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Vets Gone Wild?
By Charlie
One good link to the NYT, one really bad one:
The New York Times found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from war. In many of those cases, combat trauma and the stress of deployment — along with alcohol abuse, family discord and other attendant problems — appear to have set the stage for a tragedy that was part destruction, part self-destruction.
Phil Carter at Inteldump says this:
America needs to wrap its arms around its sons and daughters who go to war, not alienate them and push them away with this kind of narrative. We sent these men and women to fight; we have a sacred trust to ensure they're taken care of when they come home. Irresponsible journalism like this impedes that effort by giving people the wrong impression about combat veterans. I'm disappointed in the New York Times for running this story, and for giving it such prominence.
When I returned from deployment, troops were given multiple options for veteran support networks, counseling, and outreach. The whole demobilization process that units currently undergo is designed to evaluate and treat any post-combat stress that soldiers may have. Back in WWII, the demob process consisted of 4 weeks on a troop transport ship back stateside. That long time period gave troops an opportunity to decompress, and gain an understanding of the challenges that they went through together. This greatly assisted them in understanding their experience. In Vietnam, individual deployments, the draft, and other factors contributed to troops returning home with no network of support there to greet them. This has dramatically changed. Now whole units, not individual soldiers rotate back to the states. This assists in the re-integration process, and gives soldiers ways to communicate their problems to others.
The furtherance of this "Rambo syndrome" needs to be stopped before it starts, because 2008 is not 1972. The Vietnam era's problems do not translate to our current conflicts, and the military has done a much better job at reintegrating soldiers. Despite the may problems facing the force today, I think that the efforts at getting troops back to civilian life have been very good, and I can speak to this as a soldier who has just returned from deployment.
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Comments
I knew as soon as that Marine story broke, that someone somewhere would use it to insult vets and soldiers-I wish I was wrong, but it looks like soldiers still have a well deserved reputation for being honorable.
Inteldump is wrong. We as a society are already trying to take care of returing vets. One of the biggest issues is that some vets don't want help. They don't see themselves as having changed, as possibly having issues, as being man enough (or woman enough) to deal with life.
No society, no programs, are worth a $%@_* until all the vets come in from the cold.
My two cents...
The media has been dying to write the disgruntled vet story from the day the first service member returned from Iraq or Afghanistan.
This was horribly done throughout the late '70s as every veteran who managed to get arrested was labled a psycho created by the Vietnam War. Its a crime the media gets away with this behvavior.
I saw these stories emerging over the weekend and immediately my BS meter went into the red.
As MikeK points out, the civilian population is almost 80 times more likely to commit a violent crime/murder. Yet here we have the MSM breaking out the same, tired old club to beat the military with.
Watch for more articles to trumpet this as evidence of the "broken military, lowered standards, quagmire" memes that have been repeatedly disproven on this blog and elsewhere.
Mental health for veterans is a very serious issue. As Charlie notes, resources are readily available and their use is encouraged. Sensationalist articles such as those noted willfully ignore the facts, and do a great disservice to military members, as well as the folks working hard to see that our returning vets are properly taken care of.
People like Phil Carter have contributed to the problem he cites. As a former Army officer, he has become a darling of the media with his blog that denigrates the efforts of our troops in Iraq. Carter's only goal is to be accepted by the liberal elites at his law firm. As such he is ready with smears and tales of hopelessness about Iraq.
Unfortunately, I think this kind of story works. I know someone who watches lots of TV news, without realizing it's bent, and not only parrots 'against the war' but gladly/sadly points to any and all negative effects. War is bad and I acknowledge we should do more to support vets, but that does not mean all wars should not be fought. But, I can't get through to this person past the years of 'objective' news.
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if you bothered to break down the stats NYT cites then it becomes a non-story and a straight smear.
171 incidents over 5-6 years from a veteran population of over 500,000...
equals veteran violent crime rate of 6.84 per 100,000 per year.
Normal violent crime rate 473.5 per 100,000 (2006 per FBI)
A non-story and a complete smear job...