care? How can we vote for those who send others faraway to fight those wars then allow them to return to us tormented and torn apart? Untreated?
Where is the national shame? Why isn’t every politician interrupted when he talks war? Why isn’t he forced to confront the sad fact that we aren’t adequately caring for those we’ve already sent to war?
According to Paul Rieckhoff, the founder of IAVA, “We have the largest network of post-9/11 vets in the country and every year they tell us what they think we should focus on, and [this year] they said suicide.”
Do you know the military often hands out “bad conduct” discharges to soldiers whose behavior is a result of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, making it impossible for them to take advantage of mental health services at the VA? According to Rieckhoff, tens of thousands of soldiers have been discharged under these conditions.
In general, care at the Veterans Administration falls short. A recent Associated Press study found “Nearly 894,000 appointments completed at VA medical facilities from Aug. 1 to Feb. 28 failed to meet the health system’s timeliness goal, which calls for patients to be seen within 30 days … one in 36 patient visits to a caregiver involved a delay of at least a month. Nearly 232,000 of those appointments involved a delay of longer than 60 days — a figure that doesn’t include cancellations, patient no-shows, or instances where veterans gave up and sought care elsewhere.”
Rosie Noel, a retired Marine gunnery sergeant won the Purple Heart in Iraq after rocket shrapnel slashed open her cheek and broke her jaw. “It took 10 months for the VA to successfully schedule her for a follow-up exam and biopsy after an abnormal cervical cancer screening test in June 2013.
“… her first scheduled appointment in February 2014 was postponed due to another medical provider’s ‘family emergency.’ She said her make up appointment at the VA hospital in Fayetteville … was abruptly canceled when she was nearly two hours into the drive from her home in Sneads Ferry on the coast.
“I served my country. I’m combat wounded. And to be treated like I’m nothing is unconscionable,” she said.
Talk about unconscionable: twenty-two suicides a day.
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For more information:
https://news.vice.com/article/at-least-22-veterans-kill-themselves-every-day-and-no-one-gives-a-shit
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/va-makes-headway-fight-shorten-waits-care-30172315
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