U.S. must unite to aid vets - Army Community - Army Discussions - Army Times

U.S. must unite to aid vets

It has become abundantly clear this year that our military medical system is not equipped to provide all the physical and psychological care that returning veterans need.

Our country needs to step up and help combat veterans and their families in tangible ways. And we, as military personnel, need to accept their help.

I know it’s hard for warriors to accept help from anyone, much less a civilian or civilian group with little understanding of our world. But for this nation to remain strong, we must do everything we can to recover from wounds visible and invisible.

Like so much of America, many civilian health care professionals are disconnected from the impact the war is having on our combat vets. The bridge between the veteran and the civilian medical provider is in serious disrepair. Two things have to happen for that bridge to be rebuilt.

First, civilians need to come closer to our world. They need to read stories written by veterans who have been there and watch documentaries about the war. Civilians need to learn more about the heart and soul of a warrior.

They need to stop asking, “What was the hardest part about being over there?” and start asking, “What’s the hardest part about being home?”

They need to start thinking about the reality of a seriously wounded vet and the impact those wounds have on each person in that veteran’s life.

But most of all, they need to find ways to reach out within their communities to embrace their returning service members and welcome them back.

Military personnel must be willing to meet those civilians halfway. We have to be willing to accept their help and teach them about our experiences.

A new cooperative treatment program between Brooke Army Medical Center and the University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center is a precedent I hope many will follow. A Million Thanks, Homes for Our Troops and other groups are also providing help. These are just a small sample of the efforts being made to help the troops. Americans are trying to do the right thing.

Some of the groups were started by health care professionals who know little about serving this population, but are willing to learn. And God bless them, because we’re going to need them in the years to come.

We need to take a chance on those who are genuinely willing to learn and help, let them into our world, accept their support, and then be truly grateful that our country still declares in a clear, unified voice, “I will never leave a fallen comrade.”

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The writer was a captain in the Army Reserve Nurse Corps. She is a psychiatric nurse with a specialization in post-traumatic stress disorder and combat stress, and is the founder of HAND2HAND CONTACT.