There are Differences in Generations of Military Veterans

Just like societal generations, there are veteran generations too. Even though Veterans share a lot of commonalities and experiences, each generation differs. World War II (WWII) Veterans, Korean War Veterans, Vietnam Veterans, Cold War Veterans, Gulf War Veterans, and Afghanistan & Iraq veterans all look at their service differently. Each generation has their own stories and experiences, both good and bad. Some are willing to talk about their service, some are apprehensive about discussing it, and some don’t discuss it at all. The military member has changed over the years, from those drafted to those who volunteered, each generation has different expectations of what they were promised. The one thing all veterans have in common, we have a brotherhood that is unspoken. We are always there for each other through good and bad.

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Back to my story. During WWII every American felt the pinch of war. Everyone knew someone in the war. Those serving had an approximate tour of duty of 21 Months. While they were in theater civilians dealt with food rations, gas rations, copper drives, steel drives and anything to help the war effort. During this time the industrial complex of the United States was at full capability. Women were doing jobs society designated for men in an attempt to free men up for the war effort. Once the war was won all veterans came home to a hero’s welcome. World War II veterans returned home to women capable of doing the jobs they were doing when they left. For the first time in our society women were given the chance to prove they could do a “man’s” job. Everyone had a part to play during WWII and our society had changed because of it, when the WWII veterans returned.

Korean War veterans are not remembered or treated like the WWII veterans. They also spoke very little about their service. Most had 18 months service in country, but some were required to stay for the duration. Officially the Koreans are still at war and we still have troops in South Korea 65 years later. Many Korean War veterans were drafted into the military, some volunteered, and others were WWII lifers. The Korean War is thought of by many as the forgotten war. These troops fought with valor just like the WWII veterans but the fanfare did not happen for them. Korean War Veterans share a similarity to WWII Veterans in many areas.   

Vietnam War is a different story. The average tour in Vietnam was 12 months with differing variations for different branches. Many do not talk about their experiences because of the way they were treated when they returned. They were called baby killers, spit on, and kept from getting jobs. Many do not trust the government, the VA, or society in general. Many go off into corners of the United States and live alone. A large part of homeless veterans are from the Vietnam era. Many have checked out of society because they don’t trust the society that let them down and treated them poorly for doing their jobs. Many have mental health issues brought on by war and the way they were treated when they came home, but have been overlooked by society for so long they don’t want the help.

The Cold war era of veterans span several decades. From 1945 to 1991 there was constant tension between Russia and the United States. There were several notable incidents such as the Berlin Air lift, and the Cuban Missile Crisis during this time. The Korean War and the Vietnam War were the first proxy wars in the cold war era. In the years that followed, the United States had to maintain a readiness to deploy. Every time there was a problem throughout the world the military had to be ready to fight the battle. From 1948 until 1973, during both peacetime and periods of conflict, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the armed forces which could not be filled through voluntary means. Those that served during the cold war tend to be over looked when veterans are recognized. Many don’t consider themselves veterans, they were “just in”. Unfortunately some war veterans do not consider cold war veterans as veterans either, some veterans do not feel they deserve the same benefits those that have been in combat receive. The VA does place them at a lower priority, but they are veterans and should be treated like one.

Desert Storm was the first major deployment using an all voluntary military. It was short in duration, the service time was 7 months to a year depending on branch of service. Desert Storm veterans were treated well when they returned thanks to the Vietnam Veterans. Now, Desert Storm Veterans are forgotten about for the most part. Even though Desert Storm Veterans suffer the highest causality rate of any war, they are mainly forgotten and considered a pre-curser to the present wars. The deployment ops tempo was maintained from Desert Storm to Operation Iraqi Freedom. A consistent stream of soldiers, sailors, marines and airman were deployed to the Middle East especially to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The US military did not pick up and leave after desert storm, we stayed there from 1991 to 2003.     

Veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)  are a different type of military members. Many civilians don’t understand that the service in Afghanistan and Iraq were different. There were different tactics and different enemies in each location. The desert in Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan are two different worlds. Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom veterans are only 0.5% of the general population. These veterans are the first to be required to serve multiple deployments in the combat zone. There are some of these military members who have had upwards of seven tours in the combat zone. An issue of multiple deployments is of multiple re-integrations as well as multiple deployments.  The VA is just starting to see onslaught of how multiple combat tours is affecting our veterans and their system. The history of these two wars is still being written.  

Often veteran’s families do not know about the benefits that are available for their loved one. If your loved one ever served in the military they probably have some type of benefits. There will be times where the veteran themselves will squawk at the idea of getting help from the VA. Where I see, the quietest veterans are those who did not serve in combat and were “Vietnam era” veterans and feel ‘less than’ because of a choice by someone else to send them to Germany or Korea instead of Vietnam. The “Cold War” era veterans are also overlooked. Some veterans served 20 years in the military and never saw combat. They are just as important, they were the reason the US maintained the peace through deterrence. Family members need to try and make sure their loved one who served in the military get their benefits even though the veteran feels they do not deserve them. Veterans benefits can make the family members life easier by making sure the veteran gets their benefits. It can help the veteran psychologically by being proud of your loved one and possibly help to take some of the physical and psychological issues off your hands.  It can help families financially by giving veterans earned services.       

Veterans have differing views on their time in and their return home. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is common in all conflicts, but each generation has handled it differently and so has the VA. Many WWII, Korean, and Vietnam veterans flew under the radar and did not ask for help. The Vietnam veterans finally stepped up and we now have a diagnosis for PTSD because of their efforts. Some civilians believe society is overdoing it for our newest veterans trying to make up for how the Vietnam Veterans were treated. I believe and hope it is becoming acceptable to ask for help. Either way we all have our opinions, isn’t that what all veterans fought for, the freedom to have our opinions and beliefs? 

For questions or comments, I can be reached at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit our website at marriedtoptsdpro.com and like us on Facebook at Married to PTSD Pro.

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Could PTSD be Genetic?

We were doing research on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for a training we are establishing about the generational pattern we see in our PTSD clients. We continually see instances where multiple people were subjected to the exact same trauma without some of them developing PTSD. We have heard and seen several instances where people feel that they went through the same trauma and didn’t get PTSD, leading them to feel those who developed PTSD from the event are just weak. I am here to tell everyone, that is defiantly not the case. We have seen many different types of events that cause PTSD.  Physical events such as gang violence, domestic violence, combat, sexual assault / molestation, accidents, and natural disasters to name a few can all cause PTSD. We know those who have experienced violence in early childhood are more likely to develop PTSD in adulthood.  Now, studies are suggesting that PTSD can be passed down genetically from someone who has PTSD to their children.  It can change the trajectory of the entire family.  This revelation means that the cost of combat PTSD will change the lives of soldier’s families for generations to come.

Living in poverty, gang violence, bullying, domestic violence and fighting all increase the chance of someone developing PTSD. Those who have lived through trauma are more susceptible to developing PTSD. The inner-city violence might not have caused PTSD, but it increases the chance of getting PTSD later in life, if they don’t have it already. Wealthy or middle class folks can suffer from PTSD also. Domestic Violence, and bullying are a large contributor to PTSD and have no social economic status (SES) attached, PTSD does not discriminate. Money doesn’t prevent PTSD, everyone is susceptible to it.

As we all know, the Veterans Administration drives the PTSD bus. So much of the PTSD treatments, studies, and information comes from the VA. But they are not the only entity conducting research.  Combat is the most well-known, documented, and accepted cause of PTSD in our society. Everyone who lives through combat is a changed person. Ten people can be in the same firefight and only one of them winds up with PTSD. It is possible for all 10 or none of them to get PTSD, but the chance exists for everyone. It has been proven that each deployment increases the chance of getting PTSD.  Along with combat being recognized as a leading cause of PTSD, sexual assault / molestation are big contributors also.  Often families do not recognize sexual assault as the cause of the PTSD in their loved one because they are unaware of the event. The shame and guilt that comes along with sexual assault causes people not to disclose what happened to them. One of the biggest mistakes our society makes is overlooking sexual assault of men. Society looks at sexual assault differently when men are victims rather than women. Sexual assault often is not disclosed because of stigma, leaving families wondering how someone got PTSD or has the signs of PTSD because they do not know about the trauma.

I often tell people that everyone is one car accident away from PTSD. It is not only car accidents; it is any type of accidents. Almost drowning, falling down a cliff, falling off a roof, or accidental shootings, have been shown to cause PTSD. Other causes include natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, fires, or hurricanes. Any of these can cause someone to get PTSD, it does not have to be combat related.   

Understanding what can cause non-combat PTSD can be a relationship changer for both those who have PTSD or their families. Most PTSD in our society comes from events happening to non-military personnel. What we recently found as a possible cause of PTSD shocked us and made us look differently at how generational transmission is possible, could PTSD be genetic? There are experts in the field of trauma who believe PTSD can be genetically transferred from one generation to another. Where some people might scoff at this idea, we believe it is possible and something to be researched in-depth. If this is true, as research has suggested, PTSD can be passed on genetically, we need to look at how being married to PTSD can change the outcome for families suffering from PTSD for generations to come. Those who live through horrific events such as physical violence, domestic violence, combat, sexual assault / molestation, accidents, and natural disasters could be passing the PTSD to their children genetically. This might be the answer as to why one person gets PTSD and another doesn’t when two people endure the same trauma. You can think of it like this; the inherited DNA is the gun and the traumatic event is the trigger.  The gun may never be fired if there is no traumatic event to trigger it, PTSD does not occur.  We understand that this can be scary to most people, but PTSD can be headed off with counseling and managing the symptoms if you know what they are. The earlier PTSD is resolved, the less likely it will be passed down.  Having PTSD does not have to be a life sentence if it is managed.     

For questions or comments, I can be reached at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit our website at marriedtoptsdpro.com and like us on Facebook at Married to PTSD Pro.

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Boot Camp is Different for Everyone

I was talking to Max, who owns a homeless veteran facility in the high desert. He was perplexed at the number of veterans that have PTSD without seeing combat. He started telling me about Steve, a 38 year old homeless Army veteran that lives in his facility. Steve has never seen combat but has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) outside of the Veterans Administration’s (VA) system. Like many in his situation Steve also struggles with addiction. Many veterans like Steve don’t know if he qualifies for VA benefits or not. Like so many veterans Steve struggles to fit in. He can work a little and does odd jobs when he can to make some money, but holding down a full-time job eludes him due to his illness. Steve may have VA benefits because of his minimal income, but getting him to go to the VA and deal with the red tape is a different story.

Steve was married for several years and has a daughter. Steve had an incident that triggered him and he spiraled into a deep depression. After a while he started to self-medicate with alcohol like so many veterans in his condition. Steve told Max that he reached his bottom when his wife took their daughter and left. Due to his situation Steve lost his family and his home. He became another homeless veteran statistic.     

Max, a veteran himself, is struggling to understand how someone who was in the military and never saw combat could have PTSD. Max is unaware of any traumatic event in Steve’s life, but has seen this a lot of trauma in veterans, especially the homeless population. He believes Steve has some trauma in his background but Max is not qualified to talk to him about his possible trauma and Steve will not talk openly about it. Since I am a mental health professional, Max asked if it was possible to get PTSD from Boot Camp. To me that was an interesting thought, boot camp does offer many of the same situations that can cause PTSD.  In boot camp recruits are threatened, psychologically tortured, placed in physically demanding high stress situations in order to eliminate those deemed as “weak”. I understand it sounds absurd that something so many people go through can cause PTSD. But studies show it can play a part.

Most mental health professionals aren’t ready to say that boot camp causes PTSD, but some do. Research shows some psychologists and mental health professionals feel it is possible for recruits to have the “PTSD seed” before they enter the military. The military mental health screening process for recruits is limited, to say the least. The military does not possess the needed manpower or expertise to do a complete mental health makeup of all new recruits.  Studies have proven that having a traumatic background can increase the possibility of getting PTSD in the future. Many recruits join the military to get out of their undesirable environments, and sometimes that includes violence. Some recruits were sexually molested, come from inner city gangs, raised in abusive homes, survived natural disasters, car accidents, and bullied in school, all of which can cause PTSD or the “PTSD seed”. Individuals who enter the military with pre-existing mental health issues is common. Those who have PTSD or the “seed” can be at a higher risk of having problems because of the stressors brought on by boot camp and combat training.

The military service entails a considerable amount of stress and high demand for excellence. Persons that enter the military with pre-existing mental health issues are more likely to suffer from military training. The consistent threats from drill instructors who hold power over them can cause some recruits to struggle. Most make it through, but the seed can be fertilized causing the trauma to grow in some and in others, it was already there. Most don’t realize the seed was planted causing them bigger problems later. Since alcohol is acceptable in military culture, many self-medicate to survive the pain of their mental health issues. The all-volunteer military opens up the possibility of having more recruits susceptible. This is especially true in the enlisted ranks.

A US Navy study showed many recruits are unaware of, or do not disclose having mental health issues. The study found that 15% to 17% of enlistees could be categorized as having PTSD. There is no reason to believe that this study does not represent the same percentages among other military branches. With the lack of mental health professionals in the recruiting process it is highly possible some military recruits make it through the process to go on to boot camp. Even if mental health professionals spent face to face time with recruits they would struggle to build rapport in the allotted time to flag the recruit for further evaluation.

Often these homeless veterans like Steve have burned their bridges with their families. Not just their spouses but parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts etc. Family members do not understand what’s going on and often blame their veteran for their homelessness because they do not believe someone without combat can have PTSD. The veteran does have a responsibility, to seek help for their PTSD.        

So, the question is still, does basic training cause PTSD? No one knows for sure, but it is possible. It is more likely that Steve entered the military with mental health problems and boot camp or military service exacerbated the issues. Presently he is doing fine and still clean and sober, he is moving forward trying to gather his life back together but it is a struggle for him. 

For questions or comments, I can be reached at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit our website at marriedtoptsdpro.com and like us on Facebook at Married to PTSD Pro.

Want to learn more about how to handle PTSD?   

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There is a Long History of Mental Health Stigma in the Military

Many veterans believe there is a stigma in the military culture concerning mental health. All of those presently in the military will be veterans and will weigh heavily on future research. Military history has consistently shown that mental health issues play a part in any military branch. It is believed that mental health stigma was placed in the military to prevent soldiers from leaving the battlefield. The stigma is in line with masculine behavior within the military structure, creating self-stigma. Some believe the primary care system within the United States military and the Veterans Affairs (VA) could address the mental health stigma if they choose to, it appears they are finally trying. It is also essential to know that the United States isn't the only country having issues with soldiers and mental health stigma. The United Kingdom also shows a troubling trend towards not trusting mental health professionals. Many do not realize that the stigma associated with mental health is deep-rooted in the history of military combat and was placed there purposely. 

Military personnel has faced mental health stigma since ancient times. Military members are afraid they will be seen as weak; lose the respect and trust of their peers and leadership if they seek mental health help. These soldiers then lose respect for themselves even if they do not seek help and live with shame. The military culture possesses little tolerance for weakness, including mental health issues. Before the enlightenment period, commanders had little choice but to execute soldiers for cowardice. 

In the American Civil War, soldiers having mental health issues were given labels such as "soldier's heart," "irritable heart," and "sunstroke," showing some compassion for their plight. During World War, I shell shock was the word. After WWI, Germany struggled due to the cost of paying disability compensation and their debt. In 1916, the German association for psychiatry convened and decided that those exposed to a traumatic stressor could only occur with those having "hysteria." Hysteria was the chosen word to be intentionally stigmatizing for male soldiers who felt it was a feminizing term. 

The de-medicated model adopted in 1916 became a barrier to shame. The rates of wartime psychiatric evacuation have steadily decreased since then from 10% during WWII, 3.7% in Korea, and barely 1.2% in Vietnam. There is evidence from the Vietnam veterans that this model did not prevent long-term disability. In 1952 the Diagnosis and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-I) and DSM-II published in 1968 included the term hysteria as a synonym for over-reactive and various disorders, including anxiety and dissociative disorders. In the 1980s, the DSM-III started turning away from the prior medical model, reducing the stigma associated with acute distress. The DSM-IV added additional criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) requirements, including terror, horror, or helplessness. This wording was intended to soften the rhetoric about PTSD. 

During WWII, the military made a massive and expensive attempt to screen out those with mental health issues. Even with this effort, the military failed to prevent large numbers of combat stress casualties. This stress spread through all military branches and all theaters of operation. It was confirmed in Italy in 1944 that all those exposed to constant combat exposure became a psychiatric causality after 210 days of continuous combat exposure.

Recently neurobiological studies have shown that intense, prolonged stress can inflict literal injuries to the brain refuting the personal weakness theory of the past. Still, male soldiers and veterans feel they are weak because of their status in society as being masculine. Men who join the military are very likely to present as hyper-masculine individuals even before military training. This training traditionally turns to established masculine gender norms. Seeking help may interfere with those norms, putting veterans at odds with seeking mental health care and producing excessive dependence on self-reliance. Seeking mental health care is seen as weak by 55 to 65% of recently deployed veterans, causing veterans who expressed distress problems; these men tend to avoid behaviors associated with trauma recovery, including social outreach, coping, and emotional processing.

Hyper-vigilant behavior is often synonymous with individuals having PTSD. Veterans with PTSD attempt to reduce perceived danger, take control over their environment or behavior, and adapt this control to their lives. Resistance to change concerning treatment interferes with the masculine ideal of self-control. Even with that said, masculinity may play a positive part in PTSD treatment. The experience of fear and anxiety may push the veteran into treatment because fear and anxiety are not traditional masculine behavior. Combat veterans show a complex relationship between PTSD and masculinity. Positive and negative effects have the potential to use male behavior to its advantage. A greater understanding of how they interact is essential. Masculine behaviors have the potential to possess positive and negative effects on their recovery. The possibility is that the traditional male behaviors may be dismayed because they feel unmanly because of fear and anxiety brought on by PTSD, exacerbating the symptoms causing them to seek mental health help. Recently studies have shown that self-stigma has become a significant issue with veterans and military members who struggle to ask for mental health help because of the stigma associated with it.

For questions or comments, you can contact me at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit my website at www.afterdutyvets.com, and subscribe to my YouTube channel After Duty Vets or like us on Facebook at After Duty Vets.    

Veterans Lived History

I was talking to a client the other day about the reasons he started writing. This client has been with me for a couple of years. He is a Vietnam Veteran and struggled with re-living those memories through nightmares. He came to me having nightmares that were keeping him awake for years. His night terrors had gotten excessively worse as he aged. He has been recently writing stories about Vietnam, but most of his stories are about his life. Veterans fail to understand we are history; we have been a part of history. Even if you never deployed or went overseas, you have stories, some funny, some tragic. These stories need to be told.

People ask me when I talk about writing why it is so important? Writing holds the key to the past. Writing is very therapeutic. I have seen on numerous occasions where writing has helped someone with PTSD. Writing helps you get their feelings down on paper and get it out, so it does not stay bottled up. It also enables you to be in the here and now. You are focused on your story and not your PTSD symptoms. Nothing says you must write about your trauma. Your writing could be about history, fantasies, your family, or your experiences. Writing can be about anything. Because I love history, I choose to write stories about people and places.  

Playing our part to help understand history and what life was like is crucial. I know multiple researchers who write history books solely using letters and stories from average veterans and everyday people. These books or full of details of what life was truly like years ago. Part of the issue that we're struggling with now is the lack of history in schools. No one wants to learn history anymore. Most of us don't realize the importance of history until we age and start looking back into our family's history, wondering where we came from. When you're a teenager, you really take elders for granted. That needs to change.

Those who study history for a living need our stories for their research. Writing down your stories will play a part in future research. When folks write books about life in the military, your story could be a part of theirs. Documentaries and books tell what life is like during our past wars. Those who are alive now can be a part of the stories told after we are long gone. What the different military bases were like, the living conditions, and even the food. Those who served in the Vietnam era served during a colossal shift in our military history. The military is a lot different now. It started to change direction after the Vietnam War. People need to hear how the Vietnam veterans were treated when they return home and the issues they dealt with while in theatre. Those who served in Europe during the cold war are not talked about. They kept the Russians out of Western Europe, keeping communism from spreading. This goes for everyone who has served in the military. Our lives as military folks will be critical to future research.

I would encourage every veteran to write down their stories. Not everything has to be about the trials and tribulations of war. The stories can be about the funny things you saw and did, the practical joke you pulled, and the stupid people you served with. You can talk about the different cultures coming together. Our stories can help inform those who research history on how things were. I believe it is vital for everyone to understand history. What's in the school history books are usually inaccurate and only tell one side of the story. It is crucial that we have a "Paul Harvey moment" and tell the “rest of the story.” Write your history down so you can be immortalized and appreciated by society and leave your mark in this great country.

  For questions or comments, you can contact me at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit my website at www.afterdutyvets.com, and subscribe to my YouTube channel After Duty Vets or like us on Facebook at After Duty Vets.    

Veterans Continue to Chase Demons

One of the biggest issues I see with my clients are their struggles with demons from their past. Every veteran handles their Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) differently, including their war demons. Many veterans continue to chase their demons in their nightmare well in to their 70’s and 80’s, and some never catch them. The demons they chase have caused unhealthy relationships, poor sleep, and an unhealthy lifestyle for most of them. Their demons have caused substance abuse, divorces, negative effects on their children, and a loss of control in their lives. So many veterans have hung on to and suppressed those demons for over 50 years.

I have multiple Vietnam Veterans on my caseload who struggle with their nightmares. It is interesting how they have allowed their demons to remain in their life for so long. The stigma for getting help was stronger than their will to address their demons. The stigma of seeking mental health has kept a multitude of Vietnam Veterans from getting help. It appears that some Vietnam veterans have finally seen the light and decided to do something about the demons they have been chasing in their dreams. For those who seek help the demons can go away, they can finally get the good night's sleep that they have been longing for over 50 years. Some Vietnam Veterans were able to suppress their demons until they retired. They were too busy working to ensure the success of their families. It was not until they retired that the terrors came back because they had lost their purpose and had time to think about the past.     

I am hoping that what happened to the Vietnam Veterans will not continue for the new veterans. The recent wars, Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) has brought on a new idea surrounding mental health help. The newest generation of veteran appear to be getting the help that they need to suppress their demons before they take over their lives. There are still a lot of veterans out there who struggle with getting help so they can live their life.

It even seems like some veterans like their demons. They don't know how to live without them. I hope the demons of the newer generation will be less intrusive than those of their predecessors because they make a different choice, the choice to get help. With the newer veterans it appears to be OK to get the help need. While on Active Duty the stigma is still attached to mental health issues and seeking help for PTSD is still seen as weak. The stigma is often carried into their civilian attitude once they get out of the military, but that appears to be changing. If their issues are not dealt with, they can cause a host of issues for the rest of their lives, Vietnam veterans have proven that.   

It is my hope that all veterans will quit chasing their demons. Seeking help for your demons is a choice. If you choose not to get help, then the onus is on you. My question is why are you choosing to live your life with these demons when you can learn to control them?  There is nothing wrong with confronting or embracing your demons to control them instead of them controlling you. I find it hard to believe that seeing a therapist is scarier than living with your demons. Why live your life letting your demons control you? Getting help is a choice. You must choose to combat your demons like you fought your enemies. The choice to have a better life is yours.

For questions or comments, you can contact me at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit my website at www.afterdutyvets.com, and subscribe to my YouTube channel After Duty Vets or like us on Facebook at After Duty Vets.  

Writing Can Be Helpful for Your Mental Health

When I first started writing my wife said damn, I'm glad you started writing, now I don't have to listen to all your complaining. That’s when I realized the importance of writing and have been doing it ever since. Writing has allowed me an opportunity to get my frustrations out. In 2016 I was fortunate enough to be selected by the Writers Guild of America to attend their veteran’s writing group in LA. It was a weekend seminar with Hollywood writers as mentors. I learned how movies and TV shows were written and it was an eye-opener. After that adventure was over, I found the veteran writer’s group at Cal State San Bernardino (CSUSB). This group is sponsored by the veteran’s success center at CSUSB. They have helped me publish two books and keeps me motivated to write. 

For the last seven years, I have been writing this column and it has been therapeutic for me. It gives me a sense of accomplishment by believing I am changing the lives of my fellow veterans through information and education. I have introduced some of my clients to writing and it has had a lot of success. Writing serves multiple purposes. It gives the freedom to be yourself and open-up on things you were not prepared to talk about to family and friends. So many veterans feel they cannot talk to others for fear of judgment.

What I have found is people can write their stories any way they want. They own their stories and can put as much or as little as they want. This allows them to get their thoughts and their feelings out offering them a sense of relief. Many of them have started opening-up to their families about their feelings creating a dialogue that they never had while building trust. This dialogue does not have to happen if you choose not to show it to others, many folks write for themselves never divulging their work. I have had multiple clients who use this distraction to help them get past their nightmares. They use writing to help them work through their negative thoughts, and it works.

Writing has many values; it can play a distraction to the everyday mundane things that frustrate you. This distraction can be anywhere from normal life situations, flashbacks, and memories of your past. If you're writing about those flashbacks and memories it serves as a way to get it out of your head so you can move forward. Many veterans in my veterans’ group do not write about their issues or feelings. Some of them write fantasies, some combat veterans write horror flicks. They use their combat as a positive thing distracting them from their real-life horrors.   

Not only can writing be a distraction it also allows for a free thought process to just vent your frustrations. So many times veterans get frustrated at what's going on in the world. It is therapeutic to get the feelings out by writing. So many veterans have told me in the past that they are not writers and they don't like to write, well neither did I and here I am. The main thing writing has done for me and my clients it has given us a sense of purpose, accomplishment, and emotional freedom.

I would challenge every veteran to start writing when they get frustrated. There is nothing wrong with sitting down and getting your thoughts and feelings down on paper. I have known multiple veterans who have started writing their life stories. Many of these veterans are in their 70s. They are grateful because it has given them an avenue to talk to their families about their lives. If you want to learn to write or want encouragement, please contact the veteran’s writers’ group at CSUSB. I will put their contact information below. If you would like to talk to me about this group, you can email me. Until then happy writing!

For questions or comments, you can contact me at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit my website at www.afterdutyvets.com, and subscribe to my YouTube channel After Duty Vets or like us on Facebook at after duty vets.  

Cancel Culture Can Be Detrimental to Veterans

So many veterans struggle with the way society is once we get out. Veterans are known for their hard ass perspective on issues. They are subjected to people’s misconceptions on a continual basis. One of the toughest thing’s veterans deal with is walking the fine line of being ourselves and dealing with cancel culture. A veteran’s sense of humor can appear to be insensitive to some. It is hard when you see people being criticized and losing their jobs for making what others perceive as inappropriate comments.  Veterans are known for calling out people and continue to struggle in this environment. They try not to cross that line, but it can be an issue for some. It all starts because veterans have different ways of looking at things than the average civilian.  

Most veterans have a dark sense of humor or look on life that is not understood by civilians. Most veterans have been put in situations where they had to deal with life and death on a consistent basis, even taking someone's life if necessary. When you spend time with veterans you realize they often put a positive spin on things because they need to maintain their sanity. Many veterans have been blown up, have head injuries, or missing limbs. They need to laugh at inappropriate things in order to handle their situation. These veterans do not want people to look at them is being injured, they want them to look at them as being a whole person. So many people struggle seeing these veterans as a whole person, all they see is their injury. So many injured veterans turn to their dark and inappropriate sense of humor in order to survive. That is what civilians do not understand. Even if you had never been blown up or injured most veterans or their families know someone who has made inappropriate comments and know where it comes from and overlook it. We understand why they are making the comments they are.  

Veterans struggle with being politically correct because they need it to emotionally survive. That is why cancel culture in our society is so hard for veterans to deal with. Some veterans struggle with what people think where others don't care because they have seen the worst humankind can put out. We have seen our friends killed, maimed, discarded by society, so we struggle with caring about how people feel about getting their feelings hurt. I know it can appear to be a little cold and callous, but some veterans feel they need it to emotionally survive.

Cancel culture is hard on veterans and probably affects us more the most people realize. Some veterans often use that lack of political correctness because they feel people have become weak and unable to emotionally work through the tough times. Veterans say inappropriate things at times because they believe it's necessary because of what we've been through and what civilians believe is important.

In my job I ask veterans daily how they “feel “about certain situations. I can get away with it because I understand it. Sometimes my veteran clients open and sometimes they don't. Sometimes they dodge discussing their feelings because it is too painful. They just want to discuss why people don't understand them. The reality is veterans have had deal with life and death situations some civilians cannot fathom. Veterans have lost loved ones in violent situations that cause them pain. Some veterans struggle to understand why so many people get upset at what veterans perceive as inconsequential issues. Some veterans have seen the worst humanity can show them and really don't care about how you feel because they do not believe you care to understand why they are OK with making inappropriate comments. 

For questions or comments you can contact me at afterdutyvets@gmail.com or visit my website at www.afterdutyvets.com, and subscribe to my YouTube channel or like us on Facebook at afterdutyvets.