Wounded Marine Shares Tips on Talking to Veterans

Injured Marine offers tips on how to talk to wounded vets 
Stars and Stripes
By Seth Robson
Published: September 6, 2015

• Don’t ignore our caregivers. Involve them in conversation. They are the unsung heroes of war. There are now different caregiver groups, and there is an emphasis on them. For a long time, they weren’t really recognized. All the attention was on the wounded vets but without them, we wouldn’t be having successful recoveries.

Justin Constantine, a former Marine Corps reserve officer who came home with severe facial injuries after surviving a sniper's bullet to the head in Habbaniyah, Iraq, in 2006, poses with his wife, Dahlia. COURTESY OF JUSTIN CONSTANTINE

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Justin Constantine, a former Marine Corps reserve officer who came home with severe facial injuries after surviving a sniper’s bullet to the head in Habbaniyah, Iraq, in 2006, is used to the staring.

Those who speak to him are often uncomfortable, he said.

The disconnect between America’s civilian population and those who have served in the military means people are often uncertain about how to interact with veterans who bear the visible scars of war.

Nine years and multiple surgeries later, the former judge advocate gives motivational speeches and works with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to get jobs for wounded veterans and their caregivers.

But how do you talk to a wounded veteran?

Constantine, who will talk with servicemembers during a visit to Japan later this month, has drawn on his experiences to establish a set of parameters for talking to wounded veterans. The rules are designed to break down the issues in a way that’s respectful to everyone, he said.

He wrote down his rules for talking to wounded veterans after interacting with audience members during motivational speaking engagements.

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