Each year the opening ceremonies are quite impressive and have included paratroopers jumping from a plane while holding a large, fully extended American flag. The tear filled eyes of the membership gaze skyward as the National Anthem plays. Pride is evident on every face.
This year over $36,000 was raised and donated – a praise worthy accomplishment especially in these tough economic times.
While reading the article and looking at the accompanying picture in the local paper, I asked my husband whether he thought any of the people depicted, dressed in golf plaids and tennis whites, realized how different their attire was from the uniforms worn by our military men and women in the field. Do they, I wondered, ever stop to consider that the flag on the pole in front of their clubhouse, waving over luscious greens and pastel flower gardens, represents something much different than other flags across this nation and around the world?
A few miles from my home is our local VA Hospital. Here, another flag flutters above a parking lot so packed with cars that there aren’t enough spaces to accommodate the many veterans in need of care. Each person who enters through the front doors has served this country with honor, integrity and dedication. They suffer illnesses too many to mention – physical, mental and emotional. For those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury, the need for relief and answers is an especially urgent one.
As I stand quietly against a wall, watching but not wanting to intrude, I see recognition register on each new face. They all know each other. They’ve all been here before – many times. Outstretched arms and clasped hands are extended in gestures of friendship and commonality. Then they laugh a bittersweet laugh and complain loudly about the lack of parking and the tickets that will most likely be stuck to their windshields when their appointments are over. Complaining gives them a few minutes respite from the pain that is their constant companion. So do the laughs.
There is a third flag that comes to mind as I write this article. I see it in my mind’s eye draped over the casket of Staff Sgt. David Senft, who was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on December 16, 2010. Sgt. Senft is a statistic to everyone but his family. He is one of the many and growing number of soldiers who has committed suicide as a result of a trauma suffered in battle.
A 2008 study by the Rand Corporation estimated that more than 620,000 veterans who had served in the Middle East would need long term care for traumatic brain injuries. According to that study, one in five soldiers returning from the Middle East display symptoms of PTSD, putting them at a higher risk for suicide. That number rises daily. Now consider that it is estimated that 18 veterans a day actually do commit suicide.
As the snow fell softly on Sgt. Senft’s coffin, the American flag was lifted and folded with all due ceremony. The flakes that clung to the fabric fluttered to the ground, a symbol of another life lost to a “disorder” only recently recognized and yet to be treated let alone cured.
I wonder how long it will be before Sgt. Senft’s five-year-old son, into whose hands the flag was placed, starts asking, “Why?”
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Kate O'hehir
Brassawe
PlannerDan
Surazeus
A North American
November Skies
Salon.com
Comments
Many of the people at that country club have children far too young to volunteer for military service. Others do have sons and daughters who serve or have served. Still, life within the gates of communities such as these are often more fantasy than reality. With that in mind, these people do a wonderful service each year by raising money and donating it for the betterment of all of men and women in uniform.
We both know it is easier to read and do nothing. As I've told you, I've been communicating with a veteran of the Vietnam War, and the stories he has told me are frightening. That war ended 35 years ago, and our military men and women are still waiting for treatment.
To be fair, some service received at the VA is exemplary -- or so I've been told by other veterans. However, it appears there is a web of connections -- a hierarchy so to speak -- that must be climbed before some soldiers are recognized. It's sad to think that one person's life is considered more valuable than another's.
Funding for military healthcare is a bi-partisan ping pong game. Harry Reid recently tied money to a bill with outrageous earmarks. Of course, the GOP knocked it down. If they really cared, on both side of the aisle, our veterans/deployed soldiers would stand apart when bills are constructed.
Great article and a well deserved EP.
I am not trying to look through rose-colored glasses and say all is well. We have a long history of breaking promises, and we are still failing. But I do see that we can change things if we keep at it.
Thank you for remembering our soldiers!
kurt -r-
I seem to always wonder what these people have actually DONE for a/any veteran(s) other than sticking that cutesy little fucking ribbon on the back of their vehicles.
I see a lot of them on my way to the VA clinic or hospital in Tomah or Madison.
Don't bother to excuse me for what I said because, you see, I'm a Vietnam vet, you know, not one of those that are in vogue as are the American military veterans of bush's invented wars.
There, I said it.
You won't get any lip from me. Recently I made friends with a Vietnam vet who has been filling me in on his own "conflicts" with the VA. It's been an eye opener, i.e. the role different veterans organizations play in getting help for their members, minority treatment, the pill game, etc. etc. etc.
With my new friend's help - and others who are willing to contribute -- I'm hoping to write an expose on VA policies and treatment over the 35 plus years.
Interested in telling me your story?
I'll get around to another blog or two/three, etc.
When my fellings reach my fingers and my fingers are ready to type, I'll blog about it.
I've heart that same story many times. Sad! Sad! Sad! Sorry to hear about your uncle. I'll bet he had some good stories to tell. We need to listen to our "old soldiers" and " old sailors" a lot more often.
Lezlie
I kid, of course. Congrates on the well deserved EP!
Your seem to have "power." Could you whisper in Congress' ear and get them to approve a few million (billion) bucks for our soldiers?
Thanks for the congrats!
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that approximately 107,000 soldiers are homeless. Last year, 92,000 veterans applied for help through the VA’s specialized programs. Another 100,000 reached out to churches and charities for food, shelter and clothing.
According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, the majority of “old soldiers” without a roof over their heads are men (5% female). They are single and suffer from mental illness (ptsd) and substance abuse. A staggering 50% served during the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975.
1975? That's 35 years ago. Shame on us!
I saw lives shattered in my hometown in the 60's, as disillusioned young folks returned, utterly frustrated at how people placed importance in small things, ignoring the efforts of those young veterans in their need to exorcise the horrors of their experience.
The veterans I have been talking to are still trying to escape the Viet Nam war - awake and asleep.
The issue of suicide is actually far worse than the statistics would have all of us believe. Many of the deaths are reported as "noncombat related death under investigation". It is my belief that most of these deaths are suicides or "accidental overdoses" because the troops are prescribed so many medications that should not be taken simultaneously.
Don't even get me started on the VA and their pill-pushing ways! It is easy to see why each day 18 veterans take their lives. I predict that number will rise.