New wars added 662 homeless veterans to New England Shelter

Tallying up the human costs of war

Mélida Arredondo

It’s been five years since the United States began war in Iraq and seven years in Afghanistan. Yet according to a survey recently released by the Pew Research Center, more than one-quarter of the American public — 28 percent, to be exact — is unaware that nearly 4,000 U.S. troops have died in Iraq over the past five years.

No matter what the reason, there is a disconnect among the people of the United States and the impact of the wars our nation is waging, both here and abroad. The numbers are startling. According to the latest government statistics, 4,458 U.S. troops have died and 68,529 U.S. troops have been wounded, injured or become sick while in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Locally, the state Department of Veterans’ Services reports that a total of 78 troops with ties to Massachusetts have died in Iraq, and 15 have died in Afghanistan.

The number of the dead is low in comparison to Vietnam, where 60,000 U.S. troops were killed or went missing. However, according to The Associated Press, about 15 troops are wounded for every fatality during the current conflicts. This is five times the injury rate of troops who fought in Vietnam.

Dr. Gerald Cross of the federal Veterans Health Administration recently testified that there are 300,000 veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan treated at Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals, and that more than half are treated for serious mental health conditions. Post-traumatic stress disorder accounts for 68,000 cases.

According to VA research obtained in February by The Associated Press, 144 veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan committed suicide from 2001 through the end of 2005. Statistics from 2006 and 2007 are not yet available. In addition, almost 300,000, or about one in four, of the nation’s homeless are veterans. Locally, 662 new veterans have joined the New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans this past year, many bearing the signs of trauma from the current wars.
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