When young men and women first don their new military uniforms they are filled with a justifiable pride in themselves, in the corps to which they are glued by their sweat and tears, and in the high ideals they believe they represent.

In Basic Training they were stripped of everything which made them individuals--their hair styles, their clothing, their personal choices of when and with whom to eat and sleep; they were reshaped and molded, and now re-born as Rudyard Kipling’s soldiers:

Theirs not to reason why,

Theirs but to do and die…

Republicans and Democrats. Rich and poor. Gay and straight. Old and young. Men and women. Whatever the perceived differences among people, almost everyone everywhere wants the troops to withdraw from Iraq. We want our young people to come home, safe and “sound”; tragically, that won’t happen.

Anyone who has witnessed, even participated in some of the worst deeds one group of human beings can inflict on another must be fundamentally changed. We are lucky in the high numbers of men and women who survive combat, who have--or someday will have--come home. (Especially compared to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis--military and civilian, men, women, and children--who have not survived.)

 But how many come home “sound”, that is, whole? One very obvious group that doesn’t are the amputees. Young men and women who were physically fit, even athletic, when they joined the service must adapt each day and redesign their futures to the limitations of missing and prosthetic limbs.

Another “unwhole” group consists of those with head injuries and other mortal wounds: they would have died in Vietnam or the first Gulf War; they live now because of medical advancements.

When BobWoodruff, a television network anchor, received a serious head wound in Iraq, we learned how devastating, longterm, and often permanent an injury can be. And we understood from the VA hospitals’ subsequent bad press that rarely do veterans have access to the high level of medical care and rehabilitation given to the newsman.

Still to be numbered are the sons and daughters with mental injuries, whether physical or emotional. According to Dr. Amy Fairweather’s report for Swords to Plowshares’ Iraq Veteran Project cited below, hardest to diagnose is Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), which occurs when the brain slams against the inside of the skull.

 This is caused by a blunt force injury or a nearby explosion. Dr. Fairweather calls TBI the “signature wound of the Iraq war.” TBI and PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) have similar symptoms, which can include anti-social behaviors (such as substance abuse, bar fights, reckless driving); problems in relationships; memory and concentration lapses.

Troops with TBI may get in trouble with the law. Many end up with dishonorable discharges, their behaviors blamed on bad character prior to their enlistment. Thus, they’re not diagnosed and given no access to veterans’ benefits.They can still qualify for tax-supported housing, however: In 1998, there were 225,000 veterans incarcerated in the nation’s jails and prisons.

Some people (both in and out of the military) are still of the opinion that PTSD is just a catch-all category used to excuse personal failure. Like mental illness in general, there is a stigma attached, an erroneous belief that it reflects weakness of character:

 A sufferer should “just pull himself together and snap out of it!” Dr. Fairweather’s report documents that the Department of Defense refers “just one in five troops to treatment who report risk factors for PTSD.” Further, “The DOD is returning troops to combat who have been diagnosed with PTSD…” which exacerbates the condition.

In May 2006, the Hartford Courant reported that of the veterans of the war in Afghanistan (OEF--Operation Enduring Freedom) and the veterans of the war in Iraq (OIF--Operation Iraqi Freedom) who applied for VA healthcare, over 35% were diagnosed with mental disorders. PTSD may not surface until several years after the traumatic experience.

Most experts, including the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) (www.nchv.org) identify mental illness as a major contributing factor to homelessness.

Most of the statistics cited in reports come from the National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients (NSHAPC), completed in 1996 and updated in 1999. We’re told 23% of all homeless people are veterans, or 33% of the male homeless population.

 Although doing the math with published estimates of homeless totals (23% of 2.3 million to 3.5 million) renders a higher number, the NCHV conservatively repeats the VA estimate of 200,000 homeless veterans on any given night, and 400,000 who experience homelessness in a year.

 The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) boasts that its homeless treatment and assistance network (a partnership with community service providers) addresses the needs of 100,000 veterans annually. This means 300,000 homeless vets turn to local government and private sector service agencies.

And this is before an influx of OEF/OIF veterans. By 2006, nearly 600 Iraq veterans already had applied to the VA for homeless healthcare services.In Florida, the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program provides funding for 430 beds; the reported number of homeless veterans is 19,394. (Source: 2005 VA CHALENG Report)

Besides the scarcity of affordable housing in today’s market, and salaries that have not kept pace with rising costs, OEF and OIF veterans --150,000 of whom are women-- have greater exposure to the risk factors that lead to homelessness.

 Fairweather’s report, “Risk and Protective Factors for Homelessness among OIF/OEF Veterans”, discusses them fully. Briefly, while in the service these veterans have frequent, urban combat exposure and sustain debilitating injuries and highly stressful experiences.

Further, extended deployment is policy (two, three, and even four tours of duty are not exceptional), and there is the “stop loss” loophole in their contracts. Lack of deployment options must be especially hard on the Reservists and National Guard (40% of the fighting force) who have been sent into urban combat half a world away. Additional risk factors bred in the service are family disruption and mental illness.

After service, the transition to civilian life is not easy. Many will have lost time and advancement in their careers; others find themselves un- or under-employed. Still others, fresh out of high school when they enlisted, find that the jobs they did in the service don’t readily translate to the civilian workplace.

Sometimes, the jobs that do carry over (truck drivers and paramedics, for example) can’t be continued because they trigger PTSD. And veterans with mental health problems often don’t seek help because of the stigma attached.

Not enough outreach and assistance is being offered by a system that was inadequate before the current war. Fairweather’s report identifies current programs and shows why they are not working. One particularly interesting point is that “[the] VA expected to treat only 2,900 war veterans for PTSD; however, as of June [2006] they had seen 34,000.”

Solutions and Further Reading

The NCHV, in agreement with Volunteers of America and the Corporation for Supportive Housing, as a result of a Policy Leadership Dialogue event (sic), recommends “affordable, permanent housing coupled with supportive services as a powerful tool for preventing and ending homelessness.”

 Supportive housing along with training to maximize employability seems like an obvious solution. But how do these ideas materialize? It may not be a question of “more money”; the Legislature and the VA have been generous with their--that is, our-- millions. What may be more necessary is a clear direction and purpose to the spending, and firm accountability and management of available funds.

Information on this topic is readily available on the Internet; this writer used the dogpile.com search engine.

So far, two million Iraqis have sought refuge from the war with their neighbors, Jordan and Syria. Another two million Iraqis have been displaced from their homes and villages but remain in their country. To date, the United States has granted asylum to about 1100. There is a bill in Congress which would widen the parameters for asylum to include, among others, orphaned children. For further information, go to the International Rescue Committee website www.irc,org