What Awaits Them?
On this Memorial Day, I have genuinely taken some time to reflect on how lucky we are to live in a country that is protected by so many brave men and women. I believe we as Americans do not take our freedom lightly. And even in wartime we are aware of the sacrifices that our men and women make every day overseas.
I don’t have any immediate family members that have served but I have some uncles and cousins that have served and continue to serve. I don’t know whether it is a general change in “climate in terms of our nation’s priorities, but I found myself wondering what awaits these brave men and women that are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan when they return home?
To date more than 6,000 men and woman have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I happened to see that figure online and was stunned. This reality is not something you hear about on the news. We used to when news outlets thought it was news. But unless you live near a “military town” your local news is not likely to provide this information to the general public.
In the wake of cuts in budgets all over the county, I still shake my head and wonder why politicians are so quick to bail out and care for Wall Street, but don’t take care of the men and women who return from service for this county. The wars they are fighting are so different that past wars. The mental costs and emotional costs seem so much greater for both servicemen and servicewoman and their families. In my practice, I have seen the little known effects that these men and women face when they come home to not having the support they thought they would have, and have to turn to other outlets to deal with a myraid of frustrations. We must do better.
I know I for one, had not even thought much about the impact on individuals and families as their men and women return. It wasn’t a tangible issue for me. But it is a tangible issue for our country as we certainly cannot let our past mistakes in our treatment of veterans (e.g. Vietnam) repeat itself. We cannot let already strained resources for mental health treatment, counseling and transitional programs be cut any further than what they have. We spend millions, and in some cases, billions on weapons development and pennies for transitional and recovery programs for our brave men and women. And giving this lip service on the eve of 2012 campaigning can no longer be tolerated.
That’s why I am pleased to see that our First Lady is making such an effort to bring more attention to the needs of military families. But there is so much more to be done. As the tide of this war changes, and hopefully will not escalate, I hope we do more than just thank these men and women when they return.
I hope we give them greater reasons than before to say “God Bless America.”
