OUR HEROES

 

OUR HEROES

#By Frances Harris

I am a very conservative, passionate person. This may not make sense, perhaps this is the ultimate oxymoron, but that’s who I am. Every now and then I see an injustice that worries me to the point I have to do something. I am persistent, and if people think I am out of line, so be it.

Our Aussie troops and I speak for our allies too, are coming home from Afghanistan and as they put their feet on home soil, they are feeling the sting of what it really means to be home. For some, the surreal experience is so harsh they are beginning to ask, do I still belong here, and does anybody care what I’ve been through?

Well, I care, I care a lot! Australians don’t like to make a fuss, and sometimes it takes a small incendiary to wake us up. It is easy to say; well our heroes should have known what they were getting themselves in to when they joined the armed forces as a career move. So who was going to tell them? If that was the case, we as a country would not have anyone to protect us!

In the USA, the problem is highlighted by their good citizens who are banning together to do something practical about their discouraged veterans. A fund is growing to build a shelter to help them. Their messages are planted on facebook, and anywhere on social media a message can be inserted. They support their troops with united enthusiasm. But still, In the USA something like 22 ex -service members a day will find no more reason to live, so they take the ultimate step. This promises to be a greater loss than the total numbers sacrificed in battle. Just imagine, 2,200 more fallen unnecessarily in ten months, gone before their time.

Our young heroes are committing suicide in Australia in worrying numbers, and as I know we as a people care if we hear about it, but we are so slow to react!  Our heroes are putting everything on the line for us, including the things that they love and value – and all for their country, Australia. When they return, with their new perspective, some feel there is no place left for them to belong in their country. Is it not too much for us to give them some encouragement or to do something practical to help them? Can’t we let them know that if they hang on, with a little help everything can all eventually level out?

Most of all they need to know the citizens of Australia care. Is it not too much to distract the government from the National Broadband Network, or the Gonsky Education Plan for a moment to pay attention to this far greater emergency? Can’t we entice the Mainstream Media to pause for a moment from football, the Tour De France and the drug taking scandals and the like to focus on the things that really matter? I search, but rarely do I see a by-line on the subject.

It’s true we have the ANZAC march once a year, but the focus is mostly on the ANZAC veterans from the two world wars.  I hate to quote parallels with the Vietnam War, but the evidence is growing. The RSL seems to be a declining force now. Bruce Ruxton has gone after being a brilliant champion for the troops, so I look for someone else to pick up the baton. Many questions are obvious, but there are few answers. We need a hero to step into his shoes, but none has come forward so far. We Australians can even contact a politician to say that the fate of our troops matters to us.

Recently there was a young soldier living in Casino, New South Wales who took his life. He was a normal soldier who was faced with abnormal memories to deal with. He could even be a distant relative of mine. I realised then, military families and their friends are suffering in silence without the notice of the country and shouldn’t be. I call on all Australians to tell our military heroes we recognise their work on our behalf, and they are truly appreciated.  Hopefully for them, help is on the way.



DAMAGED BODIES, SHATTERED MINDS, BROKEN HEARTS

DAMAGED BODIES, SHATTERED MINDS, BROKEN HEARTS

By Frances Harris

  

I have reposted this article as I find that currently the Department of Veterans Affairs is not treating our Veterans in Australia with due respect or allowing them the care they deserve within reasonable time limits. This is coming from the grass roots. In addition to my previous post below, the latest is: There are return soldiers who have left the armed forces with a recorded diagnosis of Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder, and in their most fragile condition, have to jump through hoops to reprove it to DVA.

In the meantime it is this government department with its foot dragging that could be the last straw for our struggling heroes. These people are hurting now, they can’t wait for the paper to be shuffled, and the coffee cups to be washed and dried. I also heard it is not uncommon to grant a veteran in these circumstances a pension about near-equal to New Start Allowance which is barely enough to survive on. Poverty is not the burden our veterans should to be carrying while they try to recover from the trauma of war. They have given their all, and we have given them no more than a pittance and a thank you.

Previous Post:

This is about men and women in uniform who willingly go to war to defend their country, and who come home to experience shattered lives, faltering relationships, divorce, mental health issues and perhaps unwanted alienation from the own family. This is also about the shabby way they are treated by governments after sometimes sacrificing everything for the cause.

On their return home, sometimes comes the torturous realization that they may not be ableto reclaim their previous sense of dignity, peace of mind, or have certainty about any foreseeable, reliable or viable future. While still dealing with physical and psychological injuries of war, they may find slowly they are being reinjured by the pressure of their civilian circumstances.

 

Sometimes, when our veterans are feeling marginalized, and ground down by the heavy expectations of normal society, it is not surprising to find that anger and dysfunction become their regular companions. Homelessness, depression, mental illness and even jail are predictable symptoms of this desperation. And worst of all, when feeling totally alone, with no trusted place to turn, suicide can seem an acceptable option. It happened after Vietnam, and it’s happening now!

Real treatment and care is often given lip service by authorities, sometimes rocketing into the headlines for a day or two, only to fizzle out shortly after. Whenever a military person succumbs to suicide, I feel gutted and wonder- why didn't anyone care enough to see it coming? Talk of safety nets and adequate care regimes is not good enough! In the absence of viable and consistent social and mental health facilities, it is a damning indictment on governments that in order to stay alive, many of our war heroes would be better off in jail.

Psychotropic types are dangerous drugs. With high doses to keep the patient docile, rational thinking is compromised and blunted, so deviant thinking and behavioural problems can become a greater reality. Would anyone be surprised when there is uninhibited violence and antisocial behaviour? We shouldn't blame the victim. I have seen it firsthand. They need more than pills.

Surely it is unreasonable to expect inexperienced families to fully take care of veterans’ needs. Governments only scratch the surface of real care and are reluctant to invest. The act of returning home, either voluntary or enforced, can be more traumatising than battle for the legions of our returning military personnel.

All that any returning service person would ask if feeling a little lost, - could some kind person show me the way home? Sadly many of them never make it and are lost forever.