Agent Orange/Dioxin

BY MAYNARD KADERLIK

Many veterans and their families believe that now that the children’s bill has become law, our job is done. Far from it. We must continue to spread the word to all veterans and their families about the effects of toxic exposures. Many do not know what has happened to their children and grandchildren. In our opinion, this is not a coincidence.

This education process, through our Faces of Agent Orange town hall meetings, will continue across the country. We must educate people about what we find at these meetings and about the recently passed legislation. The road is long and we must continue to move forward on monitoring the bill that was passed for our kids. We also must demand more research on the continued problems due to veterans’ exposure to Agent Orange/dioxin. We also must help our brothers and sisters with the Blue Water Navy legislation as those veterans, too, suffer from their exposure to Agent Orange.

Please call your legislators and ask them to support the Blue Water Navy bills. We are far from being done on this issue, and I feel we will die trying to accomplish our goals. As a team, let’s work together as we have in the past.

Economic Opportunities

BY FRANK BARRY, CHAIR

The Economic Opportunities Committee receives reports from different federal agencies. One such report is the Employment Situation of Veterans from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Where do veterans stand in the area of employment?

The information on veteran employment comes from the Current Population Survey, a monthly sample survey of some 60,000 households that provides data on employment and unemployment. Data about veterans are collected monthly and become the source of 2016 averages. Important information is also collected about veterans on topics such as service-connected disability and veterans’ current and past Reserve or National Guard membership.

Here are some highlights from 2016:

The unemployment rate for male veterans (4.2 percent) edged down over the year. The rate for female veterans (5.0 percent) changed little.

Among the 453,000 unemployed veterans in 2016, 60 percent were age 45 and over, 36 percent were age 25-44, and 4 percent were age 18-24.

Veterans with service-connected disability had an unemployment rate of 4.8 percent, about the same as veterans with no disability, 4.7 percent.

Nearly one in three employed veterans with a service-connected disability worked in the public sector, compared with one in five veterans with no disability.

In 2016, 20.9 million men and women were veterans, accounting for about 9 percent of the civilian, non-institutional population age 18 and over. About 10 percent of all veterans were women. More than 40 percent of veterans were over 55 years old.

This important employment information helps the EOC identify veterans most in need, which in turn determines our legislative agenda.

PTSD & Substance Abuse

BY THOMAS C. HALL, Ph.D., CHAIR

In recent discussions with members of the National PTSD/SA Committee, the very real possibility of becoming the caregiver to a loved one has surfaced. This article is meant to get a discussion started, not to be a guide to specific situations. Rather, this is a first shot at potential emotional and psychological concerns to consider as a caregiver with PTSD or who is recovering from substance abuse. “Caregiver” includes those attending to the physical, psychological, emotional, transportation, or the nutritional needs of another.

As we age, and sometimes earlier in life, those of us suffering from PTSD or recovering from substance abuse are called upon to become caregivers. At these times, we have the opportunity to help a loved one needing in-home assistance, support in a care facility or hospital, or just as a caring listener. This can seem to turn our whole world upside down. People with PTSD or recovering from substance abuse are frequently looked upon as the ones needing care. But then they find themselves needing to be—and wanting to be—good caregivers for someone close.

Having PTSD or being in recovery from substance abuse does not mean a veteran cannot be a good caregiver. What caregiving may mean is that the caregiver reaches outside a comfort zone and takes risks: risks of working with and trusting others; risks of getting it wrong; risks of missing cues or requests from the person needing our assistance; and risks of learning to manage, organize, and ask for assistance. Caretakers must learn to communicate what they need to others and to learn to forgive themselves and others and keep moving—which is perhaps the most uncomfortable aspect of all. Survivors take these risks.

Some people will not be able to take on the role of caregiver. Perhaps the symptoms of PTSD or the reality of substance abuse are so severe that there is only enough to survive.

In combat and high-stress situations, some psychologists suggest we may respond, in no particular order, in one or a combination of three ways:

• We can become irritable, lose our temper or get defensive, staying angry with everyone, the world, and ourselves. We can get defensive and take as a personal failure the offers of help. These traits are said to be connected to the “fight” response.

• We can avoid the person we care about. We carry around a deuce and a half of anxiety and fear about what we should do. Our “flight” response may look like this.

• Numbing ourselves, either psychologically or chemically, to the reality around us would be tempting when someone we care about is having a difficult time. Looking for ways to detach ourselves from any responsibility, blame, or reality that might require our response and certainly giving up on ourselves or our loved one could seem to offer a path to less stress. In this case, psychological research suggests we have entered the “freeze” response.

Fight, flight, or freeze are all normal responses to high-stress situations. Judging and beating ourselves up because we have experienced any of these is a waste of time. We might just as well beat ourselves up for needing to eat.

Yet in caregiving—as painful as it is to see our loved one in discomfort—our mission, should we accept that new role, is to find out what will make this time at least tolerable for that person and get it done. Taking risks to help another is our mission. Someone once said that courage is action in the face of fear. Let’s rephrase it: Courage is action in the face of our own natural fight, flight, or freeze response.

To be a caregiver, we must continue to manage our own symptoms. The emotional raw areas we carry don’t just go away. The psychological struggles now, more than ever, require our attention. Caregiving may force us to reach out to others in a way that leaves us feeling vulnerable. Managing PTSD or recovery from substance abuse is managing our particular mix of emotions, perceptions, and psychological storms in a way that allows us to continue to function at a high-enough level to respond to the needs of another. At first, this may seem to be too much.

To sustain ourselves, I recommend turning to support groups or individual mentors. Strength and some semblance of peace may come from reaching out to a local veterans group, church community, family, or friends. Also in this mix might be a behavioral or psychological support therapist, whether in private practice or at the VA or Vet Center.

In caregiving, we are faced with an opportunity to once again serve. We are challenged to do what is necessary to ensure that those we care about have their six covered as we allow others to cover our psychological, emotional six. Wading through our own issues and focusing on the needs of another—while also taking care of ourselves—is emotionally, psychologically, and physically draining.

We do this not because it will make us feel better, because initially it will not. We do it because the caregiving or mentoring simply needs doing. We do this because we want to be the best caregivers we can be; that is who we are.

We have said for many years that “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.” In caregiving, we have the unique opportunity to ensure our loved ones get the support and care they have earned. It is up to us, despite our own pain, to make certain our loved ones know they are not alone.

Veterans Benefits

BY TOM BURKE, CHAIR

During the last two years it has been my privilege to chair the Veterans Benefits Committee. My committee took on a variety of issues. Some came to us because of circumstances beyond our control. Others were sent to us by default. Still others were requested by the National President or Board of Directors.

To help me provide solutions to our challenges, I recruited some of our top Service Officers to serve on my committee. In addition, Director Kelsey Yoon and her legal staff reviewed hundreds, if not thousands, of files in an effort to provide the best benefits possible for deserving veterans. I have witnessed the staff’s professionalism.

One major project we began is to create a way to digitize our paper files into VBMS. The task has not been an easy one. However, we continue to move ahead with the plan to bring a better product to our organization’s veterans.

Vice Chair Joe Jennings has provided great advice and assistance. Marc McCabe took care of the Puerto Rico situation. A large thank-you to all committee members for their knowledge, thoughts, contributions, emotions, suggestions, and plain dedication to America’s veterans.

But it’s our Veteran Service Officers in the field who are the basis of our great work, helping veterans and their families from all walks of life. Without you and your work, nothing gets done. Thank you for all that you do.

Women Veterans

BY KATE O’HARE-PALMER

This is the VA’s motto: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.” This motto seems very dated to women veterans. Coming away from Memorial Day activities, we are reminded of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. When looking across the crowds, you couldn’t help but notice that today’s service members include 15 percent women. This number will rise, and by 2020 women should make up 11 percent of the total veteran population. Nearly 350,000 women have deployed since 9/11. Those of us who served in the Vietnam War were part of the 5 percent women in uniform. That was before Congress lifted the 2 percent cap on women allowed in the military.

Allison Jaslow, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, says that the VA’s motto reflects a major problem within the organization: It does not take seriously the rights and needs of women veterans. Her recent testimony to the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee can be seen on YouTube. Women are the fastest growing segment of the veteran population, a trend that will continue as the number of male veterans declines over the next decades. However, many female veterans are left without proper care when they return from service. In a survey by IAVA only 43 percent felt that they had the respect of male soldiers, only 27 percent of the public’s respect, and that less than 50 percent of VA staff showed respect to women at the VA facilities.

I have mentioned the Deborah Sampson Act, S.681, in past columns. It was referred to committee March 21. All eighteen major veterans service organizations support this bill, yet few Senators have signed on. It has only a slim chance of passing. The bill would decrease the critical gap in VA health care and benefits, as well as bring a much-needed cultural update to the VA. It would include legal services and data tracking for women veterans. More information can
be found at www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/115/s681 Tell your Senators their help is needed.

We are increasing our participation with the VA Center for Women Veterans. It is only through continued dialogue that we can work toward solutions. Kayla Williams, the Director of the VA Center for Women Veterans and an Iraq War veteran, was a guest on a radio show, “A Focus on Women Veterans.” You can download the show here. It was tailored for women veterans: mental health, employment, education, comprehensive women’s care and wellness initiatives, IPV, community awareness, MST, homelessness, lesser known benefits, and partnership outreach. For more information, go to www.va.gov/womenvet for programs.

I look forward to seeing all of you in New Orleans at the Convention. The Women Veterans Committee is fortunate to have Linda Spoonster Schwartz, former VA Secretary for Policy and Planning (and a longtime VVA member), speak at the Women Veterans Breakfast.