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 a 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?   

CLICK HERE to get your free resources.