Veterans account for a troubling 20 percent of our nation’s suicides, according to national figures. This means that every day in the United States, an average of 18 veterans take their own lives – or about one every 80 minutes.
About 27 percent of Oregon’s suicides are veterans.
From 2005 to 2010, active service members took their own lives at a rate of approximately one every 36 hours...
Post Traumatic Stress may occur in those who experience or witness intense violence, serious accidents, or life-threatening events. It can make people feel angry, hopeless, fearful, horrified, and overwhelmed. Post Traumatic Stress is treatable.
Many veterans and active military balk at seeking help through traditional channels due to fear of negative career impact, the stigma of perceived weakness among their peers and frustration with red tape. Left untreated, the challenges can intensify as they feel more isolated.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
It's Saturday. November 12.
Well, Veteran's Day is over. We go back to ignoring them again, right?
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I was reading about the ceremonies at Arlington, the jobs bill, etc. I guess San Diego must be the home port for the U.S.S. Carl Vinson. I was very surprised to learn that five million men and women have served in the armed forces over the last ten years. Three million have returned to civilian life and another one million are expected to be discharged over the next year or two. I had no idea. With eight or ten million people already out of work, it's going to be a climb to find employment for all of the returning veterans.
ReplyDeleteWell, Veteran's Day is over. We go back to ignoring them again, right?
ReplyDeleteI sometimes stay up way too late watching congressional hearings on C-SPAN. Over the past two years several of those have been Veterans Affairs Committee hearings on problems such as suicide, depression and trouble fitting into civilian society and finding work. One of my state's senators, Patty Murray, is chairwoman of that committee. Rightly so, because she's had a career-long dedication to helping veterans.
Murray has also fought tooth and nail to do right by troops on active duty. She was one of the strongest leaders in the fight several years ago to get enough kevlar vests and other protective gear for our troops in the Mideast.
The Senate just passed a bill to help veterans get hired, and Murray was the spark plug behind it. With her around, I don't see vets being forgotten.
This is how I closed out my piece on 11/11/11 -
ReplyDelete"Once a year, the left and right try to outdo one another in showing support for the men and women who risk their lives just so we at home have the right to fight and hate each other. During the rest of the year, however, our veterans largely go unappreciated and forgotten except in empty speeches. But hasn't this always been the case? Aren't the people who are always the most eager to send our men and women off to war the ones who put up the biggest obstacles to providing for them once they return?"
And I included this video of the 1932 Bonus March:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xkmo4ygPTjc
But I agree with SW re the small signs of change and Patty Murray's drive to improve the lives of our vets. When war mongers like John McCain get a "D" rating from veterans' groups because he consistently votes against programs that would benefit them, Murray is a welcome advocate and voice.
It's still going to be difficult for them all to find work. Maybe a new war or something?
ReplyDeleteThe bill to help veterans get hired gives money to people to hire them. It's not enough that they served, you have to bribe people to hire them? I haven't read the particulars on the bill and I'm guessing it contains language about their staying hired for some period of time--absent bad conduct--but still...
ReplyDeleteThis:
"Democratic aides told the Associated Press that the veterans jobs bill costs $1 billion and would be paid for with a Department of Veterans Affairs fee for backing home loans.
The act was part of a bill that would repeal a requirement that the government withhold three percent of payments to government contractors as a way to ensure that contractors paid their taxes. President Obama supports the repeal and it has already passed in the House. The larger bill passed 95-0.
That will cost $11.2 billion over the next ten years and will be paid for by making it harder for certain Social Security beneficiaries to qualify for Medicaid, the Associated Press reported."
is from here (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/11/veterans-jobs-bill-only-part-of-obama-jobs-plan-to-pass-senate.html)
Typical of the fucking republicans. They can't concieve of doing something to help one group without screwing another group that is ALSO in desperate straits.
The GOP is filth.
democommie
democommie, you make good points, and you're so right about Republicans. No, it shouldn't be necessary to bribe businesses to hire vets. If I understand correctly, the idea is to give vets a leg up because, perversely, potential employers can be stand-offish toward them, worrying about whether they've been out of the civilian job market too long and whether they have medical, emotional or psychological issues.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind, even in a pretty good economy, when it's been an employer's market for a long time, employers grow spoiled. They're beyond picky about who they will hire. Job requirements become extremely detailed and forget about an employer providing training or a break-in period.
Octopus is still having Internet access problems and has been intermittently off grid.
ReplyDeleteNameless,
I appreciate your post on this issue because it comes close to home: My daughter has chosen a military career, and it pisses me off that her generation might be dismissed and neglected as my generation of Vietnam vets were so miserably treated. Here are headlines I have read recently:
Romney Flirts With Privatizing Veteran’s Benefits;
DeMint explains his veterans 'no' vote.
WTF! When I recall this past decade of punishing re-deployments, I recall years of family milestone events such as births and deaths and years of holidays gone by ... and the ONE missing place at the family dinner table: My daughter.
Four deployments to the Mid-East; accounts of nightly mortar and machine gun fire (which I could over the telephone when my daughter called home); a roadside IED attack (as told by my daughter who survived uninjured but suffered PTSD for months - left untreated because she was afraid PTSD on her record would harm her career); torn ligaments and tendons from years of PT and re-deployments and the constant pain she now endures).
Meanwhile the callous assholes within the GOP who think taking care of our vets is too much government or too much spending to their liking. Why fucking bother making these sacrifices when the GOP will betray you in the end.
From what I understand, less than one percent (1%) of the population has serviced in the military (ours is after all an all-volunteer force), which means the GOP can treat our vets like dogs and pay a small political price in the bargain. It means, unless we stand with our vets, they will not get a fair share of political representation, or the care they deserve, or justice.