We Are Not Broken!
The stigma that so many Veterans face as they transition to the civilian sector is that they are “broken”. Mental health and physical barriers are certainly what most folks attribute to being “broken”, but those are challenges, not conclusive factors that determine the likelihood of success. Based on experience, a great percentage of Veterans have never seen combat. Some, though, have served in combat theaters. Some have felt bullets whizzing by their positions and some have heard the sound of RPGs flying past them as they turned over and went back to sleep. Some have ridden kevlar blankets as their humvee exploded beneath them, and some have watched their battle buddies pay the ultimate sacrifice, but that, is the few.
Having been in combat and seeing some of those things doesn’t mean every combat veteran is broken. Having been injured while running or while jumping down cliffs doesn’t issue every servicemember a lifetime of disabilities. It absolutely affects folks. We have seen the cases where in which it does render some completely disabled, and we have seen and heard of those who have lost the struggle to mental health illness. But, we are not broken.
Did you know that Post 9/11 Veterans are succeeding? In fact, almost half of Post 9/11 Veterans have some college education, and nearly a third have at least a Bachelor’s Degree. Post 9/11 male Veterans are earning a higher wage than those who haven’t served, and Post 9/11 female Veterans are ROCKING IT OUT!! They are more likely to have a degree than their male counterparts and they are making more on average than those females who haven’t served. Hooah!! The Post 9/11 generation is more diverse, more skilled, and more likely to succeed. We are not broken.
"The Post 9/11 generation is more diverse, more skilled, and more likely to succeed. We are not broken. "
Only a third of Post 9/11 Veterans have service-connected disabilities, and less than half of them utilize the VA’s services. That is not to say that they do not have ailments or ongoing health issues, but most are identifying alternative ways to approach their challenges. They are not taking advantage of the system nor utilizing all of the benefits they earned. Less than ten percent of Post 9/11 Veterans live in poverty, have no healthcare, or utilize the food stamp program. An even smaller amount of four percent have no income. We are not broken.
While some Veterans have challenges and some are greatly injured, they are not broken. They are working towards achieving their goals. They are trying to accomplish great things. They want to be a part of something bigger than themselves and they want to feel purpose. It is our mission to help them find their next unit and to continue their upward trend of success. It should be your mission to help change the narrative around Veterans transitioning out of the military. I know that you have been told the transition is difficult and Veterans struggle. I also know that you have been told Veterans are committing suicide at extremely high rates. You may even know a Veteran or two that fall into one of those categories. While those statements are true, Veterans are not victims. They are not looking for handouts. We are looking for new battle buddies. We are looking for a helping hand up on occassion. But we can and will bring a significant amount of value to whatever we involve ourselves with. You can count on that, for we are not broken. We are strong and we are ready.
“We accept the challenge."