Veterans must fight long after war’s end

The decade that has elapsed since the start of the war in Iraq has left an imprint that is sure to endure for decades into the future.

As the nation works through its reflection on the conflict, an exercise occasioned by today’s 10th year anniversary, many questions are being revisited.

Among these: "Was it worth it?" "Is the United States more secure?" "What were the lessons that should be applied to any likely hot spots in the future, such as Iran or North Korea?"

Opinion polls tilted against the Iraq War years ago; even so, it’s still probably too soon for an unassailable conclusion on at least the first two questions. As for the last one, it might be more productive to reframe it on the human level, in a way that resonates with everyone in Hawaii, in every local community:

"What was its impact on the people who fought in Iraq, and what should be done for our veterans now?"

The loss of life can be enumerated: A total of 4,486 U.S. soldiers were killed between 2003 and 2012; the numbers rise beyond that toll when other coalition forces are included. A Web-based effort known as the Iraq Body Count project tallied a stunning range of roughly 110,000-121,227 civilian deaths, including coalition, insurgent and sectarian fighting, as well as the criminal violence resulting from the breakdown of law and order.

For those who survive, the suffering continues. It’s hard to gauge the extent of the wounded-warrior impact even within the U.S., let alone the aftermath of war in Iraq. There are the visible injuries that are treated through the members’ Veterans Administration benefits.

And there are the hurts that are unseen initially but manifest themselves in tragedies that follow. They’re economic wounds, such as what veterans face when they come home to a workforce that seemingly won’t accommodate them, regardless of skills gained in the wartime experience.

That difficulty, and the depression that often follows, can deteriorate into homelessness and quiet desperation. Combat veterans, many of them still wearing the uniform, take their own lives as a means of escaping the unacknowledged or untreated pain.

The high rates of suicide in the armed forces is an unrelenting concern for the military brass. Lt. Gen. Francis Wiercinski, commander of the U.S. Army Pacific Command, has said it is his chief concern, and outreach to those in trouble, throughout the ranks, has intensified.

Increased awareness of post-combat effects is a crucial development of the past decade of war. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the scourge that belatedly came to light years after the last soldier came home from Vietnam, is another common affliction of the post-Iraq veteran, as well as troops leaving Afghanistan as that conflict winds down as well.

The price of ignoring the problem is evident for those who contend with veteran problems today, said Darryl Vincent, who runs a nonprofit known as U.S. VETS that addresses homelessness and other veteran problems. Vincent estimated that of the clients who come through the doors of the homeless shelters, nearly half are Vietnam veterans. That’s a startling statistic, given that the U.S. is approaching the 40th anniversary of that war’s end.

What does that say to us now? Most clearly, it’s evidence of why Americans need to ramp up its outreach to veterans of the Middle East conflicts, and redouble efforts to find other resolutions to its international conflicts before contemplating the start of new war ventures.

Those who know the cost of war most intimately — the combat veterans still unable to resume their civilian lives — provide the testimonial, even without saying a word. Simply witnessing their struggle is all the proof anyone should need.