We were soldiers once; call to veterans

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, nearly 8 percent of the population of the United States is made up of men and women who have served in the military: Veterans. This figure mathematically works out to more than 18 million people that, at one point in their lives, raised their right hands and took a solemn oath of service to the United States of America.

These men and women were all soldiers once (or sailors, marines, airmen, etc) and overwhelmingly they served in their most formative years. According to PEW Research, roughly two-thirds of all active duty military personnel are younger than 30. Life for those in the military, during these periods of service, is not like the life civilian counterparts in “Western culture” live. Soldiers are thrust into the closely knit units that become families to them, and for those who see combat, those bonds of “brotherhood” often are stronger than the bonds they have with their biological families.

Many, from doctors to philosophers and even estranged family members, have mused and pondered the fact that overwhelmingly veterans, especially combat veterans, often find themselves yearning to return to their service, their unit, or even to combat. In his book, “TRIBE,” Sebastian Junger opines that one of the main reasons for this, if not THE main reason, is the tribal-esque nature of the military. Soldiers “grow up” in a community of like-minded individuals, with a purpose-driven existence, committed to the survival of their “tribe mates” or brothers and sisters in arms. Selfish pursuit of power or resources is swiftly stomped out, and you would be hard pressed to find a soldier in a firefight who would hoard ammunition from his comrades.

It’s not the combat, the adrenaline, or the guns and bombs that veterans long for so deeply when they return home — it’s their tribe. Veterans quickly find that their civilian peers lack the same discipline, ethos, loyalty or closeness and that in turn can lead to a growing sense of isolation.

Isolation is only the beginning — depending on which veteran group (OIF, OEF, Desert Storm, Vietnam, etc.) you look at, or which report you read, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates between 20-30% of veterans suffer from some form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following their service; it is in these same reports that the VA estimates approximately 6,000 veterans commit suicide each year. It is well documented that any form of prolonged isolation can and will have a deleterious effect on the psyche, be it social, physical, or emotional isolation. What all of this means is that veterans, separated from their tribes and seemingly isolated in civilian life, are at a higher risk of psychological health issues, not necessarily connected to any single traumatic event during their service, exacerbated by the conditions of their lives AFTER leaving military service.

As a former combat infantryman, I served in direct combat with the enemy during Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2005 to 2006. I can personally relate to all of this. After my honorable discharge I quickly found myself looking at ways to “get back in.” I longed for deployment and stayed as connected to my former squads and teams as I could as they went and came. To this day, 12 years later, I still can drift into daydreams of rejoining the military.

The isolation I described above is all too real for all veterans — as there are things about war, and service, that civilians just “won’t get.” We find ourselves keeping our stories to ourselves, for the most part, and begrudgingly listening to mediocre tales of triumph in suburbia from our civilian counterparts as we go through our days.

Thankfully I found a place where I could connect with other “former” members of my tribe without having to ruck-up and leave my family again; that place, for me, is the American Legion (Post 143 in Post Falls, ID). For others it is the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Marine Corps League or any other number of veteran-centric groups.

I’m not suggesting that joining the Legion or VFW will solve veteran suicides or cure PTSD, but I do believe, strongly, that joining will give all veterans a tribe once again, and that alone will move us toward solving these problems. Sadly, these organizations are at risk of vanishing. The average age, nationally, of members of the VFW and American Legion is 70. Young veterans simply aren’t joining anymore for reasons ranging from social stigma to, in my opinion, societal isolation as a result of social media and digital saturation. It is my goal to change that, and my hope that this article helps.

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Nicholas Henderson is a Post Falls resident.