Backtalk: Unite for veterans

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Unite for veterans
By Alison Lighthall - Special to the Times

It has become abundantly clear this year that our military medical system is not equipped to provide all the physical and psychological care that returning veterans need.

We don’t even have an accurate idea of how large the burden might end up being because as time goes on, we continue to uncover more problems, such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. Many Veterans Affairs facilities are already overwhelmed.

Our country needs an all-hands approach to this crisis. We need to call upon the nation to step up and help combat veterans and their families in tangible, useful ways. And we, as military personnel, need to respond to their generous offers by accepting their help.

I know it’s hard for warriors to accept help from anyone, much less a civilian or civilian organization that has little understanding of our world. But for this nation to remain strong we’re going to have to do everything in our power to recover from wounds both visible and invisible.

To that end, we need to accept the help that’s offered; we can’t afford the luxury of being picky about whether the help is from a civilian entity or the military.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/community/opinion/army_backtalk_returningtroops_071217/