You're most welcome, even though my time in service was quiet and uneventful.

And people have been very good about being thankful to us. They either thank us or say nothing. (No one's ever said, Screw you, vet!)

Speaking for myself, as a vet, I'm rather saddened by the number of vets I see who have been psychologically damaged by their experiences. On the positive side, we've come a long way since Viet Nam, when PTSD didn't exist. (That is, we wouldn't admit it and we had no name for it.)

I did spend some time in a VA hospital for vets with PTSD and other psychological illnesses. I made some friends there, and it's very distressing to me to know how many have died since then (some of my Facebook friends are accounts belonging to dead vets and all we do is post tributes) through suicide and drug overdose. So for those of you who are worried about the cost of providing care for war vets, if my experience is at all representative, the taxpayer burden shouldn't amount to much more than a plain headstone at Arlington (unless the family wants to take care of it); we seem quite willing to take ourselves out.

Call us pampered or weak if you care to. Or accuse us of milking the system. But, weak or not, the fact of the matter is, we're dying. We're not fainting-couch college students who demand trigger warnings on every cereal box. We've done things people shouldn't have to do and haven't evolved to accept doing.

We simply aren't able to kill people we don't even know, especially on a grand scale. These actions carry consequences that the human psyche just isn't capable of enduring.

I myself take four mood-altering drugs, and I'm not sure how much they're helping. My mood is ... ick. My body itself is not comfortable to me. I'm not in pain, per se, but there are unpleasant physical sensations that don't go away.

What I hope for is that, in the future, we make sure that when we go to war, it's for a damned good reason, like the Iraq invasion was not. And when we do go, human involvement is kept to a minimum; our unmanned remote control machines kill theirs.

But what I'm most afraid of, especially with a Republican-controlled Congress is that we will send the troops in, just not pay for the care they need when they come back. And homelessness, addiction and suicide are what awaits them.

I am, too. I don't think they get the sympathy or care they should from the rest of us. Even acknowledging that battle scars are sometimes not visible I think would go a long way. I saw a beautiful tweet about this -- with a picture of a soldier who lost her battle over here, after the war (alluding to mental illness), but couldn't find it when I went to look for it this morning.

And Patrick, thank you so much for your service and glad you're still with us.

Patrick,
Thank you for your service and I am sorry for your loss of "wellness" as well as the loss of life of your service mates.

I am suggesting something "strange" for you but it is something that does work on your mind and body because it is a mind/body exercise.

I slip in and out of doing this just due to laziness, but I know it works and know of those that use it daily to calm 'demons' inside themselves. These are not guys I would want to challenge in any way at all so ...

Regardless, good luck on your quest for peace (no sarcasm intended at all).

Thank you for your service, Patrick! Every time I watch the Night Shift, I think about you. (I know that's weird, but my brain has imprinted the gay army vet as being you for some reason). I hope you find the peace and hope we all deserve, veterans especially.

Patrick - thank you for your service.

That said, what about your "quiet and uneventful" time is connected to four drugs?

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I wonder what is different. Biologists are showing evidence that stress on humans affects their descendents long after the stressors. My father was on Guadalcanal, feet from Japanese soldiers, shelled by their warships, shot at by snipers as he tended the aircraft of the Cactus Air Force -- and later, he both despised the government sending our guys to Vietnam absent a declaration of war, AND the idea that the Vietnam vet was entitled to cry about the experience.

I haven't been tested in that manner, but tending submarine nuke plants wasn't a big deal other than when underway; I did that for 6 years on two different boats. We did ask ourselves what we expected to do if a launch/combat order came, that being what we signed up to do, and some weren't prepared to answer the question. They had to think about it - which is pretty stupid. If you sign up for combat and you count on it not happening, boy, you may have your feelings hurt.

I don't think either political party has covered themselves with glory regarding the treatment of veterans, and I agree it's a national disgrace. In retrospect, I think we can say that elevating the Veterans Administration to Cabinet-level status was a huge mistake; it allows both the VA and the DoD to to fob responsibility over the fence when questions of veteran health come up. Back when the VA was under the DoD, everyone knew where the buck stopped.

Cousin Dave: "I don't think either political party has covered themselves with glory regarding the treatment of veterans..."

Would you mind looking again? The last I checked the voting records, which was a couple of years ago, the voting record for veterans' benefits seemed almost perfectly divided on partisan lines. I thought I was looking at the voting record for Obamacare.

Just because they votes for pay increase for lying administrators doesn't mean they were increasing her benefits

"Would you mind looking again? The last I checked the voting records, which was a couple of years ago, the voting record for veterans' benefits seemed almost perfectly divided on partisan lines. I thought I was looking at the voting record for Obamacare."

Yeah, but what have they actually implemented? The recent VA scandals didn't happen under a Republican administration. And administrations of both parties have disgraced themselves regarding the health issues of Gulf War and Iraq War vets who were exposed to chemical weapons. The VA's funding levels seem to have little correlation to how well they actually serve veterans. IMO, what is needed is not more funding, but a serious management cleanout following by the SecDef being tabbed with direct responsibility for improving the situation.

Radwaste: That said, what about your "quiet and uneventful" time is connected to four drugs?

I don't wish to ignore your question. However, that's a little difficult to talk about and it stays between my therapist and me. I will say this, and you can draw your own conclusions: the enemy troops aren't the only danger that the troops face. Sometimes, out of sheer boredom or cruelty, we endanger each other.

As for it being quiet and uneventful, I served from 90 to 94, which was the first Gulf War, probably the easiest victory the U.S. ever got. Just bomb the hell out of them, and they were surrendering to news reporters.

I don't think I'd describe that time as "quiet and uneventful", and I hope for your eventual recovery.

Thanks, but at this point, much of what I'm feeling is simple frustration. They've been trying various combinations of medication for years. I am so, so, so, over this.