TITLE: What we should have learned (but may have forgotten) from the Vietnam War
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/4981421-veterans-day-combat-wounds/
EXCERPT: The U.S. observes two national holidays each year to honor its military veterans. Memorial Day, held at the end of May, honors those who are dead. Veterans Day celebrates the nearly 18 million living veterans who served honorably in war or peacetime.
However, significant distinctions exist between those who served in war and those who didn’t — especially those who served in combat. Everyone who served honorably deserves recognition, but the National Archives points out that less than 15 percent of enlisted personnel ever see combat.
Combat veterans are more likely to suffer from lifelong post-traumatic stress disorder. Studies show that up to a third of the men and women who served in Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan are experiencing PTSD. Their risk of suicide is 72 percent higher than that of other Americans.
In 2022, researchers at Duke University found the number was as high as 24 suicides daily, plus 20 deaths by overdose. The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that the suicide rate for female veterans jumped more than 24 percent from 2020 to 2021, four times higher than the increase among male veterans.
Tens of thousands of veterans are homeless. A survey on a single night in January 2023 found 35,574 homeless vets, nearly half without shelter. Almost 4,000 were women. Suicide, homelessness and PTSD are all symptoms of the visible and invisible wounds of war.
Medical professionals have found that the politics of a war are a factor in PTSD. The trauma is likely to be pronounced in Vietnam vets who knew while in combat and after they came home that the American people opposed the war and often blamed veterans as well as the government for it.
In World War II, the trauma of battle and the transition back into civilized society were eased somewhat when veterans were welcomed home as heroes. But Vietnam vets were vilified. One study found many veterans experienced feelings of “betrayal, isolation, and helplessness” due to “the perception of the military in the politics of the populace.”
That compounded the moral injury many combat veterans already felt as a result of the situational ethics of war. They were trained and encouraged to do things considered immoral in civilized society. Sometimes, stress, anger and desire for revenge resulted in acts considered wrong even in war. The My Lai massacre was an extreme example. But it also wasn’t uncommon, for example, for combat troops to cut off the ears of dead enemies and wear them around their necks as trophies.
Imagine the culture shock of living like a savage for a year, boarding an aircraft, and being injected a few hours later back into normal society.
Vietnam veterans were subjected to a final insult when they learned their government and commander in chief had betrayed them. In 2017, years after the U.S. withdrew from Vietnam, the New York Times reported that Richard Nixon, while running against Hubert Humphrey in the 1968 presidential election, secretly sabotaged peace talks “for fear that progress toward ending the war would hurt his chances for the presidency.”
Nixon reportedly sent an emissary to persuade the South Vietnamese to hold off and “wait for a better deal” when he became president.
After he won, Nixon promised to end the war and achieve “peace with honor.” However, presidential historian Ken Hughes, who researched Nixon’s tape recordings, found that Nixon delayed ending U.S. involvement in the war.
Historians say America’s leaders — civilian and military — knew the Vietnam war was unwinnable as early as 1965. During his first term as president, Nixon knew South Vietnam would fall if America withdrew. He did not want that to damage his chances for reelection in 1972, so he and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger decided to prolong America’s involvement.
“Nixon’s decision to time military withdrawal from Vietnam to his reelection campaign cost thousands of lives,” Hughes points out. “More than 20,000 American soldiers died during Nixon’s first term. The Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian death toll was many times higher. This is by far Nixon’s worst abuse of presidential power. … Many paid for Nixon and Kissinger’s deceit with their lives, others with their freedom.”
It was, and remains, an unforgivable breach of trust between a U.S. president and the men and women sent to serve, sacrifice and risk death under the pretext of national service. It also demonstrates a disregard for human life in general. As many as 2 million civilians, 250,000 South Vietnamese soldiers and 1.1 million enemy soldiers were killed during the Vietnam War. More than 58,300 American soldiers died or went missing in action.
The only way to redeem their sacrifices is to learn from that war and never repeat its mistakes. That ultimately is the responsibility of the American people. We must never again elect a president who devalues sacrifice and puts his political career above the lives of the men and women sent to war.
William S. Becker served with the U.S. Army’s 25th Infantry Division in South Vietnam from 1966 to 1967. He received the military’s Bronze Star Medal for his reporting.
TITLE: After 20 years, memories of Fallujah linger for veterans still coming to terms with Iraq War
https://www.stripes.com/veterans/2024-11-05/marines-battle-fallujah-anniversary-15741290.html
EXCERPTS: The legacy of Fallujah is muddled in ways other major operations in history aren’t, such as the great battles of World War II that are memorialized every year for the role they played in American victories in Europe and the Pacific.
In Iraq, there were none of the traditional measures of military success — no unconditional surrenders, no peace treaties — that helped make the sacrifices at Fallujah seem worth the cost.
The November battle was launched months after a precursor in Fallujah was called off amid international outcry over the scale of civilian casualties.
Responsibility for the second Battle of Fallujah, known as Operation Phantom Fury, fell to I Marine Expeditionary Force, which commanded a contingent of more than 12,000 U.S. troops drawn from every Pentagon service and an array of coalition soldiers.
Perhaps the biggest problem facing them would be distinguishing guerrilla fighters from civilians still trapped in their homes. Civilian casualty estimates from the battle ranged between 580 and 800.
Scores of valor medals were awarded in the aftermath of the fighting, including at least 10 Navy Crosses for Marines. Then-Sgt. Aubrey McDade, a machine gun squad leader, was one of the recipients of the Navy Cross, the military’s second-highest combat medal.
But McDade said he struggled for years to come to terms with the carnage he had witnessed and the screams in battle he heard from injured Marines.
“I struggled so bad,” he said during his testimonial shared with the Disabled American Veterans organization. McDade compared his recollections to being in a trance and being “forced to watch a movie I didn’t want to watch.”
Nicoll also struggled for years after the war. He and his team did battle in what came to be known as the “House of Hell,” where bullets and grenades were flying everywhere as they fought off scores of insurgents. During the shootout, Nicoll was badly injured.
Amid the mayhem, then-Cpl. Robert Mitchell, Nicoll’s squad leader, was putting a tourniquet on Nicoll’s leg when an insurgent lunged at them. Mitchell pulled his combat knife and, in a swipe, instantly killed the fighter, according to the Marine Corps’ account.
Mitchell went on to receive the Navy Cross for his actions.
“In those situations, you just react and decide how to gain the upper hand,” Mitchell told the student media at Arizona State University in a 2012 interview. “Your training takes over and you forget about everything else because one of your guys is injured and you have to be there for him.”
The experience of Fallujah drew him closer to his fellow Marines, Mitchell said.
“When you think you are in the worst situation possible, whether it’s in training or in combat, there is always someone who knows just what to say to make light of the situation,” he said.
Nicoll, who lost his leg below his left knee in Fallujah, said it took him about 15 years to find new purpose in life.
Now he works as a motorcycle mechanic. But all these years later, he said, there’s no replacing the bonds formed under fire.
“You’re never going to get those buddies again,” Nicoll said.
TITLE: ‘I got my life back.’ Veterans with PTSD making progress thanks to service dog program
https://apnews.com/article/service-dogs-veterans-ptsd-4b9e73723549d1c7f25a1b7b8dc249d1
EXCERPTS: Dogs 4 Valor, operated through the Olathe, Kansas-based organization called The Battle Within, helps retired veterans and first responders work with their service dogs to help manage depression, anxiety and other challenges.
“A lot of times the veteran with severe PTSD is homebound,” said Sandra Sindeldecker, program manager for Dogs 4 Valor. “They’re isolated. They’re very nervous. They won’t make eye contact. Some won’t leave the house at all.”
Air Force Staff Sgt. Heather O’Brien, 40, recalled that the camp where she worked in Iraq sometimes had over 20,000 detainees. Violence and rioting were common and it left her with severe anxiety.
“When I got out of the military, I just assumed that you’re supposed to be on edge all the time as a veteran,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien’s mother spotted the frisky lab-poodle mix on Facebook and convinced her daughter to adopt the dog she named Albus. Months later, O’Brien learned about Dogs 4 Valor, and the pair joined the program in October 2023.
O’Brien says she can now go out in public again — she even went on vacation to Branson, Missouri, “things that I never would have thought I would do really, probably ever again.”
Mark Atkinson, 38, served in Afghanistan as a corporal in the Marine Corps. He returned home with PTSD and major depressive disorder, causing sleeplessness and anxiety. He adopted Lexi, now 5, in 2020.
Lexi, a muscular cane corso breed, needed Atkinson as much as he needed her. Her previous owner had kept Lexi in chains before surrendering her. Since joining Dogs 4 Valor, the two can get out together and enjoy life.
“I don’t really like leaving the house because I’m safe there, you know?” Atkinson said. “And having Lexi has just made me get out to be more social.”
Having a group of fellow veterans facing the same challenges has also helped, Atkinson said.
“We come from the same backgrounds, different branches,” Atkinson said. “Same issues. You know, PTSD or traumatic brain injuries. And they’re all very welcoming, as well. There’s no judgment.”
O’Brien compared living with Albus to a relationship with a sometimes pushy best friend who often wants to go out.
“The best friend constantly wants to make you do things that make you nervous,” O’Brien laughed, acknowledging that it is ultimately up to her.
“I have to decide to walk out and just deal with life,” O’Brien said. “And so that has been hard. And it still is hard from time to time, but it’s it’s getting manageable.”
Some veterans said their family relationships have improved since they started the program.
“I’m able to talk, not fly off the handle and just get along with people and not be as stressed, not have as much anxiety,” Atkinson said. “Or even if I do, she (Lexi) is right there with me.”
Timothy Siebenmorgen, 61, said his relationships also are better with help from his 1-year-old American bulldog, Rosie, and Dogs 4 Valor, which he joined in July. He served in both the Marines and the Army, deploying 18 times.
“You’re in the military, kind of taught not to show weakness,” Siebenmorgen said. “So you figure you can tackle everything yourself and you honestly believe that. And then you realize you can’t do it on your own.”
Veterans said the dogs, and the program, have given them new hope and a renewed ability to move forward.
“I got my life back,” O’Brien said.
SEE ALSO:
EXCERPTS: Veterans Deserve Access To Life-Changing Psychedelics Therapy: A Vital Solution For PTSD And Healing
https://www.benzinga.com/24/11/41881842/why-do-veterans-deserve-access-to-psychedelic-therapy
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