Our status as Veterans alone – or our military service alone – does not make us better than any other Americans.
Apparently, many disagree with that statement.
A couple weeks ago, writer Kerry Patton over at the Special Operations Forces Report (SOFREP)published his thoughts on the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
The point of his post – a fabulous article that I highly recommend you read – is that PTSD can strike anyone, anywhere, soldier or civilian.
The context of his post was the recent death of actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman due to an alleged self-induced heroin overdose. Hoffman’s death occurred on the 1-year anniversary of Navy Seal and Decorated Sniper Chris Kyle
‘s brutal murder in Texas in 2013.
The post was brilliant: it helped us remember that all Americans battle one kind of demon or another. It downplayed the “Hero Worship” of Chris Kyle’s service, and brought into clear relief what truly made Chris Kyle a great man: his willingness to help another American: in battle or after battle, fighting a terrorist or a demon.
As I read the Facebook Comments on Kerry Patton’s awesome post, I was surprised – and increasingly disturbed. I thought I would see some positive reinforcement of Patton’s message. Instead, here is a sampling of what I saw:
Evidenced in part by the number of “likes” on these posts, these aren’t uncommon sentiments.
The sentiment that seems to be underlying these posts is one that seems to DE-value those that didn’t serve in the military. I don’t know if the men that made these posts are Veterans, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.
Regardless, I don’t think that any rational, civil or objective person can argue that the above statements are something we want MORE of in American society.
Unless we do 2 things, though, I think we are going to see more anger, more frustration, and more unrest in the Veterans’ Community.
First, we must take concrete steps to Re-Integrate our Veterans.
Veterans – in nearly every war we have fought – have been isolated and abandoned on their return home.
In the case of Vietnam Veterans, they were spit on for serving their nation.
69% of all Veteran suicides – 22 a day – are men over 50 (i.e., our Vietnam Vets)
Our current generation of soldier gets a patronizing “Thank you for your service” before being left to battle drug addictions, mental health problems, suicides, unemployment, Traumatic Brain Injuries, fractured family lives etc.
Don’t believe me? Take a read of this 2013 book: Thank You for Your Service
and then tell me I’m wrong.
My goal in writing this post is not to rebuke those that posted the above comments . Even though I perceive them as highly offensive and uninformed opinions, I know the pain from which they come.
Their comments evidence a deeper pain – a cry for acknowledgment of the sacrifices made by members who served in the military, and especially in combat.
This “cry for help” comes from a Veterans’ community that is wounded, abandoned, and isolated.
Yes, we pepper them with the pithy “Thanks for your Service”, and we make overblown gestures of patriotic flag-waving at just about every sporting event and airport since 2001.
But our Veterans community NEEDS something much more basic: they desperately need acknowledgment from the 99.5% of America that stayed safe and warm at home for these last 2 wars.
Acknowledgement not with vapid “Thank-you-for-your-service” salutations. Not with 20 seconds of perfunctory applause on an airplane.
Acknowledgment from everyone in the community and our political leadership.
Making sure that Veterans are WELCOME in their communities, in the new economy and the new society that began to develop and boom while they were off killing for us.
Making sure that Veterans are giving a “crash-course” and extra advantages to catch them up on the finer points of this New Society that has appeared while they watched their friends being killed by the enemy.
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Second, we must stop Valuing people simply because of military service.
I don’t publicly or visibly celebrate Veterans Day: it is a personal day that I honor in my own ways. I tell everyone around me not to say Happy Veterans Day, or thank me for my service.
Yet, I am invariably inundated with cards and emails decorated with yellow ribbons and American Flags. So much so that this past Veterans’ Day, I decided to stop thanking Veterans for their service – and start showing them that I acknowledge what they gave up.
Inside and outside the Veteran community there is an increasing tendency of Americans to “de-value” those who did not serve in the military, or “over-value” the lives of Americans simply because they served.
Let’s clarify a couple points.
First, military service or veteran status – alone – does not make one great. While I have unbounded respect for those that serve, military service alone does not make one life better than another life. I didn’t know Chris Kyle personally, but from what I have learned about him in circles of people that did know him was that it was his HEART, and not his military service that made him a good man.
I know one soldier sitting in jail in Texas for life because he crushed the skull of his 9-month pregnant wife with a flashlight, then dumped her body in a Texas creek and left her to drown because the flashlight didn’t kill her. Is his life more valuable than the murderer that didn’t serve in the military?
Second, by putting Veterans on the “Super-Hero Pedestal” we blind ourselves to the very real problems that Veterans have in re-integrating into American society after service and after combat. Superman didn’t have real “problems” (Kryptonite, Superman’s only problem, is make-believe. Superman never had to deal with real world problems). Veterans do have to deal with real world problems. As this speaker points out, Hero-Worship of Veterans is a justification that allows us to “See-No-Evil” when it comes to the Reintegration problems that yet another generation of Veterans face.
Third, only .5% (1 person from every 80 households) fought in Iraq or Afghanistan. That is a very small percentage: unless you are a Veteran, or in a military family, I’d be willing to bet that you don’t personally KNOW any Veterans of the Iraq or Afghanistan wars.
So, let’s rethink how we value Americans based on whether they did or did not serve in the military.
Below is a list of 10 Americans who accomplished great things, or who changed our society for the better, or who advanced our nation ahead of others. I’m pretty clear about what they have in common.
Whose life is more valuable – Chris Kyle, or any one person on this list?
That question is rhetorical, because ultimately here is my point: comparing the value of human lives is getting danger-close to god’s job.
1. Oprah Winfrey.
Oprah battled childhood sex abuse, obesity, drug abuse and abject poverty.
She is one of the most widely known and respected contemporary Americans, and may well be one of our greatest contemporary role models – for any child, woman, African-American, aspiring entrepreneur, etc.
Number of Days in Military Service: 0
2. Thomas Edison.
Edison, rather quietly,
battled a cocaine addiction.
Without this inventor, another nation probably invents the light bulb. Or, it doesn’t get invented for several more years, delaying the industrial revolution and the rise of the mighty industrial nation that was the key to crushing the oppressive Third Reich.
Number of Days in Military Service: 0
3. Billie Holliday.
As a child, legendary singer Billie Holiday battled poverty and was (allegedly) arrested for prostitution at age 12. As an adult, she waged a very public battle with drug addiction.
You may not know it, but this African American female jazz singer “changed the art of American pop vocals forever
“
Number of Days in Military Service: 0
4. Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs
battled with (or, depending on who tells the story, enjoyed) psychodelic/hallucenogenic substances.
His contributions to computing, technology, and business have largely driven a massive change in the way we earn money, design products, and connect with each other in the Information Age.
Number of Days in Military Service: 0
5.Georgia O’Keeffe.
This female artist waged a public battle with hallucinogenic and psychotropic drugs, not to mention cocaine and alcohol.
She is, however, one of America’s most influential artists and one of the world’s most important artists. Her iconic floral paintings, with not-so-subtle hints of female sexuality, started a revolution in art and inspired a revolution in open-ness about female sexuality. 
I may be going out on a limb here, but I truly think that but-for Georgia O’Keeffe, American women would still be battling the June Cleaver stereotype.
Number of Days in Military Service: 0
6. Mitch Snyder
Nobody really knows why Mitch Snyder took his own life at the age of 46.
Many speculate that he waged a private battle with mental health conditions stemming from a difficult childhood, and time spent in prison for car theft and civil disobedience protesting the Vietnam War.
He was, however, the single greatest advocate for the homeless that America has ever had. Many advocates for many different causes look to his style of “street theater” for ways to bring attention to their cause or issue.
Number of Days in Military Service: 0
7. Betty Ford
Though it was her husband that tripped and fell like a drunk man, it was Betty Ford that publicly battled alcoholism.
Her work before, during and after her time as First Lady showed the breadth of her record as an activist: a major force in the push for Equal Rights for Women, unapologetically supportive of the women’s Pro-Choice movement, an advocate for removing the stigma associated with Mental Health Care,
an early Spokeswoman for Breast Cancer awareness, and so much more.
She is widely regarded as one of the most popular and loved First Ladies in US History.
Number of Days in Military Service: 0
8. Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Basquiat died at the age of 28 from a Heroin overdose.
This young artist was the Andy Warhol of the 1980s…his politically charged, and irony-laced, graffiti art represents the pinnacle of the Neo-Expressionist era….and has become foundational work for many American artists of the early 21st Century: Life Doesn’t Frighten Me
.
Number of Days in Military Service: 0
9. Emily Dickinson.
Emily Dickinson battled – very privately – with mental health problems. Little is known about this battle because it was so private. Her mental health condition was so severe that by the time of her death at age 56, she rarely left her room or met with or talked to anyone.
Emily Dickinson is – unarguably – one of America’s most important and most prolific poets.
Her work is foundational – in that it influences the work of countless thousands that have followed.
Number of Days in Military Service: 0
10. Kurt Cobain.
This singer and song-writer’s battles with drugs – and his ultimate suicide – are widely known and reported.
Kurt Cobain, with his band-mates from Nirvana, shattered the rock and roll world and opened the door to what was then called “Grunge”, became the (arguable) figurehead for “Generation X”, and is the inspiration for virtually everything that is played on a contemporary rock and roll radio station.
Number of Days in Military Service: 0
And, besides THAT, how do you make a list of ten people who changed America without including MLK?
Not your best post, Chris. Most vets do not want to be treated better than other folks, we want to be treated equally, under the law. If, any other American, besides military veterans were consistently denied due process, as veterans are in dealing with the VA, there would be an huge public outcry. But, the VA lies to us, ignores our human and constitutional rights everyday, and not a peep out of anyone, most especially our politicians.
I don’t celebrate Veterans’ Day either. The first years long live in relationship I ever had with a female person was with a women who never KNEW in all of those years, that I had been in the military. Because I never mentioned it to her. I don’t want glory or recognition, I want my human rights respected by the US government. I think that is what MOST veterans, or at least the ones with brain function, want. Think about it, amigo.
Thanks for the honest feedback, Ron. I will think about what you said.
You know that your insight, experience and opinion is very important to me.
For those that don’t know Ron — he’s started a group called “VA Is Lying” over on Facebook. He’s been a lifelong warrior against the worst parts of the VA, and the change he has effectuated is probably more widespread than even he is aware.
As for not including MLK – it was intentional. It was TOO obvious a choice – I wanted to reach deeper into our society for examples of non-Veterans, with demons, that have made us all better – as individuals and as a nation.
Chris
As always Chris, with you, any criticism is of words and ideas not of persons. I TAKE criticism that way too, in case you ever find anything which I say to be in any manner even a tiny bit less than perfect. 😉
Roger that, Ron….I like different opinions and disagreement. It builds understanding. Understanding breeds solutions. In some ways, I value negative feedback more than positive feedback.