We are all aware of the welcome that Johnnie the American Civil war soldier got when he returned home. “The men will cheer, the boys will shout, the ladies they will all turn out.”
Those young people whom we sent to fight our wars used to be welcomed home as heroes. That has changed. Now people “support the troops,” perhaps by displaying a magnetic ribbon on the bumpers of their cars. The hollow rhetoric of the Bush Administration can still be heard.
This country’s treatment of our soldiers that are fighting our wars Iraq and Afghanistan is nothing short of shameful. That the military is alarmed by the steep rise in suicides among the enlisted should be a cry for help that we all hear loudly. Very loudly. The military has admitted that they are not equipped to deal with the needs of desperate and despondent men and women. Many of these suicides are occurring in this country as soldiers try to cope with post traumatic stress disorder.
In January 2009, twenty-four soldiers took their own lives. Seven have been confirmed, and 17 are still being investigated. There is every expectation that all 24 will be deemed suicides. This means that more soldiers died by their own hand in January than were killed in combat. The Army reports that 2008 had the highest number of soldier suicides on record. When young men and women come to the conclusion that they would rather be dead than in their present state of life, it must be addressed.
The military has not concluded the reasons for the spike in suicides, but we can guess. Soldiers were sent into a poorly planned war lacking the necessary equipment to fight it. The mission has constantly changed. Men and women have been deployed over and over again with not enough rest. The personal lives have been affected as relationships end. If they are married, they have all of the problems of any household, but they must try to deal with it from thousands of miles away. Many seeking care when they return home have found that it is often inadequate or not forthcoming because of a huge waiting list. Some soldiers then self-medicate with drugs and alcohol.
When we hear about abuses of prisoners at places like Guantanamo, we are outraged because that’s not the way America behaves.
The treatment of our own soldiers by our government should cause us to be even more outraged. And that outrage should be accompanied by shame.
A whole lot of shame.
Brent Abrahamson’s blog
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