Something We Can All Agree On: Voluntary Assistance to Veterans

Today we mark the sixth anniversary of the beginning of the war in Iraq. Recent reports indicate that the situation there has improved considerably. The focus is shifting back to Afghanistan. President Obama has made good on his campaign promise to set a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. The question remains, though, with a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and uncertainty in the surrounding region, whether our troops will actually come home or whether they will be redeployed to Afghanistan or elsewhere.

We have lost nearly 5000 American men and women who, we can all agree, regardless of our personal feelings about the wars, bravely served our country. More than 33,000 Americans have been severely wounded. Beyond these horrifying numbers are the psychological toll these wars are taking on our service members and their families with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries, as well as the everyday, but very serious, stress and strain that deployments and separations can have on marriages and families. Sadly, these problems are not going to disappear when the wars ever end. Studies show that post-traumatic stress never truly goes away but it can be managed. These studies also show that in order for the normal reactions-stress that one would expect anyone to have after experiencing combat and other terrifying situations-not to become a full-blown disorder, professional mental health services should be accessed quickly.

The DoD and VA are making an effort to address the issue, but they also seem to be moving at the normal speed of government, rather than the sort of accelerated government speed the financial crisis has produced. We must look to the private sector to step in to ensure that help is available when and where it is needed.

This anniversary of the war is an appropriate time to take note of the work of Give an Hour (www.giveanhour.org), a nonprofit organization that has created a national network of mental health professionals who are providing free counseling to military personnel, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and their families. The Give an Hour network has nearly 4,000 professional volunteers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

There are so many areas of need and a federal budget deficit far beyond what our country has seen since World War II. No amount of government funding or intervention will fix all the problems that years of gluttony, greed and eight years of Bush mismanagement have created. In the case of the mental health of our military, I believe that what we all seek is exactly the model that Give an Hour has built. It echoes President Obama's call for volunteers to give in a way that they know how to give. These licensed mental health professionals are volunteering a vital service--a true thank-you to the men and women who have served our country, rather than just a lapel pin or magnet on our cars. What's more, it is likely to translate into a significant savings to the government and the taxpayers. Give an Hour aims to recruit 40,000 - or ten percent of the country's 400,000 licensed mental health professionals - to its network. The help that can be provided to veterans now is likely both to help them have better lives in the future and to save taxpayers costs of caring for their problems in the future.

Americans have differed on the wars into which the former president took the nation, but we should all be able to agree on the need to provide the best possible care for those who served in those wars.

Historian Robert S. McElvaine is Elizabeth Chisholm Professor of Arts & Letters at Millsaps College and the author of The Great Depression: America, 1929-1941 (Random House) and Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the "Forgotten Man" (North Carolina). His latest book is Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion in America (Crown).

Comments

[demfriend]

Those who have gone to a war based on either Bush/Cheney wanting control over Iraq's oil or so Bush ould call himself a "war president" that are now injured in body mind and spirit pay every single minute for what reasons Bush had to lie to get us there. The families of those who died either in the war or by their own hand as a result of the war suffer every minute for their loss of the loved one who has died for a war not even based on 9/11. Those who died in the 9/11 attack or since from injuries or by their on hands suffer too. But for Bush to use 9/11 as a reason to send our young to the death or injuries based on lies is horrible and those left cannot even get what they need without paperwork hell and denials even now while the war still goes on and we have the added another war front is not a sad thing it is a uncomprehenable error to not put into place a system where those who placed theirselves in harms way can get appropriate care and this angers me. They should be able to get all they need and the respect of people who are supposed to help them.

[Nancy VanTwistern]

Those of us with any common sense or intelligence realize that Bush and his cronies attacked Iraq for no darn good reason. The sob and his followers should have STAYED THE COURSE IN AFGHANISTA­N.........­.now things are worse than ever there. Also, any one who says things are much better in Iraq have their heads up where the sun don't shine. Enough is Enough.....we have to 'allow' the Iraqi's settle their own differences. It's a shame on us for allowing things to get into such a muddle..unaccounted for arms/money and work done by cronies of Halliburton (like Cheney is/was) who did such a lousy job, for instance, getting our men and women electrocuted by 'faulty electrical work' which evidentially hasn't been corrected even when found out about. I could go on and on but anyone with any intelligence gets what I'm talking about.....­..........­.

[rabrophy]

BULLSH*T!

I'm a disabled Veteran of the Vietnam war and have been screwed and abused by the Government and V.A. for over 30 years.

The V.A. is in need of a total overhaul and massive increase in it budget, maybe 1/10 of 1% of what we are giving the Bankers who raped a pillaged our economy.

But that will not happen - The Rich start wars and buy politicians, the poor fight wars. Until you change that, you will change nothing

[Nancy VanTwistern]

My heart goes out to you Rabrophy....this elderly person remembers what you Nam Vets went through and especially upon your return home from that travesty of a war (just like Nam, only now Iraq is not jungle but hot and dirty). The US Pentigon hasn't been much help for our Iraqi vets either....there are thousands doing w/o the proper care because of screw ups...I feel so sad and helpless when there is so little i can do to help now...............

[rf-hawaii]

This will get fixed under this president. Universal health care should certainly help.

We all need to stand behind Obama's efforts on health care. The Republicans will try their hardest to stop us.

[maxgen]

While I commend those who donate and provide services to veterans, I can't agree to shifting the responsibility for veteran's care from the government to volunteers in the private sector.

We've already seen how private "faith-based" poverty relief has failed in this country, and how politicians have decided that the only groups which count are the middle and upper classes. The poor are not even mentioned when tax policies are concerned.

[schatsie]

We need the Military covered under Medicare NOW so that we can track the service related issues like Agent Orange, Gulf War Syndrome, etc... The idea of ZEKEs of fragmenting the insurance system even more by dismantling Medicare and Medicaid means the fall of the VA system and military hospitals is not far behind..... I guess the Emanuals would also like to get rid of Social Security and bring in the flat tax... Obama is loosing ground... and once this gets out more, we will really be in trouble...