What we owe veterans

Our Opinion

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009

The United States has been at war for eight years now, first in Afghanistan and then in Iraq, and one of the recurring refrains that has come up throughout that time is whether the nation has learned the lessons of Vietnam.

These debates usually refer to military tactics and civilian policy decisions. But the question is also relevant in looking at how we treat the veterans of these wars.

On the surface at least, it would seem that things have changed since the Vietnam era. As public support for these wars ebbs and flows, and as strategies are debated, one constant from those of every political viewpoint has been the professed support for the men and women who have answered the call to duty, at great personal risk and hardship. This near-universal support is a dramatic shift from the Vietnam era.

That support will be on display again today on Veterans Day, as it should be, and particularly in St. Mary's County.

This, of course, is the home of a Navy base that develops the aircraft and other technology that warfighters rely on. But it is also the home of men and women who work at Patuxent River Naval Air Station who have been called to duty overseas on individual assignments. It is home to men and women who served during World War II and in every conflict since. It is also home to boys and girls, soon to be men and women, whose plans after high school include military service.

So the Veterans Day parade in Leonardtown today, and the observances in Helen and elsewhere in St. Mary's, will as always be heartfelt, sincere and well deserved.

But it's not enough.

There are about 39,000 veterans in Southern Maryland, and the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home aside, there are few services available to meet their medical and mental health needs, as a recent report by the Veterans Regional Advisory Committee of the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland pointed out.

On Tuesday evening, a panel discussion in St. Mary's was scheduled to talk about the new forms of post-traumatic stress that crop up in veterans of these 21st-century wars, where men and women return again and again to war zones during multiple tours of duty. And while cell phones, e-mail and computer video that keep them in constant touch with their families are undoubtedly technological blessings, they blur the distinction between military careers and home life in what can be stressful ways whose long-range effects may not yet be fully understood.

We know now the isolation and difficulties that many Vietnam veterans have struggled with for 30 years and more. We also know that in many ways the nation failed them after their service.

We don't know yet what the future holds for veterans of current wars, but already there are fears by advocates for these younger veterans that we are not prepared to offer them the help they need.

We've already been told that services for veterans in Southern Maryland are inadequate. It is the responsibility of the rest of us to make sure that the parade doesn't just pass them by.