I am not sure the Traveler can print this but here goes, while reading the Eagle tonight I came upon this article that made me stop and think about all the petty things we think about on a daily basis. When reading this I felt so ashamed of all the petty things we complain about in regard to our daily lives. Most, like the parking in the front yard thing, and paving the city streets, and many of the other really small things that we get upset about without thinking about the other side of the coin. I know of many National guardsmen/military people that have gone to Iraq that have come back and told me the same things that I read in this article. WHY is it so hard for our service men and women to get help with this kind of thing? Not only mental health, but physical health too! We are a nation of whiners, myself included. I just thought that others in the area that maybe haven't seen this article should read this. Sometimes we celebrate when the veterans come home and forget about them and the demons they suffer from when they return. In many ways it is the same with LEO. They see and do things they really never want to see and do again. Then when they faulter in some way, they are turned out. Some think them weak, or damaged. Then those at home don't understand why they have changed. When reading the paper every day, I am saddened by the positions our armed forces are in. Not knowing when or if when they pack up their gear that day for patrol if they will see their children,wife or family again? They do it for love of country and love of family. And we as a country don't see to it they are taken care of. Some coming home only to be buried. Thank a vet, Thank an officer! You never know when you will need one.
War close to home for returning vets
It's a long way from Baghdad to the Starbucks at Central and Rock. That's where I talked recently with my friend Lt. Col. David Johnson, who served 18 months in Iraq and returned in August 2005.
But for Johnson, the war can still hit close to home.
Johnson wants Americans to understand what thousands of veterans are facing and feeling as they come home and transition back to civilian life.
He saw a lot while he was over there, he told me. It changed him in ways he's still trying to understand.
Coming home has posed its own unexpected challenges.
"It hurts to see how well everybody did without you," he said.
His wife and two kids got by fine in his absence, he realized. The world rolled on. It made him question his self-worth.
Other vets found their old lives weren't waiting for them. One soldier, Johnson said, came home to find that his wife had rented an apartment for him. She took him there and informed him that they were separated.
Like many other vets who've seen combat, he's suffered symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Johnson said he functions fine for the most part. But now and then he has intrusive thoughts about the war, depression and difficulty sleeping. He finds himself on edge a lot.
"You slam a door behind me, and I about jump out of my socks."
He told me he often feels emotionally withdrawn -- except for anger. It bothered his wife that when their dogs died, he showed little emotion. But in Iraq, emotion was a luxury you often didn't have.
One day, during the battle of Fallujah, a dog walked by carrying a human hand and forearm in its mouth. He didn't think much about it at the time. He was trying to stay alive.
Later, it bothered him. He realized, That just isn't normal.
During one firefight, Johnson was standing nearby when another soldier was hit in the chest with a rocket-propelled grenade. The force of the blast blew the man apart and knocked Johnson down.
He ended up shooting the insurgent who had fired the rocket.
The incident is seared in his memory.
In Iraq, when faced with such gut-wrenching experiences, he said, "You box it up and put it away and say, 'I'll deal with it later' -- but you don't deal with it later."
He's speaking out, he said, because he knows many other vets are going through the same thing.
"I love the United States Army," he said. But he's angry at how hard it's been to get help through the Army medical system for his health issues.
He said he's faced endless paperwork and delays. "Nobody seemed to care," he said.
Moreover, there's pressure not to report mental health problems. It could hurt your career and jeopardize your security clearance.
A couple of local vets he talked to said they needed help, too, but they were frustrated by the hassle of it all. They finally said, "To hell with it; we'll just go to the VFW."
He took that to mean they were going to drown their troubles in drink.
That's one reason he's speaking out. As an officer, it's easier for him to point to problems and speak about his Iraq experiences. Maybe it will help other vets talk about it.
The war has changed his outlook on life and his priorities. It taught him "how fragile life is -- how quickly it can be snatched away."
Americans don't realize how good we have it.
"Just look around," he said, gesturing toward Rock and Central. "We don't appreciate this. The grocery store over there is full of food. Nobody is going to shoot you for going there. The cars aren't mounted with machine guns.
"This is the life."
As an Army Reserve officer, Johnson is still doing weekend duty, and was wearing fatigues the day we talked. A woman passed our table and paused, squeezed his arm. "Thanks," she said simply, and went on.
"That's heartwarming," Johnson said. "I can't tell you how much that means to vets."
Thousands of vets like Johnson have served heroically in Iraq. Many are now back at their jobs as salesmen or teachers or managers. They're buying groceries and standing in line at Starbucks.
We can't fully understand what they've been through. Or what they're struggling with.
But we have an obligation to help ease their homecoming and make sure they get the help and support they need.
Thank you for sharing that. You should send that to the paper so that many more could see that. Next time I see a soldier I will squeeze their arm and tell them Thanks...
