Since the founding of our
country, returning veterans have found their homecoming a mixed bag.
Often times they came home to a country in the throes of post war
recessions where jobs were tight and opportunities rare. Those that
served in combat abroad often brought their own unique baggage home
in the form of physical and psychological wounds. They faced the
daunting prospect of settling back into a civilian society that was
ill prepared to deal with these returning warriors.
The modern era ushered in
national campaigns to hire returning veterans, emphasizing their
maturity, discipline, and skill sets forged in the fire of military
experience. Our country has always felt that it is the least it
could do to for those that have served. But some vets seemed easier
to hire, often times because they assimilated back into the routine
of civilian life fairly easily, emotionally and psychologically.
A dialogue started about
forty years ago concerning the psychological trauma of combat. Since
the beginning of time combatants have always born the mental effects
of war. It can’t be helped. Some scar deeper than others but
everyone who has ever fought in war carries the experience for life.
For the most severely psychologically impacted an old fashioned
colloquialism referred to it as being “shell shocked”. The
contemporary name for the condition is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD).
Returning vets with PTSD
are often treated differently than those with visible physical
wounds. There is an unspoken unsettledness on the part of many in our
society as to how “normal” these vets are. Of course any of us
that have served in the armed forces know that PTSD is more the norm
than not, but those that suffer from it are blatantly underserved in
the job market by employers that fear that these victims aren’t fit
for the workplace. This is what makes former President George W.
Bush’s speech this week so generous and timely.
President Bush announced
that the Bush Institute has pulled together other groups to
aggressively promote the assimilation and hiring of those returning
from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also said that it was time we
drop the “D” from PTSD and understand that this a treatable like
any other kind of illness. "Employers would not hesitate to hire
an employee getting treated for a medical condition like diabetes or
high blood pressure and they should not hesitate to hire veterans
getting treated for post-traumatic stress," he said.
This is a great step in
helping returning vets assimilate back into their families,
communities, and the job market. Hopefully, it will also spur
Congress and the Administration to better fund the health and welfare
of those that have sacrificed for the country.
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