VA Statement on Afganistan

[Berta]

Many of you received this email from the VA ( I hope)

"Veterans from all eras are reacting to the events in Afghanistan, such as the U.S withdrawal and the takeover by the Taliban.

You are not alone.
Veterans may question the meaning of their service or whether it was worth the sacrifices they made. They may feel more moral distress about experiences they had during their service. It’s normal to feel this way. Talk with your friends and families, reach out to battle buddies, connect with a peer-to-peer network, or sign up for mental health services. Scroll down for a list common reactions and coping advice.

Resources available right now
Veterans Crisis Line - If you are having thoughts of suicide, call 1-800-273-8255, then PRESS 1 or visit http://www.veteranscrisisline.net/
For emergency mental health care, you can also go directly to your local VA medical center 24/7 regardless of your discharge status or enrollment in other VA health care.
Vet Centers - Discuss how you feel with other Veterans in these community-based counseling centers. 70% of Vet Center staff are Veterans. Call 1-877-927-8387 or find one near you.
VA Mental Health Services Guide - This guide will help you sign up and access mental health services.
MakeTheConnection.net - information, resources, and Veteran to Veteran videos for challenging life events and experiences with mental health issues.
RallyPoint - Talk to other Veterans online. Discuss: What are your feelings as the Taliban reclaim Afghanistan after 20 years of US involvement?
Download VA's self-help apps - Tools to help deal with common reactions like, stress, sadness, and anxiety. You can also track your symptoms over time.
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) -  Request a Peer Mentor
VA Women Veterans Call Center - Call or text 1-855-829-6636 (M-F 8AM - 10PM & SAT 8AM - 6:30PM ET)
VA Caregiver Support Line - Call 1-855-260-3274 (M-F 8AM - 10PM & SAT 8AM - 5PM ET)
Together We Served -Find your battle buddies through unit pages
George W. Bush Institute - Need help or want to talk? Check In or call:1-630-522-4904 or email: checkin@veteranwellnessalliance.org
Elizabeth Dole Foundation Hidden Heroes - Join the Community

American Red Cross Military Veteran Caregiver Network - Peer Support and Mentoring
Team Red, White & Blue - Hundreds of events weekly. Find a chapter in your area.
Student Veterans of America - Find a campus chapter to connect with.
Team Rubicon - Find a local support squad.
Common Reactions
In reaction to current events in Afghanistan, Veterans may:

Feel frustrated, sad, helpless, grief or distressed
Feel angry or betrayed
Experience an increase in mental health symptoms like symptoms of PTSD or depression
Sleep poorly, drink more or use more drugs 
Try to avoid all reminders or media or shy away from social situations
Have more military and homecoming memories
Veterans may question the meaning of their service or whether it was worth the sacrifices they made. They may feel more moral distress about experiences they had during their service.

Veterans may feel like they need to expect and/or prepare for the worst. For example, they may:

Become overly protective, vigilant, and guarded
Become preoccupied by danger
Feel a need to avoid being shocked by, or unprepared for, what may happen in the future
Feeling distress is a normal reaction to negative events, especially ones that feel personal. It can be helpful to let yourself feel those feelings rather than try to avoid them. Often, these feelings will naturally run their course. If they continue without easing up or if you feel overwhelmed by them, the suggestions below can be helpful.

Strategies for Managing Ongoing Distress
At this moment, it may seem like all is lost, like your service or your sacrifices were for nothing. Consider the ways that your service made a difference, the impact it had on others’ lives or on your own life. Remember that now is just one moment in time and that things will continue to change.

It can be helpful to focus on the present and to engage in the activities that are most meaningful and valuable to you. Is there something you can do today that is important to you?  This can be as an individual, a family member, a parent, or a community member. Something that is meaningful to you in regard to your work or your spirituality? Such activities won’t change the past or the things you can’t control, but they can help life feel meaningful and reduce distress, despite the things you cannot change.

It can also help to consider your thinking. Ask yourself if your thoughts are helpful to you right now. Are there ways you can change your thinking to be more accurate and less distressing? For example, are you using extreme thinking where you see the situation as all bad or all good?  If so, try and think in less extreme terms. For example, rather than thinking “my service in Afghanistan was useless” consider instead “I helped keep Afghanistan safe.”

Finally, consider more general coping strategies that you may want to try including:

Engage in Positive Activities. Try to engage in positive, healthy, or meaningful activities, even if they are small, simple actions. Doing things that are rewarding, meaningful, or enjoyable, even if you don’t feel like it, can make you feel better.
Stay Connected. Spend time with people who give you a sense of security, calm, or happiness, or those who best understand what you are going through.
Practice Good Self Care. Look for positive coping strategies that help you manage your emotions. Listening to music, exercising, practicing breathing routines, spending time in nature or with animals, journaling, or reading inspirational text are some simple ways to help manage overwhelming or distressing emotions.
Stick to Your Routines. It can be helpful to stick to a schedule for when you sleep, eat, work, and do other day-to-day activities.
Limit Media Exposure. Limit how much news you take in if media coverage is increasing your distress.
Use a mobile app. Consider one of VA’s self-help apps (see https://www.ptsd.va.gov/appvid/mobile/) such as PTSD Coach which has tools that can help you deal with common reactions like, stress, sadness, and anxiety. You can also track your symptoms over time.
PTSD Coach Online. A series of online video coaches will guide you through 17 tools to help you manage stress. PTSD Coach Online is used on a computer, rather than a mobile device, and therefore can offer tools that involve writing.
If you develop your own ways of adapting to ongoing events and situations, you may gain a stronger sense of being able to deal with challenges, a greater sense of meaning or purpose, and an ability to mentor and support others in similar situations.

AFghanistan
Afghanistan: How Veterans can reconcile service"
READ MORE
VetCenter
Afghanistan: How Veterans can learn from Vietnam Veterans"
READ "

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The VA Blog has a separate statement-

Afghanistan: How Veterans can reconcile service | VAntage Point

 

[Carl the Engineer]

I was both a Battalion Staff Officer and also a Battalion Senior Enlisted Officer in my storied Military career.

Every time, we briefed the Commander, after much brain storming, with 3 "Course of Action's".

He would pick one with a minor tweak here or there.

I want to know what the other 2 plans where????,

Hamslice

Jesus Christ!

 

 

Edited August 18, 2021 by Hamslice
cause I can

[GBArmy]

I'm with Shrek 100%. I'm believing that a whole lot of mental harm is going to result by this less than half-ass plan to return.  They have had months to get it right. They have the lessons learned from Vietnam (if they paid attention.) Yes, it will hurt enlistments if the young people realize how we took care of the friendlies who worked side by side with us. Many will die. Period. I often think of my mama-san in Vietnam. Couldn't be any more pro-American. She worked for us very hard. Her husband was a Captain in the South Vietnam Army. She was pregnant when I left. I can't believe they would let her exist after we left. Same thing in Afghanistan. I'm on my Congressman's Veterans Advisory Committee. A few years back I cornered him at a meeting pushing his support for some Agent Orange legislation. Finally I said to him, I think there should be a Constitutional Amendment that no Congressman could vote for any military action or funding appropriation unless they had served in the military. He looked at me sheepishly and said, you may be right, but it will never happen. Make no mistake, history repeats itself because we don't learn. We will try Nation-building again before the end of this decade. Sad.

[McRay]

We're (US gov't) not very good at nation building. We are good at corruption, greed and wasting lives and resources. The Taliban have graduated from Toyota pickups to HumVees and are now probably one of the better equipped military forces in the world. About 3,000 lives were lost, not to mention body parts and mental trauma. We spent some 3 trillion on our Afghan adventure -- money that could have been spent here at home. The blame for this rests squarely on our military and political leaders for the lies they fed us. Twenty years of fattening up defense contractors and lining pockets. What a sh*t show..

 

[Berta]

I spoke to Jerrel Cook today- I suggested we do a radio show on this maybe next week---and let vets call into the show with how they feel about it all.

I feel angry because I dont know what to believe- --the videos of the airport  are in conflict with the Pentagon's talking heads.----I think this was far more

Snafued and Fubared than we will ever know.

Our military still studies Lessons Learned from Vietnam-but  the powers that be who tried to run the show, half way cross the world from Washington

underestimated how smart the North Vietnamese were.

Hell -they had been fighting the French for a Long time-and new how to fight well.

The Cu Chi  tunnels had everything from bathrooms to clean air vents-bedrooms and and War Rooms. They started digging those tunnels

( all over Vietnam-not just at Cu Chi) in the 1940s.

I am angry and very Sad too .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[john999]

I watched the Fall Of Saigon on TV.  It gave me some twinges.  I did think about the Vietnamese I knew during the war.  The USA just seems to never learn.  Every generation repeats the same mistakes.  I am not losing sleep over it but it is sad.

[brokensoldier244th]

Which is ironic because unlike in the Vietnam era, we have access to instantaneous information about damn near anything we want on 7 different devices. There really isn't much of an excuse for "but we didn't know....we didn't expect.....".

Sure, there is always the human element and entropy, but overall one should be able to look at Vietnam, Sarajevo/Bosnia, Nicaragua, and even the various frontier Indian Wars,  etc. and say Hm...maybe we shouldn't try this again.