Almost twenty years ago the movie Rambo shined an uncomfortable spotlight on the plight of returning military servicemen. It seemed improbable and opportunistic, but many realized that a military servicemen who returned to find his life shattered, burdened by debt, and many times suffering from the trauma of war, was an argument that needed to be made.
As offensive as the thought of servicemen being tagged as loose cannons ready to explode and wreak mayhem is, what is truly a thought to be pondered is how do these men cope? Are we aware of what they go through when they return, and what are we doing to help them return to a semblance of meaningful living?
The combined impact of the Iraq-Afghanistan wars has created hundreds of thousands of veterans who are returning to face a more insidious enemy than the one they left behind. Debts beyond their power to repay or comprehend.
Financial distress and mental illness as everyone knows are siblings that know each other all too well. If the job market was healthier, some of the returning military personnel would not have as big a problem as the one they face upon their return.
But with the lack of good paying jobs, and even full time jobs, military personnel face a bleak future.
As of today, the count stands at about 170,000. That's the numbers of vets in severe financial hardship. And those numbers only reflects those vets that have reached out for help.
If anyone was wondering why the rate of suicide is so high in returning vets one needs to look no further. Not to mention that financial hardship also spells the end of many marriages.
This problem is not one that is going away. In the coming years many more vets will be added to this dismal tally. In some cases returning vets are not able to return to their previous jobs, even in blue collar environments, and often cannot find a job after filing dozens of applications. If the vet has a family, his return becomes an additional mouth to feed, instead of a happy event.
Many vets, in fact, become desperate when they realize that everything they owned and sometimes loved, fades away. If they lose their house, and their car, and can't find work, with a family to feed, all those years of service are nothing but a slap in the face.
Unemployment in vets is higher than the national rate. A fact all but ignored by financial statements. In addition, any residual VA benefits, can take up to a year to materialize, such is the backlog.
The problem, says a veteran's affair administrator is that military families are not as cautious with their money, and that they have to make bigger efforts to save while in service. But that's like saying that they can't spend their money as they risk their life, and when they return there is no safety net, no choices, no work. Even if they save some money, it won't last forever. They still need to find jobs.
This is particularly vexing, especially when there are a lot of contractors in the Iraq-Afghanistan theater who make many times the salary of their military counterparts, and who often continue working with their contractors upon returning stateside.
Partial Source : MSNBC 5.4.13
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