Looking behind the reality of Memorial Day celebrations

Let's celebrate Memorial Day by doing something for the veterans who are still alive, not just the deceased ones. Lots of people love parades. I do too. Lots of people like to put flags on graves. I do too. But when it comes to asking those same people to change our government policies in a way that would actually help veterans, they scream "Don't raise our taxes." My God, we can't even raise the tobacco tax in Missouri even though it's the lowest in the nation and over a dollar less than the national average. I just read in Saturday's Post Dispatch that Illinois is going to raise their cigarette tax from 98 cents a pack to $1.98 in order to fund "the state's struggling Medicaid system." The Missouri legislature not only won't consider raising taxes, they are fighting any attempts by citizens to do it themselves. Meanwhile, who suffers from this stubborn grandstanding by tea party "leaders" in Jeff City? The poorest Missourians, the ones least able to fight the corporate influence in what passes for a state government. Let's set aside for now the fact that people who smoke should pay more for health care for the poor than people who don't smoke because smokers drive up the cost of health care. That's a debate worth having at some point. Step back from the whole "we honor our heroes" thing and take a good look at exactly how we honor them. Parades don't feed them when they are homeless. Yes, there is a "feel good" moment for them and for us, but, wouldn't we give them more support by paying for their needs after we've sent them "into harm's way"? The May 28 issue of Newsweek has an article about the epidemic suicide rate among veterans. The estimate is that 18 veterans kill themselves every day. Especially alarming is the number of veterans from recent wars who have killed themselves. In fact, the "number of U.S. soldiers who have died by their own hand is now estimated to be greater than the number who have died in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq." One scholar who has studied this horrible reality describes in the Newsweek article how soldiers suffer "a moral injury" when subjected to repeated deployments overseas. Dr. Jonathan Shay says "a moral injury occurs when a soldier's concepts of trust and right and wrong do not survive the heat of battle." They return to civilian life "hypervigilant and trusting no one - a difficult way to live." This certainly aligns with testimony from family members who describe a son or husband who comes back from war a totally changed person. And this epidemic is not just among male veterans. One study found that female veterans are three times as likely to kill themselves as their civilian counterparts. Let's think about that concept of "moral injury." When someone suffers through an experience that completely changes his sense of right and wrong, how does he get that back? How does he put away his fatigues and change back into civilian clothes and civilian thinking? I don't know. I do know that everyone who suffers an emotionally devastating experience is never the same again. We can multiply the damage caused by our worst experiences and maybe get a tiny glimpse into the "moral injury" that soldiers have to carry with them the rest of their lives. Do we have the guts to ask ourselves who caused that "moral injury" to the 18 veterans a day who kill themselves? Who sent them to Iraq based on false information? Who stuck yellow ribbons on every tree and lamp post? Who enjoyed those first heady days of "shock and awe"? And who lost interest when the thrill was gone? Polls show that the majority of Americans don't think the Iraq war was worth the cost in lives and treasure. We also don't really care what happens in Afghanistan anymore either. The Newsweek article quotes a grieving family member as saying, "We pretend the vets don't even exist." Let's face it. Having homeless and desperately unhealthy veterans hanging around in plain sight really puts a damper on our Memorial Day festivities. We want to believe there are programs enough to help them if they'd only seek them out. We want to push the guilt away by using twisted logic and finding self-congratulatory, feel good ways to spend the holiday. Even though a recent study by the Kaiser Foundation shows that veterans would benefit greatly from the new health care reform law passed by Congress in 2010 (derisively referred to as Obamacare,) we would rather fight for our "freedom" not to have to buy health insurance than make sure veterans get all the help they need. So we'll listen to military bands playing patriotic music on TV this weekend. We'll fly our flags and pretend we care. But, heaven forbid, don't ask us to pay more in taxes to open more mental health clinics. Don't ask us to rally in support of the few brave do-gooders who are calling attention to the plight of homeless veterans. Don't ask us to demand that ROTC programs are banished from high schools where young kids get pulled into something they are not mature enough to understand. And when the Pentagon budget is raised again and again to buy weapons systems even the military says we don't need, let's join the "strong military - support our troops" nonsense because it feels so good to think we're "the greatest nation on Earth." If reading this makes you angry or upset, good. That's just a tiny sample of what many veterans feel every day, all day, all night until they don't have to feel anything anymore. Susan Cunningham May 27, 2012