The Best Medicine For A Vet Is The Company Of Another Vet

Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters

Elisa Borah, The Conversation: Sometimes the best medicine for a veteran is the company of another veteran

Many take time on Memorial Day to remember the Americans who have given their lives in service to our country.

For veterans and their families, that sentiment of remembrance is felt year-round. Many veterans suffer lifelong anguish over the loss of their brothers and sisters in arms. For them, Memorial Day is a day like every other day – a day they remember those who died at war.

This shared grief is just one way some veterans are affected by their military service. Veterans are also molded by military culture – a unique set of values, traditions, language and even humor. Military culture has unique subcultures, but it has enough consistency across different branches, ranks and time periods to make most veterans feel a kinship.

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WNU Editor: I can personally identify with this. Growing up my father's bess friends were his fellow veterans. They would always get together on Saturday, my mom would make supper, and after supper they would play cards, drink, and talk about everything .... politics, the war, fallen comrades .... till one or two in the morning. When my parents immigrated to Canada in the 1990s .... he quickly met fellow veterans here .... Russian emigrants who had a chance to escape to the West after the war, and with two retired U.S. Navy SEALs who served in Vietnam. Same story .... food, drink, and talk.

U.S. Troops And Veterans Are Being Forced To Rely On Welfare And Charity

Under Obama, Troops Forced To Rely On Welfare, Holiday Charity To Make Ends Meet -- Washington Times

Families receive bags of fixings for meals

Jamie Boling and her husband, Joseph, know that providing for a military family can be trying — waiting for orders, often living on a single income, and, in especially tough cases, supporting a spouse wounded in the line of duty.

Around the holidays, the challenges — especially the financial ones — can tax families already struggling to make ends meet.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit D.C.-based think tank, estimates that as many as 340,000 veterans rely on federal or state rental assistance. About 900,000 veterans live on food stamps, and an additional 5,000 active-duty service members are food stamp recipients.

The nonprofit groups Operation Homefront and Fisher House Foundation stepped in Monday to provide the Bolings and about 300 other military families in the D.C. area with grocery bags filled with the fixings for a holiday meal.

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My Comment: The numbers are staggering .... these men and women and their families deserve better.

America's Oldest Living WWII Veteran Is Honored By President Obama

Oldest Known WWII Veteran Honored At Arlington Ceremony -- FOX News

The oldest known veteran of World War II was honored with a thunderous standing ovation during a ceremony Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, as President Obama and the rest of the nation paid tribute to 107-year-old Richard Overton's service.

The tribute to Overton was a stand-out moment at Monday's Veterans Day ceremonies, as details emerged about Overton's visit. Earlier in the day, the Texas man met with Obama and Vice President Biden, along with other veterans, during a White House breakfast.

"This is the life of one American veteran, living proud and strong in the land he helped keep free," Obama said during the ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.

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More News On America's Oldest Living WWII Veteran Being Honored By President Obama

Oldest living WWII vet to meet with Obama -- USA Today
Obama pays tribute to 107-year-old WWII veteran -- Miami Herald/AP
Austin veteran, 107, honored at Washington ceremony -- Statesman.com

My Comment: The memories that this veteran must have can probably keep anyone up all night just listening to them.

Honor Flight: A Visual Journey

From YouTube: "Honor Flight: A Visual Journey" is a glorious art book that captures the treasured memories and faces of WWII veterans on Honor Flights to Washington, D.C. to see the WWII Memorial. More info at honorflightbook.com

Million Veteran March On The D.C. Memorials October 13th

WNU Editor: Their website is here.

Veterans Push Back Against Washington

Veterans tour the World War Two Memorial in Washington October 1, 2013. (Reuters / Kevin Lamarque)

Veterans Don’t Want To Be ‘Pawns’ In Shutdown Fight -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — As the impact on veterans becomes part of the contentious debate over the government shutdown, the commander of one of the nation’s leading veterans organizations said Friday that they should not become a political “pawn” for warring lawmakers.

In a press conference in front of the barricaded World War II Memorial, American Legion Commander Daniel Dellinger said that the veterans are concerned about the shutdown’s impact on their benefits and services, which he said “transcend politics.”

“You cannot use American veterans or servicemen and -women as pawns in this issue,” Dellinger said. “Veterans earn their benefits through their honorable service, many of them seriously disabled as a result of that service. To threaten suspension of their benefits is not only absurd, it’s cruel.”

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My Comment: Many of these veterans .... if not all of them .... are deeply worried that because of the debt crisis some of their benefits may eventually be cut. This growing realization has resulted in everyone .... veterans included .... in trying their best to position themselves to not be impacted. Sadly .... the money is not there to sustain this entitlement society .... and in the end everyone is going to be impacted .... veterans and visiting their memorials included.

WWII Vets Threatened With Arrest If They Visit The World War II Memorial In Washington

Honor Flight To World War II Memorial In Jeopardy Due To Shutdown -- North West Ohio

TOLEDO -- Locally in the Glass City, we can see the affects of the government shutdown at our museums, monuments, and national parks. The gates are closed and locked, denying access completely to the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge.

TSA employees were still working at Toledo Express Airport, but when WNWO called the TSA to find out if they would be affected, there was a message that said the public relations representative did not have access to her voicemail or email due to the government shutdown.

In a letter from Marcy Kaptur's office in the 9th District, it read, "...only services deemed essential for the safety of human life and protection of property will be continued."

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My Comment: If this happens there will be a firestorm of outrage from middle America .... and it will be directed at Congress and the White House.

Anti-War Landlord Refused To Rent Apartment Due To Veteran's Military Service

National Guard veteran Joel Morgan says anti-war landlord refused to rent apartment over military service. Photo credit: Fox News

Veteran Says Anti-War Landlord Refused To Rent Apartment Due To Military Service -- Examiner

Joel Morgan, a National Guard veteran who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, has sued a Boston landlord, claiming she refused to rent an apartment to him due to his military service, the Boston Herald reported Monday.

“It just is not going to be comfortable for us without a doubt. It probably would be better for you to look for a place that is a little bit less politically active and controversial,” the landlord reportedly said in a voicemail played for the Herald in the presence of Morgan's attorney.

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My Comment: The law is very clear .... you cannot discriminate against someone who has served in the military. A prediction .... this anti-war landlord refusal to rent is going to cost her a pretty penny when this case is resolved.

Returning Vets: The Numbers

New Veterans Fight New Battles After Coming Home -- CBS

America has a new generation of veterans. More than 1.6 million troops are back from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and they are unlike any other group of veterans the nation has ever seen.

More of them are Reserves and National Guard. More are women. They have different injuries than those who fought before them. And nearly half of them are seeking benefits for service-related disabilities. Claims are being filed faster than the government can process them. The average wait to get a new claim handled is about eight months.

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My Comment: The paragraph that caught my eye was the last one ....

.... The cost of veterans' benefits and health care peaks decades after a war ends, says Harvard University economist Linda Bilmes. These peaked in 1969 for veterans from World War I and in the 1980s for World War II. They haven't peaked yet for Vietnam veterans.

Finances are likely to be even tighter 30 years from now when costs for the newest veterans are greatest, she said. Unless a special fund for them is started now, "It's quite plausible many people will feel we can't afford these benefits we overpromised," Bilmes warns.

Half Of New U.S. Vets Filing For Disability Benefits

Almost Half Of New Vets Seek Disability -- FOX News/AP

America's newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen.

A staggering 45 percent of the 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now seeking compensation for injuries they say are service-related. That is more than double the estimate of 21 percent who filed such claims after the Gulf War in the early 1990s, top government officials told The Associated Press.

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My Comment: To say that these numbers are staggering is an understatement.

Update: The shocking cost of war: Afghanistan and Iraq veterans are 'the most damaged generation ever' with almost HALF seeking disability benefits -- Daily Mail

U.S. Iraq-Afghan Vets Return Medals At NATO Summit

Video streaming by Ustream

Dozens Of Vets Throw Away Their 'Shameful' Medals In Anti-War Protest At NATO Summit -- Daily Mail

Nearly 50 U.S. military veterans at an anti-NATO rally in Chicago threw their service medals into the street on Sunday, an action they said symbolized their rejection of the U.S.-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some of the veterans, many wearing military uniform shirts over black anti-war t-shirts, choked back tears as they explained their actions. Others folded an American flag while a bugle played 'Taps', which is typically performed at U.S. military funerals.

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More News On Iraq-Afghan Vets "Returning" Their Medals In Protest

'Life over war': US veterans return medals at NATO summit -- MSNBC
Iraq-Afghan veterans against war return medals -- Chicago Sun Times
U.S. Iraq, Afghanistan veterans kick off historic action against NATO in Chicago -- Xinhuanet
Op-Ed: Veterans throw away medals in Chicago anti-NATO protest -- Digital Journal
U.S. war veterans tossing medals back at Nato was a heroic act -- Bernard Harcourt, The Guardian

The Real Story Behind Veteran Unemployment Rates

The Real Story Behind Veteran Unemployment Rates: Perception vs. Reality -- G.I. Jobs

Chris Volk isn’t the kind of Soldier you usually see on TV. The 26-year-old Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran served in a combat zone, fixing HVAC equipment in a maintenance battalion. Volk used his education benefits when he left the Army to earn an associate degree, then landed an apprenticeship with Ameren Illinois, a subsidiary of Ameren Corporation. In June he’ll move up to gas utility journeyman – a good job with good benefits.

There’s nothing sensational about Volk’s success story. He’s not recovering from combat wounds, he’s not suffering from PTSD, he’s not homeless and he’s not coping with TBI. Volk made a smooth transition to civilian life, but stories like his don’t get much attention.

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My Comment: Fortunately .... most vets do find work or "something to do" after serving their country. I do know that the media always focuses on the "bad news" .... and that is OK .... but we should take everything in perspective, which the above story does very nicely.

WNU Editor: Hat Tip to Robert Ethan Hahn for this story.

A Hard Homecoming For American Veterans

American Veterans: A Hard Homecoming -- The Economist

Budget battles and a stagnant economy greet America’s soldiers as they return from Iraq and Afghanistan.

BRETT QUINZON did two tours in Iraq before leaving active duty in May. Originally from Minnesota, Mr Quinzon now lives in Thomaston, a small town around 65 miles south of Atlanta. A grey December morning found him filling out forms in Atlanta’s large veterans’ hospital, seeking treatment for depression. Since returning from Iraq, he says he has “more anger issues”, and finds himself “more watchful and on-guard in public situations” than he was before he deployed. That is not unusual: many soldiers return from the battlefield with psychological scars. Between January and May, as he prepared to leave active duty, Mr Quinzon applied for hundreds of jobs. The search proved difficult: like many veterans, he enlisted right after high-school, and lacks a college degree. But persistence paid off. He is now an apprentice at a heating and air-conditioning company, and is being trained as a heavy-equipment operator.

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My Comment: We as a nation can do better than this.

Young American Veterans Are Having Trouble Adjusting In An Economy With Far Too Few Jobs

Clayton Rhoden sells his blood plasma for $80 a week and works what extra duty he can get for his Marine Corps Reserve unit. Andrew Spear for The New York Times

As Wars End, Young Veterans Return To Scant Jobs -- New York Times

COLUMBUS, Ohio — In Afghanistan, Cpl. Clayton Rhoden earned about $2,500 a month jumping into helicopters to chase down improvised explosive devices or check out suspected bomb factories.

Now he lives with his parents, sells his blood plasma for $80 a week and works what extra duty he can get for his Marine Corps Reserve unit.

Corporal Rhoden, who is 25, gawky and polite with a passion for soldiering, is one of the legions of veterans who served in combat yet have a harder time finding work than other people their age, a situation that officials say will grow worse as the United States completes its pullout of Iraq and as, by a White House estimate, a million new veterans join the work force over the next five years.

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My Comment: Many veterans always have a problem to adjust .... but with a moribund economy .... I can only suspect that this adjustment will be even more harder.

More Indications That Times Are Tough For U.S. Veterans

Food Stamp Use At Military Commissaries Up Sharply In Four Years -- Stars And Stripes

BAUMHOLDER, Germany — Food stamp purchases at military commissaries have nearly tripled during the last four years, according to Defense Commissary Agency figures.

The agency reports that nearly $88 million worth of food stamps were used at commissaries nationwide in 2011, up from $31 million in 2008.

There is little information about who is using the food stamps, officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by the Department of Agriculture, because DeCA and the Defense Department do not keep data on individuals who purchase items at commissaries. But Joyce Raezer, the executive director of the National Military Family Association, suspects that the majority of food stamp users are veterans who separated before retirement and members of the National Guard or reserve forces.

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My Comment: the sentence that got my attention was the following ....

.... Nearly 860,000 veterans filed for unemployment benefits last month, of whom more than one-quarter are young veterans, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Wow .... these high numbers tell me that there is a lot of hurt out there.