RETURNING IRAQ WAR VETS NEED COMPASSION, TREATMENT

Veterans Day 2007 has come and gone, but the problems facing our vets continue.

Every day I pass homeless people on the subway and streets, and many
of them hold up signs saying that they served in the Vietnam War.
Sometimes, I don't allow myself to think about it. I hand them a
dollar and go back to reading my newspaper.

But when I do think about it, I try to imagine what these veterans
have seen and been through.

What is it like to be shot at during war and know that any day may be
your last? How do you deal with the pain of having friends killed in
your arms? What does killing other human beings do to your emotional stability?

It's not hard to imagine how such experiences could lead to
self-medication, drug addiction and even homelessness.

And seeing the many Vietnam veterans with mental problems who are
self-medicating with drugs, it's easy to believe that vets from the
United States' current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan - many of
whom are going through similar horrors - will also battle drug abuse
and homelessness.

Many of us struggle with dependency on cigarettes, marijuana and
alcohol while attempting to cope with the pressures of hectic lives.
It's obvious that our problems are nothing compared with those of
people coming back after 15 months away from their families - people
who have experienced the horrors and uncertainties of war and who may
be emotionally or physically impaired.

Last week, The New York Times ran a story headlined "Surge Seen in
Number of Homeless Veterans." The same day, the Los Angeles Times
published a story about a new report by the Alliance to End
Homelessness that says one of four homeless are veterans.

The stories of substance abuse are also coming in. The military
publication "Stars and Stripes" has reported that alcohol and other
drug-use problems are common throughout the forces in Iraq. "Some of
the young soldiers just can't handle the stress and turn to alcohol
or drugs to self-medicate," said military defense lawyer Capt. Chris Krafchek.

The Army's surgeon general was quoted in an Associated Press story
that a survey of troops returning from Iraq found 30 percent had
developed mental health problems three to four months after coming home.

What's going to happen to all of these people who are suffering from
depression and suicidal thoughts? Many will end up using drugs, just
as many civilians do. So on top of all their other problems, many of
the vets will have to worry about getting caught with drugs, being
arrested or ending up homeless.

U.S. prisons are already filled with nonviolent drug offenders, many
serving mandatory sentences of 15 years to life for the possession of
small amounts of drugs. Service members incarcerated and separated
from their families because of drug addictions resulting from their
service in Iraq or Afghanistan will be yet more "collateral damage"
of these wars. Veterans ending up homeless will be a similar tragedy.

It's easy to buy a bumper sticker and demand that everybody "Support
Our Troops." But if we're going to walk the talk, we better be ready
to offer compassion and treatment - not just a jail cell, or the
street, when it comes to helping our brothers and sisters heal from
the damages of war. Veterans Day was a moment to remember, but the
support must continue. We have to do better for our current returning
troops than we did for veterans of Vietnam.