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Surviving War, Slowly Dying at Home
LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Vets Westside Residence Hall is a hulking eight-story structure a few blocks from Los Angeles International Airport. It's the largest transitional housing and employment centre for homeless veterans in the country, hosting 700 veterans annually.
Michael Hall is one of its residents. The 31-year-old Army staff sergeant enlisted shortly after high school and served as a heavy equipment mechanic and technical weapons specialist in Bosnia, Cuba, Kuwait and Afghanistan before being severely injured in Iraq in 2003.
"I was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade," Hall told IPS as he limped into a recreation room on the building's ground floor. "I suffer from compression of the spine. I used to be six foot four. Now I'm six two and a half."
"I got knocked through a wall," he added, almost as an afterthought.
The federal government's Veterans Administration considers Hall to be 100 percent disabled. He has difficulty walking, dragging his feet with each step he takes. He also suffers from mental problems -- bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder -- conditions he didn't have before he went to Iraq.
Hall said his problems really started when he got back to the United States and started using methamphetamines to dull the pain.
"I knew a lot of people who were killed in Iraq," he said, "so the pain of losing loved ones on the battlefield, the pain of not being there for my children, of not knowing how to live in this civilian society after so many years in the military -- I stuffed these things down deep inside because I considered myself a hard-core guy. But after the effects of the methamphetamine went away, I still felt the same. No matter how much I could do or how much I could smoke the results were the same. It was the insanity of it all."
Hall has four children, ages seven, four, two, and one. But his behaviour since being released from the military has kept him away from them. In addition to using drugs, he started dealing as well. Since leaving the military in 2003, he has served time in federal prison in Oklahoma for felony home invasion and has had numerous other run-ins with the law. Within three years, he hit rock bottom -- one of 27,000 homeless vets on the streets of Los Angeles.
Dwight Radcliff is chief operating officer of U.S. Vets, a public-private partnership founded in 1993 to serve homeless veterans. He told IPS his organisation is increasingly coming into contact with relatively young homeless veterans involved in custody disputes over their children.
"It's a sign of the times," he said. "It's a lot freer now than even in the 1970s. So it's not surprising to see a veteran who is 23 years old who has children, who cannot get along with the custodial parent who needs support and help to navigate that system."
Radcliff added that the presence of those children can also be a motivator to get the veteran off the streets and clean from drugs. For example, U.S. Vets helped former Staff Sergeant Michael Hall win custody of his children after he got off methamphetamine. The children are currently living with Hall's parents until he finds a permanent place to live.
"These are guys who are pretty much going straight from deployment to the streets," added Rachel Feldstein, associate director of New Directions, a residential care centre for homeless veterans inside the VA complex in West Los Angeles. She says veterans of the Iraq war are becoming homeless much more quickly than Vietnam vets.
While about half of the estimated 400,000 homeless veterans served during the Vietnam years, Feldstein said most did not usually become homeless until nine to 12 years after their discharge.
Already, she said, Iraq war vets are living on the streets of Los Angeles, getting seriously addicted to drugs and falling into criminal behaviour, she said.
Firm estimates of the number of homeless Iraq war veterans are hard to come by. In June 2005, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans reported the number of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan) veterans seeking assistance from community-based homeless services providers had exceeded 400.
The group Veterans for America, formerly the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, estimates that 10,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are now living on the street.
Sixteen Iraq war veterans have entered residential drug rehab at New Directions over the last four years. Most have been referred to the programme as an alternative sentence after being convicted of a crime.
"What's unique about the men and women coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan is that they're not able to integrate with their family," Feldstein said. "They've seen horrible things. They've been in horrible places and their family can't relate. And so you become homeless in the last place you lived."
Activists concerned about increases in the number of homeless veterans argue for greater federal investment in affordable housing and social services. Of particular concern is the wait for mental health care, which can run as long as six months.
A recent study by Harvard's Kennedy School of Government found that by the time the Iraq and Afghanistan wars end, there will be at least two and a half million vets. Because of that, the Harvard study concluded, Congress will have to double the VA's budget simply to avoid cutting services.
© 2007 Inter Press Service
26 Comments so far
Show AllI can only conclude that to not die "over there" is to fail. Why else would the government turn its back on veterans so shamefully? The soldiers failed to use themselves up and instead returned, broken, to illustrate just how inhuman war is. U.S. military personnel in the Middle East are essentially poorly paid mercenaries being used in the armed takeover of the region. We have no intention of leaving, ever. Watch the film "Why We Fight." The government figures that if someone is so uninformed as to actually volunteer to serve in the armed forces, they deserve what they get, and please do not inconvenience us by living long enough to return. Somebody said "war is the act of a country devouring its own young." When the young return wounded mentally and physically, the devouring process just takes longer.
400,000 homeless veterans? the cynicism of the "support the troops" crowd is just mind-boggling.
in the end, the life of a soldier is of no more worth to the imperialist warmongers than that soldier's victims. he (or she) is a useful tool; but when the tool gets broken or old, it's just one more for society's trash heap.
"Army of one means you're on your own buddy..."
I have heard it discussed many times that people fighting a guerilla war cannot ever recover to normal society, even if they achieve their goals. It has been used as a reason why peaceful means of resistance are better, because, the claim goes, you destroy not just the enemy, but yourself, when you fight. It is interesting that so many people see this logic when examining resistance to a global power, but not when examining the exertion of global power.
A friend of mine joined the army 20 years ago and I remember him talking to me about basic training. Before he was shipped off to Korea for two years, he spent weeks charging stuffed human effigies with a bayonet, crying, "Kill! KIll! Kill without mercy!" Everyone was instructed to repeat this mantra as they learned a new skill. A skill so alien to most human beings that it must be drilled in with weeks of practice and assurances that this is a skill patriotic MEN should possess. The skill of killing without sympathy or remorse.
As many veterans prove, it is not a point of view they can hold forever. The knowledge that killing is not a natural human behavior bubbles beneath the surface and, after exposure to an environment of killing, these soldiers often suffer mental disorders. At the very least, they are separated from the rest of society, even after leaving the military. The values they learn as a killing cog in a war machine do not fit in with the rest of society. The people around them cannot relate to the participation in violence. Whereas for the military person it has been a daily experience to meet any threat with violence, civil society condemns the same actions at home. Reading the news stories about veterans who have killed in their return to civil society (especially in the media outlets that cry out to support the troops, and bang the war drum loudest), one is impressed by the tragic tone of the journalist who explains that this particular soldier was never able to re-integrate, No one knows why.
But, of course, we DO know why. We train these people to be killing machines. To respond to any and all hostility with deadly hostility. To lose respect for other human life.
And then we bring them home and release them into the population.
We don't have deprogramming for our military personel. We just turn them lose and say, "Survive." It is no surprise that they, and some of those in close proximity, often don't. And even those that DO survive are often removed from friends and family. Never able to experience or share life in the same way again. A friend of my grandfather's won the Bronze Star in WWII. I remember him and his eyes. Always looking like an observer. There, but unable to join. To cross some invisible barrier. In a town of 5,000 people where James Jones had his bathroom hidden beneath the stairs because he said, "Everyone here knows when you take a shit," no one knew how my grandfather's friend won that Bronze Star. In a town where he had lived his whole life, where everyone knew him, he never told a soul.
The price of war is more than the destruction we recognize on the outside. It destroys on the inside. War should be resevered for the most dire of circumstances, not for the preservation of corporate interests, dictated by liars who prey upon the fears of the public. The cost is more than anyone should be asked to pay.
i am sorry for him, and all the others he killed.
To All!
In a time long ago yet still quite vivid, I bore witness to the trauma of War, borne by the surviving Combat Veterans returning from Vietnam. The lucky Ones?...... Not in this life time for most.
Who were these people? Friends, school Buddies and acquaintances, a girl friend who had been a nurse in Vietnam, people that you newly meet in the pursuit of and outgoing, inclusive life.
Some were to dangerous to approach, others were in need of a receptive, non judgemental, empathetic ear. Others were closed up, locking out all attempts at communication, cowed by societies burden on the 'Men/Boys' of this culture to just 'Suck it up' (A burden still demanded today). For some, the experience still so raw and present that it was beyond verbalization.
I never met a real Vietnam Combat Vet that said anything about his experience voluntarily, when possible, it had to be drug out, usually in bits and pieces, always guarded, always tentative for fear of what speaking about their experience might reveal to others and themselves.
Of the Vietnam Combat Vets, nearly all didn't recognize who they once were, and now were trying to cope with who they now thought they might be, and how that new 'self' fit into the society they now found themselves. These 'Men/Boys' with few exceptions simple did not have the tools to cope with their situation. The lasting most obvious evidence to society today, is the homeless Vet, on the Streets of any town America.
Nearly all suffered from some form of arrested development, manifesting it self in confusing mix of who they were before the trauma (The Nineteen year old recruit or draftee), and the Veteran who returned to his family, friends, and Country, now to some degree, strangers to him. Strangers, few of who could even begin to understand his experience, and none who could understand the unique situation of the 'Vietnam' Vet. The returning WW-2 Vet returned a Hero from a War that few questioned the need to fight. Their sacrifice was not in vain or wasted, a War supported by all, a 'just' War.
For (to) many, the horrible Daymares and Nightmares were an unbearable burden, and coupled with a distrust of government, and their rejection of authority, often led to fatal results or homelessness and the streets.
There is no count of the Vietnam Veterans who took their own lives and the lives of others because of the unbearable burdens they could no longer bear..... There should be. We can't put a number on it (The Dead) to estimate it's impact and scope. We do need to recognize the reality of the Uncounted War Dead as part of the War(s) equation, the cost in tragic loss, and unbearable (Unforgivable) Pain .
The interlocking circles of pain, that still resonate long after the Vietnam War ended, still costs our society and the Vietnamese in ways most are no longer are aware of. For most, It's now been distilled down to a few War inflated dollars (Vietnam), or cents in our tax burden. Yes, we are still paying for the Vietnam War, and in more then just Dollars. Many are still grievously wounded Physically and Mentally, Soldier and loved ones a like. The Circles of Pain diminished only slightly by the passing years, coupling now, with new Circles of Pain.
We haven't progressed much in 30 years, no wonder we find ourselves in another unnecessary war. And again causing such unbearable pain........... Will we ever learn?
Note! During the War and for a long time after, the Government (VA) didn't recognize the condition called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The position taken by the Government on this issue, was a disrespectful, cost saving measure. Grievously wounded men whose sacrifice was denied by their Government to save money. Money was more precious then those whose lives were forever fractured.
I would also like to add, that we who have not experienced War/Combat, can imagine only a Cinematographic idea of war. War can't be imagined, it has to be lived to have any idea of it's reality. That said, since we can't imagine the experience that inflicted the profound mental injury and spiritual compromise endured by Combat Vets, we do have to recognize that they indeed exist, and support all efforts at helping those who would have gave all for us, even in a War that many find with out merit.
………………………………..................……………………. A KNESAL
Too bad he never had the brains to stay out of this illegal war of aggression. I told my boy I'd rather see him in prison than involved this phony war that was percipatated by the inside job of 9/11. The troops are being used like low wage mercenaries.
I'm a Gulf War Veteran. I killed people. For that I will live the rest of my life in profound shame.
Disgraceful.
What is really sad for the U.S. is the destruction of so many who have been willing to step forward and defend the country.
They thought they were joining the noble profession of citizen soldier, but instead they were pushed into being imperial storm troopers.
Military action in Iraq is mostly murder of noncombatants, brutal searches and tension from being hated by those you oppress. No amount of brainwashing can last as long as the guilt.
Either you must be hardened and hate forever, punish yourself, or find some forgiveness and healing.
The veterans administration should be funded and equipped to evaluate the physical and mental health of all of those that served regardless of type of discharge and provide state of the art care.
The military should be revamped to follow the Geneva Conventions and our Constitution to the letter. We will give up our empire - Why not do it now while it is still voluntary?
Regarding comments by 'Willo/Marion'
I to have told my son, that I would support his decision to not contribute to an unjust War. However 'Hall and FleetoCanadaNow' are neither killers or stupid. They would have sacrificed themselves in a 'Just' war for you, but given your comments your are not worthy of that sacrifice. Your comments disgrace only you. Some times when I read comments like yours I have to wonder if these are not just planted comments by right wing 'Wingnuts' trying to disgrace the Progressive Liberals. These kinds of comments would never occur to the conscientious Liberals I have known for some 60 years?
I have to wonder, if when they come to get your neighbor for supporting our rights, are you going to stand with him/her? I doubt it, you will just stand and watch and pity him/her for being so stupid, as to have stood up for your/our rights.
.......................... A KNESAL
FleetoCanada;
If you haven't already done it-please try the following.Seek out whichever group that could lend a sympathetic ear-the Quakers?-Unitarians?-etc. If it's not too frightening for you-try to speak to any audience that will listen-especially young people.
In the interim-if you can find a place where you won't be arrested-let loose with primal screams until you're exhausted-maybe the imperialists who put you into this situation will have to absorb your psychic scars.The shame needs to be theirs-not yours.
Have seen your posts before-let us know how you are doing.
I vividly remember basic training"bayonet 101" 250 of closely watched as we all shouted that to kill was the spirit of the bayonet...all we need is food,water and shelter to survive...so sad what is going on.........and what is coming!
We have got to stop creating these lost men/boys. We cannot stop our speaking out. Blessings on all returning veterans. Know that there are people who care for you as human beings and not just "killing machines".
Join the Army! Become disabled and homeless!
George Orwell was so prescient. Animal Farm and 1984 all in one country.
FleetoCanadaNow, please don't feel ashamed. Feeling shame just keeps us in the same place - unhealed. If you knew then what you know now you wouldn't have done it. Please be loving and forgiving to yourself. Be the best person you can be now and that is all you can and need to be. When the Dalai Lama was asked (in Portland OR) what was his purpose in life, he answered "To be a kind human being". That is all there is. I am so sorry that you have bad things to cope with, but you are not alone.
Love from Kathy
Thoughts, Tony
Memorial Day 2007
Who can say "support the troops" and stay home and not volunteer to do something, anything to help? Would that be to tough?
Are the troops in the new car or truck or maybe at the mall? Maybe, just maybe the whom ever it is who is supportive has a decal and that had to cost something. Is not that sacrifice enough?
Lives ending, lives destroyed, how many of this nation of 300 million know how it feels?
The role of the military is to protect the country, even at the ultimate cost. How many bear this cost? The few bear the burden, the most go shopping. My mind reels.
Thought about being positive but there is none. Tony 5/21/07
Memorial Day 2007
My heart ponders a life span of 71 and wonders at a world that has not seen a day that war was not contemplated or in progress.
My mind cannot, will not, grasp the enormous amount of living humans that knew death and destruction and left others to mourn and bless.
My body saw and felt the warriors lament, the supporters in the rear bases that sent engines of death from the sky. The difference? I did not face death on moments notice but I killed as surely as if the trigger was on my finger.
My soul knows that life is not meant to take life and it is the way of armies to get minds to forget the soul and get the heart and body to harm another. A Memorial day to remember that all, not just vets, should show death, in war, the door and persuade life to linger.
To all with love, Tony
That the Iraqi veterans are homeless years earlier than the Viet Nam veterans may be, in part, explained by the fact that the "recruits" for Viet Nam were more representative of the population (draftees) than today's recruits who, in many cases, enlisted because they couldn't make it anywhere else. The requirements for induction now are at the lowest they have ever been which means that the average recruit is less capable than ever before. While the draftees of Viet Nam vintage were not exactly representative of the country as a whole, they were closer to it than the enlistees of today. In a nutshell, the veterans of Iraq are, on average, less capable people than the Viet Nam veterans were.
Then there is the extreme horror of the Iraqi war as compared to Viet Nam, which was bad enough. This has to have an impact on a person's ability to function.
Posters before have expressed fear that these "killers" will be coming back to society.
They didn't shoot their fellow soldiers!
They are not going to shoot us in the country they fought for.
They usually shoot themselves! We had a problem with Viet-Nam vets standing in front of trains as I remember.
We really need to fix up the infrastructure in this country and I think closing bases and using the military here at home is where they need to be. By the way anybody needing to work would be welcome to make a good wage so they have a chance at competing in such a ruthless business environment.
Everybody in the United States deserves to have a place to call home; a home that THEY own.
"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."--JFK
I thought it was bullshit the first time I heard it. Time and events have intensified my opinion of it's being an outrage.
Human constructs, especially government, either serve the interests of their creators or have no excuse for being. The Constitution says as much. Everybody seems to have forgotten it. We need not look to the Democratic party to remember. It's time to trash the whole mess.
Regarding Comments by …dkm
I have to question your comments regarding the reasons for Vietnam era homeless Vets and Iraq War homeless Vets. What sources of information are you basing this conclusion on?
As for which War is/was the most "Horrible" to fight, this useless debate has been ventured by non-combatants for centuries. Needless to say? For the victim's, every War is horrible, and irreversible in it's tragic loss. (Vietnam, … 58.000? U.S. 'Battlefield/In Country' deaths ….. 2+ Million Vietnamese deaths, U.S. injured in the hundred thousands, Vietnamese in the several Millions.
We will be lucky if our Iraq War/Occupation 'in country' deaths don't exceed ten-percent of our Vietnam losses, some how I suspect the figure will be much higher (If you figure contractor deaths and suicides we have already exceeded 10%). The V.A. has already treated some 239.000 Iraq War Vets and has anticipated the need for additional funds to treat about 280.000+ in the next couple of budget cycles. These figures for the most part do not take into account (Adequately) the brain injuries and physic traumas endured by returning Vets. Again, historically repeating immorally systemic cost saving measures by the V.A.
On last check, Official Government figures (Suspect) put 'in country' suicides at 113 U.S. service personnel, and other sources estimate 1000+ suicides back home, and counting (Note; not a Government estimate).
A KNESAL……………"Little Beirut"
Regarding; Nietzsche's Comments.
The essence of Kennedy's words is/are the foundation of good citizenship in a viable Democracy. The problem is, that this is no longer the situation in America. Virulent Partisan politics and a passive citizenry have endangered our Democracy.
A Democratic nation simply can't survive and uninvolved Citizenry, period!
Go to w w w f o a v o r g …. Article V … Constitutional Convention Now!
A KNESAL ………….. "Little Beirut"
Regarding; Nietzsche's Comments.
The essence of Kennedy's words is/are the foundation of good citizenship in a viable Democracy. The problem is, that this is no longer the situation in America. Virulent Partisan (Corporate) politics and a passive citizenry have endangered our Democracy.
A Democratic nation simply can't survive and uninvolved Citizenry, period!
Go to... w w w - f o a v c - o r g … Article 'V' … Constitutional Convention Now!
A KNESAL ………….. "Little Beirut"
Why does the U.S. need so many soldiers? Every country knows America has enough nukes to destroy the world several times over, and every kind of weapon known to man, so no country is going to be foolish enough to attack it.
I served in cryptology and intelligence for 2 decades. I was on what I thought was my last deployment. It was my third time back to the Middle East, and I was really looking forward to my upcoming retirement.
Well on that particular deployment 25 of us were asked to return to the Middle East for one year plus, or longer. When I asked when we'd be deploying, we were told about two weeks after returning from our current deployment.
When I communicated that I'm getting ready to retire, I was told that if I want to retire, I can do it from the Middle East or just get out!
Although the tax-free money wouldn't have been bad, my wife told me she doesn't want to be married to a body bag; and after 2 decades of being on continual, short fused, high tempo deployments all over the globe, you'd think the military would take care of individuals by letting them adequately prepare for retirement. Well, not in today's military.
Like many professions, the military is a choice. Some individuals are perfectly suited for the military, and may even need what the military offers to help get them on a better path in life.
But, it's not the only career choice, and if you're looking for money to go to college; skip the military - it's cheaper and easier to simply take out a loan to fund your college education and related expenses.
And if you're dead set on going into the military, well do some research and get everything in writing before signing up.
It's OK to trust, and verify everything you're told by the recruiter because yes, as many good men and women serve as recruiters that are straight shooters and let you know what you're getting into before joining, there are many recruiters out there who will tell you anything to get you to join, and are even willing to cover up any drug habits or other law breaking offenses you have.
Bottom line is this; you always have the choice to be safe! Joining the military is choice, and so is not joining.
Regardless what choice anyone makes, ensure it's an educated one that you are able to benefit from.
Thank you to all the many men and women who wear, or who have worn a military uniform in service of their country. We hold you in high regard, even if we cannot say the say for those who place you unnecessarily in harm's way.
It has been said that each soldier is insured by the government for US$10M. Now if that's true than the comments by Lambsie Divy have some validity.
what else can we say....... all is going according to plan
the illuminati