Crisis seen in veterans' care long before now

The crisis veterans are facing began long before President Obama took office, before even George Bush took office. The crisis started when Vietnam Veterans came home after Korean Veterans did with no one putting them first on the to do list.

Crisis seen in veterans' care
Greenville News
Nov 6, 2012
Written by
Paul Alongi
Tribune-Times Writer

An alarming suicide rate and other mental health problems among veterans are fueling a push to help what advocates said is a population struggling to adjust to civilian life after years of regimented military conditioning and often traumatic war experiences.

Military culture teaches self-sufficiency, and one of the toughest barriers that advocates said they face is getting veterans to seek help.

Too many are committing suicide, losing marriages and accumulating criminal charges, amounting to a “crisis in re-adjustment,” said Christopher McRae, program manager at the Center for Community Services in Simpsonville.

“These are all casualties of war, and it’s our responsibility as civil society to take care of those people because they’ve taken care of us,” McRae said.

While 1 percent of Americans have served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, former service members have represented 20 percent of U.S. suicides. About 18 veterans die by suicide each day, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Advocates said they are feeling a heightened sense of urgency as the nation reduces its forces in Afghanistan and more troops come home.
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