For these veterans, Iraq is a never-ending war

For these veterans, Iraq is a never-ending war

EDITOR'S NOTE: Barbara Starr's conversation with Iraq war veterans, "Home from Iraq," can be seen throughout the day on CNN this Saturday, December 17.

By Barbara Starr

When we walked into the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Virginia, an elderly African American veteran of World War II came up to me and said "I take my hat off to these young folks today."

At the age of 87, his war now fading from perhaps too much of the American conscience, his worry was not about himself, but about his young brothers in arms. Veterans of today's war are young enough to be his great grandchildren. On a cold rainy day, tapping his cane, he came out in the bad weather. He wanted to meet the Iraq veterans we had assembled.

The Shakespeare "band of brothers" quote is tossed around all too frequently these days, but over the next two hours at that VFW hall, I would once again see that unbroken bond that exists among those who have gone to war for this country, whether it was 1941 or 2001.

At this VFW post, five veterans of Iraq joined me to talk about the war just as the curtain is coming down after nearly nine years of conflict. All have suffered greatly from post traumatic stress. Not surprisingly, while they are deeply conflicted about the war, all five express concern about fellow veterans and why today's vets are still not getting all the help they need with health care and jobs. The veterans I spoke with make it clear that for them the war in Iraq is not over.

"No its not over. We can't just leave the game on the court. We are struggling with things like epidemic levels of unemployment, suicide rate and because of that we have real casualties here just as we did in Iraq," says Ian Smith, who served in Iraq on tours in 2005 and 2007.
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Iraq war vets: We suffer hidden wounds
CNN Added on December 16, 2011
CNN talks with five Iraq war vets who say they suffer from the hidden wounds of traumatic brain injury and PTSD.