I found it comforting today when I signed on to Facebook to dedicate my status to our Veterans, and saw my news feed filled with the same sentiments.
Veteran’s Day occurs once a year; the day that we give thanks and praise for those who selflessly serve our country. Those people who leave their families for sometimes years at a time, to be shipped off to a foreign land and fight for our rights to live every single day in a safe world. Well, as safe as it can be. Sometimes they come home. Sometimes tragically, they don’t.
And every year in November, for a day we recognize the sacrifice they gave so that we can carry on with our lives.
One day.
Then the next day, we go on with our lives.
Our soldiers are separated from their families for weeks and years, and we celebrate them for a day. Something just doesn’t compute here.
I don’t claim to ever know what a soldier goes through while they are deployed. I don’t even think my brain has the capacity to see what they’ve seen, do what they do, and live with life after the serve. I can’t even imagine the shock of returning to civilian life.
Everyone is initially as grateful as can be when our soldiers return home. Parades, shaking hands, signs, parties, news coverage; it’s a spectacle. All of which our soldiers deserve, no questions asked. But when the fanfare dies, and when the story is no longer newsworthy, are we doing what we can to support our troops when they come home?
Or is it a thank you for your time, good luck with your life back home. And then all is forgotten.
I can’t say I’m innocent in this at all. I do think about my veterans almost every day, but really I don’t have the resources to do more than I could be doing. I’m in the stage of my life where there’s so much I wish I could be doing that I just simply don’t have the resources to do. My dream is to work for a non-for-profit organization someday, but until then I’m stuck in school and working two jobs and just trying to get by. But since when does support only have to be monetary? What can I be doing for my friends who have returned from war, or those who are still deployed? What can I be doing for the soldiers in my community?
What can you be doing?
Why does it seem that we only care about our veterans and our servicemen when they are deployed?
Why aren’t we taking care of our veterans after their selfless service for our country?
My friend, who I call on Facebook “my favorite veteran” pointed me towards a website called Vets Prevail. It is a website that Provides support to veterans dealing with combat-related mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. It’s built by veterans, for veterans. It offers Veterans a chance to connect with other Veterans, as well as provides programs to help them during their post deployment and reintegration processes.
The website states, "The current mental health care crisis facing our Service Members is a very real problem with very real consequences. As a Veteran-owned company, we have a personal stake in the matter and intend to help all Veterans that are in need without ever charging a Veteran or military Family Member," says Richard Gengler, CEO of Prevail Health Solutions LLC, the parent company of Vets Prevail.
Where have organizations like this been? Our veterans need our help long after their deployment. They served for us, we should serve for them.
- According to this article from USA Today, Last year there were 244 confirmed or suspected soldier suicides.
- The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans states that:
- on any given night,107,000 veterans are homeless.
- Over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness.
- Only eight percent of the general population can claim veteran status, but nearly one-fifth of the homeless population are veterans.
I won’t sit here and preach about what everyone else should do, because as stated I am not a Veteran. I just ask that today, on our national Veterans Day, you go to a Veteran you know, and ask them how they feel. Ask them what can be done.
Most importantly, ask how they can be supported after their return to civilian life.
I am damn proud to be an American, and it is all thanks to those who have fought and continue to fight for our freedom and our rights. It’s time we give back to those soldiers and their families who sacrifice so much for us.
Please Visit these websites and see what you can do to help:
This post is dedicated to Jessika Ross, Joshua Baugh, Ben Carpenter, Alex Morris, Hugh Coffman, Ed Martinez, in memory of my grandfather Alexander Dawson, and all the soldiers who fight for the United States of America.
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