BY DENNIS HOWLAND, CHAIR

I can only imagine how Vietnam War Veterans Day on March 29 went for everyone. I am sure all our chapters and State Councils put their best foot forward, represented themselves and VVA in an incomparable manner, and made our communities, VVA, and our members proud. As I have said many times, we are the face of Vietnam Veterans of America and are often judged by our public presence and performance.

Utah normally hosts its ceremonies at the Utah State Capitol Rotunda. However, this year the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs asked that the state ceremony be held at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall replica in Layton, Utah. We were proud to do so. It was an incredible day, with strong participation, a great audience, and perfect weather. In Utah, 72-degree weather in March is not ordinary.

I have received telephone calls from several chapters, state council presidents, and members asking where they can find information about VVA activities, programs, documents, and forms. The answer is on the website at vva.org, under the Info for Members button. Just about everything you need is there. I would like to hear from anyone who is having difficulty navigating the site or who has suggestions on how it could be improved. Please email me at dhowland@vva.org

One thing you will want to review under Info for Members is the Liability Insurance Certificate that covers your events. Pay particular attention to the list of excluded events under the policy. Many have depended on this insurance to cover parades on Vietnam War Veterans Day, Veterans Day, the Fourth of July, or other parades and events hosted by chapters or state councils. Parades are one of the policy exclusions, which means we may be required to purchase separate parade insurance or cancel those events.

That matters. Parades are important to our public affairs programs in our communities. They let the public know we are still active and still part of the community. They are often good recruiting tools and can also assist in fundraising. With the rumors still circulating about dissolution or our demise, public affairs programs remain important in helping to dispel those rumors, especially the ones making their way through our chapters and state councils.

Still in the works are conversations about a different format for The VVA Veteran and the Cross Country Journey being proposed by VVA member Roger Rose.

Keep up the great work for which you are known. One suggestion: if your community is organizing an event and you are invited to participate or to help with the planning, volunteer your members. It will make a difference in your community visibility and improve community relations.

BY SANDIE WILSON, CHAIR

Since 1995, VVA has maintained a resolution supporting a ban on the herbicide 2,4-D and Roundup (glyphosate). Monsanto has faced many lawsuits over health problems linked to the use of Roundup. Despite our efforts, the use of these herbicides and pesticides has increased.

When Bayer, a German chemical company, purchased Monsanto, it assumed liability for the Roundup litigation and became involved in defending the use of Roundup in many state courts.

Bayer appears to have taken a lesson from the Agent Orange class-action lawsuit. That suit was settled with the creation of a $180 million fund to resolve the litigation, with the understanding that the chemical companies would not be liable after the fund was exhausted.

The assumption was that veterans could file claims with the VA for health care and compensation. A member of my chapter was included in the payout. He received a total of $1,300, and it took several years before he was granted a 100 percent service-connected disability rating.

We have been fighting with the government for 40 years over recognized diseases and locations of exposure. Two more diseases were added in March, but so far they have not been deemed presumptive. We continue to fight for recognition of additional locations of exposure.

The Supreme Court was expected to hear a Bayer Roundup appeal case in April. The individual involved was a government employee whose job included spraying the chemical in parks and other public spaces. A lower court awarded him $1.2 million.

Bayer had offered to set up a fund of $4.7 billion and established a payout scale. If individuals had a related disease and were terminally ill, they could receive up to $168,000. Anyone over 65 would receive $20,000. Anyone over 75 would receive $10,000.

The fund amounted to less than 25 percent of Bayer’s profits from selling this chemical last year. The worst part of the offer is that individuals would lose the opportunity to use the court system once the fund was spent.

Bayer noted that lawsuits over Roundup were coming from landscapers and homeowners using the product on lawns and in public places, but not from farmers. Bayer also created a new Roundup formula that contains at least one ingredient banned by the European Union. That ingredient is even more harmful to humans.

Bayer and the chemical industry employ many lobbyists and attorneys. They have appeared in many state courts with similar offers. So far, courts have sided with Bayer in North Dakota and Georgia.

The President has stated that the military needs this chemical for munitions. I am neither a chemist nor an ammunition expert. Certainly, there are other substances that would work without endangering people’s health.

BY KATE O'HARE-PALMER, CHAIR

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), with Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.) among the cosponsors, introduced H. Res. 770 in 2025, expressing support for Military Sexual Trauma Awareness Day, recognized on September 25. The goal is to increase awareness, encourage survivors to seek care, and promote accountability.

The VA has expanded its free, confidential counseling and treatment for mental and physical conditions related to MST. There is no time limit on when the trauma occurred, and veterans do not need to have reported it at the time to get care. If you need help, contact the MST coordinator at your local VA hospital.

I received an email from one of our readers asking about help for senior women veterans getting to VA medical appointments. The VA has several travel-assistance options, depending on your circumstances. You may qualify if you have a VA disability rating of 30 percent or higher; if you are traveling for treatment of a service-connected condition, even if your rating is less than 30 percent; if you receive a VA pension; if your income is below the maximum annual VA pension rate; or if you cannot afford to pay for your travel.

You can file a travel reimbursement claim online through the Beneficiary Travel Self-Service System, or BTSSS. It is worth checking out if transportation to appointments has become a problem for you.

The Women Veterans Committee has been working with the VVA Health Care Committee to look at health care priorities for aging Vietnam War veterans. Many of us are now in our seventies and eighties, and chronic illnesses related to military service have created overlapping health care and social needs.

Many veterans have lived their lives without ever asking for help, and many continue that pattern as seniors. But it is in our best interests to open up and let others with experience and expertise help us when we need it. Do not be afraid to step out of your box.

Finally, we are still collecting women veterans’ names and stories for our Women Veteran Legacy Program. We are digging through old issues of The VVA Veteran to revisit some of those earlier articles. If you have favorites, let us know. Old letters may also help fill in the blanks.

Until next time, stay safe and always look out for each other.

BY DOMINICK YEZZO, CHAIR

The U.S. private prison industry is a disgrace, especially in its treatment of veterans incarcerated. Too often, it fails to meet basic standards involving medical care, nutritional consistency, recreational and rehabilitation services, and proper facility maintenance.

Over the past decade, the use of for-profit prison contractors has remained widespread in the United States. Recent reporting says 27 states and the federal government held people in private prisons in 2022, while other current data say 28 states used private prisons in 2023. Whatever count one uses, the result is the same: veterans incarcerated can be left in systems where profit too often takes priority over health, well-being, and rehabilitation.

VVA believes there should be mandatory federal audits of corporations contracted to operate or maintain private prison facilities. Those audits should provide real oversight and help ensure that veterans incarcerated receive proper care, treatment, and rehabilitation.

We also support legislation that would impose meaningful penalties on private prison contractors that fail to provide adequate services to veterans incarcerated, especially those struggling with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. These veterans deserve diagnosis, treatment, and appropriate care. Too many are not receiving it.

VVA’s concern is directed first toward veterans incarcerated from all wars who served honorably. But our work in Congress will inevitably benefit other incarcerated men and women as well. That is not a weakness in this effort. It is the right thing to do.

Managing correctional facilities is complex and expensive. Private contractors present themselves as efficient solutions, and that sales pitch has helped them secure contracts worth billions of dollars. But when companies fail to provide the services required by those contracts while continuing to profit, taxpayers and incarcerated people alike pay the price.

That is why an audit law is necessary. There are hundreds of complaints and lawsuits involving private prison companies. Only a legislated federal mandate can create the kind of oversight and accountability that is needed.

The VVA VINJUS Committee, working in unison with the VVA Government Affairs Committee, has begun a lobbying effort in Congress. Our work begins with building national awareness of this issue.

By GRANT COATES, CHAIR

March 29 was National Vietnam War Veterans Day. The ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington recognized all Vietnam War veterans, living and memorialized.

As we head into April and May, we will celebrate Armed Forces Day on May 16, and the 40th Anniversary of Vietnam Veterans of America receiving our Congressional Charter on May 23.

Vietnam Veterans of America has long been the leader in keeping our Missing in Action at the forefront of our activities. There is a responsibility for VVA and its members to keep the public aware of the importance of the fullest possible accounting of American servicemembers still listed as Missing in Action in the Vietnam War.

As we continue to age, we need to share with our loved ones our experiences in the war and also share information we may have regarding artifacts or pictures of burial sites, or any other information, so that we can continue the mission of bringing our war dead home.

1,566 Americans are listed by the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency as missing and unaccounted-for from the Vietnam War: Vietnam—1,232; Laos—279; Cambodia—48; People’s Republic of China territorial waters—7. These numbers could change due to investigations resulting in changed locations of loss. The last announced identification came on September 25, 2025.

VVA’s Veterans Initiative Program continues the mission. Your help is needed. Objects taken from the battlefields of Vietnam are more than souvenirs or war trophies. The items may help name and determine the location of war dead in Vietnam.

Maps, stories, after-action reports, pictures, and military items may have a story of interest to both American and Vietnamese researchers trying to recover remains from the battlefields.

Please contact the Veterans Initiative at:
Veterans Initiative Program
Vietnam Veterans of America
8719 Colesville Rd., Suite 100
Silver Spring, MD 20910
vi@vva.org

By KEN ROSE, NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE

Vietnam Veterans of America now has about 250 active VA Medical Center volunteers serving more than 7,500 hours in VISNs all over the country. We also have 21 Representatives and 15 Deputy Representatives who, in the last quarter of 2025, served 129 hours through the VA’s Center for Development and Civic Engagement (CDCE/VAVS) committees. In addition, there are 145 Regular Scheduled volunteers and 46 Occasional Volunteers who together served thousands of hours.

There are currently 23 VISNs in the VA health care system. The administration has decided to reduce that number to seven or eight larger regions, which it believes will be more effective. Each new VISN will be larger and will eliminate some staff, directors, and administrators. This may make the system more streamlined and efficient in theory, but I am sure it will also affect veterans’ health care.

These changes come after cuts and reductions in force that have already affected health care at a time when services need to be increased, including the hiring and rehiring of doctors and nurses. Despite glowing reports from VA leadership, many VA Medical Centers still have long wait times for primary care and specialty clinics. The administration is willing to put more active-duty service members in harm’s way without understanding that each new conflict brings more health problems than expected. Mental health issues, which are often slow to surface, remain a growing concern. Vietnam War veterans know better than anyone else that these problems must be addressed, not pushed aside.

A good opportunity to serve, and one that some of our Representatives, Deputy Representatives, and other volunteers are taking on is Compassionate Contact and Hospice Care. Compassionate Contact is especially helpful for members whose mobility, driving ability, or general health limits their ability to travel to the VA and volunteer on site.

I have heard from several VVA members who have found this work very rewarding. Contact by phone with another veteran can be a real lifeline for homebound veteran outpatients. Keeping in touch within our own chapters has also become increasingly important. Your local CDCE/VAVS office can help arrange patient contacts.

Some volunteers who belong to multiple veterans organizations have told me that they make a point of signing in as VVA, because otherwise we lose those hours. Those hours matter. They help give us a voice in our dealings with the VA.

I want to thank our many hard-working volunteers who give so much to their fellow veterans. Feel free to contact me at 215-527-3494 or krose@vva.org.

By GUMERSINDO GOMEZ, CHAIR

I would like to thank VVA President Tom Burke, James McCormick, VVA’s director of Government Affairs, and all the members of VVA who helped make possible the legislation signed into law on March 26, authorizing Maj. James Capers Jr. to receive the Medal of Honor. I hope that by the time you read this, he has been presented with the medal.

Now that that mission has been completed, we have taken on another one: getting our “Puerto Rican Rambo,” SFC Jorge Otero-Barreto, the Medal of Honor.

SFC Otero-Barreto served five tours in Vietnam, all in infantry airborne units. Time and again, he put his life in danger to save his fellow soldiers, a fact reflected in his 38 military decorations. He is widely credited with taking part in about 200 missions, being wounded five times, and repeatedly risking his life to pull wounded comrades to safety. His peers described him as a leader who refused to leave anyone behind.

He became one of the most highly decorated Puerto Rican soldiers of the Vietnam War, and for good reason. Again and again, he volunteered to go back into combat. Again and again, he chose the most dangerous ground and put himself between the enemy and the men serving beside him. Those who knew him remembered not just courage, but constancy—the kind of courage shown over and over, in one operation after another, across five tours.

He also has long been credited with developing what many veterans remember as the “classic cordon maneuver” at Phuoc Yen, a tactic described in later accounts as so effective that it helped trap enemy forces and contributed to a mass surrender while reducing American casualties. Whether one focuses on that action or on his broader combat record, the larger point is the same: Jorge Otero-Barreto repeatedly displayed the kind of valor and leadership that saved American lives.

His awards include multiple valor decorations, five Bronze Stars with “V” Device, and five Purple Hearts. Those honors are not just medals on paper. They stand as a permanent record of the times he chose the safety of others over his own, and of the sacrifice he made in the service of this country.

Because of the sacrifices SFC Otero-Barreto made in Vietnam, we at VVA and on the VVA Minority Affairs Committee are moving forward with this mission. Many other veterans in Puerto Rico, along with the team that worked on Maj. Capers’ award, have united in this effort. We are asking Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut to lead this effort in Congress.

I appreciate the letter from Guy E. Miller of Greenville, North Carolina, in response to the January/February issue and my column on Borinqueneers and Puerto Rico statehood. Sir, your numbers are wrong. The latest official figures show that 58.61 percent voted for statehood in the 2024 plebiscite. That certified result was 620,782 votes for statehood, compared with 313,259 for free association and 125,171 for independence.

If you have an issue you would like to bring to our attention concerning minority veterans’ affairs, feel free to contact us at 413-883-4508 or Sgtgomez@aol.com.

By CHUCK ODOM, CHAIR

The Finance Committee met in April during Board meeting week to discuss and review the VVA cost centers’ Budget to Actual reports as part of the committee’s responsibility to examine anomalies that may affect the FY27 budget. As of this report, the budget remained balanced, and the cost center managers were on pace to continue that performance.

The Investment Subcommittee met with Michael Hearn, VVA’s investment advisor, to review and discuss the current investment strategy and to get his take on what the mix of investments should look like in the near future. He then met with the full committee, where the discussion continued. The subcommittee has an obligation to be prepared to conduct periodic reviews of performance at least once per quarter, and more often if market conditions change in a significant way.

The committee also reviewed the Audit Subcommittee’s duties regarding the annual audit process and the findings of the outside firm performing the audit. Multiple motions were presented and agreed upon to be brought before the Board of Directors.

Present were Finance Committee members Chuck Odom, Chair, Marc Goodell, John Margowski, Dennis Howland, Charlie Hobbs, Dan Stenvold, and Terry Courville. Absent was Liz Cannon, due to a surgical procedure; we wish her well. Also present were VVA President Tom Burke, Vice President John Riling, Secretary Bill Meeks, and Treasurer Dottie Barrickman.

By DICK SOUTHERN, CHAIR

The start of the new fiscal year on March 1 means that finance and election reports are due by July 15. With the year-end closing of the books now complete, financial reports should be ready and submitted well before the deadline. With State Councils and chapters holding elections in April and June, please send election reports in as soon as possible after the election.

VVA’s founding principle, “Never again will one generation of veterans abandon another,” applies to us as well as to the generations of veterans who have come after us. So, in recruiting, remember that one in three males age 65 and older is a Vietnam War veteran. Keep recruiting.

The statistics show that we need ongoing outreach and recruitment to reach Vietnam veterans who would benefit from joining VVA. Many prospective members are simply waiting to be invited to join Vietnam Veterans of America as Life members. Keep recruiting.

The Membership Affairs Committee remains available to help you recruit members for VVA. We are a membership organization that helps veterans and their families lead better lives by working to enact legislation that ensures benefits for military service. Our members also provide many services to their communities through charity work and volunteer time.

VVA continues to grow. We recently chartered two new chapters and are averaging 100-plus new members every month. Life membership in VVA is a bargain and one of the best values in any veterans service organization anywhere.

So keep up your recruiting efforts, and we will get to 94,000 members.

Should you ever have any questions or need help in membership matters, please email me at dick.southern@gmail.com.

By KEN HARBERT AND TOM HALL

Our committee has always taken inspiration from Mr. Rogers, who once said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers, you will always find people who are helping.’”

That reminder still matters. In 1932, more than 43,000 World War I veterans and their families marched on Washington, D.C., demanding early payment of service bonuses promised years earlier. Known as the Bonus Army, they were not simply protesting money. They were fighting for dignity, stability, and recognition during a time of national hardship.

Nearly a century later, the battlefield has changed, but the struggle for timely, high-quality care remains a pressing issue for many veterans. Today, veterans face a different kind of uncertainty, rooted not in combat zones, but in health care and in the system designed to serve them.

In February, the VA introduced a directive that would have allowed disability ratings to be reduced if conditions were effectively managed by medication. The response from VVA and other veterans service organizations was swift and forceful, ultimately leading to the rule’s rescission. While that reversal was a victory, it raised an important question: How do rapid policy changes, often made far from the veterans they affect, affect the quality of care we receive?

With war dominating the news, veterans living with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder can experience a resurgence of symptoms even decades after their service. Images of conflict, the language used in reporting, and constant exposure to war-related content can trigger flashbacks and intrusive memories, nightmares and sleep disturbances, emotional numbing or distress, and heightened hypervigilance. In today’s nonstop news environment, we are seeing veterans return to “combat mode” decades after their real-time experiences.

These responses are not theoretical. They directly affect patient stability and increase the demand for mental health services and psychotropic medication management. For those of us already engaged in this kind of care, that may mean reaching out for additional support from a local VA facility. For others, especially those in rural and underserved areas, it can mean facing these challenges alone.

The VA’s Community Care program is designed to address access issues by allowing veterans to receive care from non-VA providers when VA services are unavailable or delayed. On paper, it is an effective solution: if the VA cannot provide timely care, veterans are referred to community providers. The program expands the network of available clinicians and, at least in theory, reduces wait times. However, reality tells a more complicated story, especially when it comes to mental health care.

Veterans in rural and underserved urban areas face multiple barriers. Specialists such as cardiologists, endocrinologists, and especially mental health professionals are often scarce or entirely absent. Many Americans live with ongoing mental health conditions, yet provider distribution remains uneven. Veterans in rural areas are disproportionately affected, often lacking access to consistent, qualified care. Even when Community Care is authorized, there may be no local mental health provider available to accept the referral.

Access alone does not guarantee quality. One of the most persistent problems in Community Care is ensuring that care is continuous, informed, and aligned between VA and non-VA providers. Breakdowns in coordination include communication gaps between VA systems and community providers, delayed or incomplete transfer of electronic health records, fragmented treatment plans, a lack of providers familiar with veteran-specific PTSD and TBI issues, medication-management problems for veterans with urgent needs, and limited awareness of new clinical approaches being explored for PTSD.

For veterans managing chronic conditions or mental health disorders, these disruptions can significantly affect outcomes.

Another critical barrier is financial. Many community providers have reported difficulties navigating the VA reimbursement system, leading to delays in payment and mistrust of the process. That has reduced some providers’ willingness to accept veteran patients. These problems directly limit the size and effectiveness of the Community Care network, especially in areas where provider options are already limited.

Once care is secured, obtaining medications can be another obstacle. Veterans in remote or underserved areas may face long delays in prescription fulfillment, limited pharmacy access, limited formularies, and communication problems between the VA and local pharmacies. These issues affect not only mental health medications, but also routine treatments, including antibiotics and drugs used in chronic disease management.

We are not asking for extraordinary solutions. We are asking for reliable, timely, and coordinated mental health care. We need a system that functions as promised. That requires expanding provider networks in rural and underserved areas, streamlining reimbursement processes, strengthening care communication and coordination, improving real-time access to psychotropic medications, and, most important, increasing investment in mental health infrastructure, including both staff and providers.

The entire fabric of our being has been tinted and shaped by our experiences and memories of war. No one gets a free pass.

By GARY ESTERMYER, CHAIR

The Grant Subcommittee wrapped up its review and editing of the application and agreement forms, and the first grant deposits were distributed at the end of March.

VVA’s Veterans Benefits Department Director Courtney Smith has begun the VB policy review, which is being conducted through weekly 90-minute virtual sessions. Vern Peterson, Jeanie Ebert, and Steve Schultze are members of the VB Subcommittee working with Courtney Smith and Deputy Director Eliot Wilson. The finished product will then be reviewed by the full committee and presented to the Board of Directors for final approval.

Many VA policies and regulations have been, or are now undergoing, updates and revisions. These changes are usually out of our control, but the VVA legislative affairs team is aware of them and is in frequent contact with VA officials.

One issue of concern to many Marines, sailors, and their families is the Camp Lejeune Justice Act of 2022. On the civil side, that law addresses illnesses caused by water contamination affecting people who lived or worked at Camp Lejeune between 1953 and 1987. The primary contaminants included dry-cleaning chemicals that leaked into wells from an off-post business and then leached into on-post water supplies for decades. DOJ and Navy materials say the law covers service members and others exposed there, including certain family members and civilians.

According to Stars and Stripes, there could be more than 400,000 victims or survivors who have filed claims. As of March 10–16, 2026, DOJ reported that 2,531 elective-option settlements had been approved since 2023, totaling approximately $708 million. The Navy is also involved in claim processing and has faced criticism for the slow pace of that work.

The Navy and DOJ have implemented a voluntary Elective Option to provide a simpler settlement path for certain claims. Under that program, payments range from $100,000 to $550,000, depending on the illness and the amount of time spent at Camp Lejeune. Unfortunately, the vast majority of claimants still must go through the court process.

I am very proud of all the hard-working VB Committee members and National staff who have offered their time and talents to streamline the grant process. In closing, we should also offer our continued appreciation to all of our VVA veteran service officers for their work and dedication.

By ALLAN PERKAL, CO-CHAIR

As we move further along in our aging journey, many of us continue to grapple with the lasting psychological wounds of war. Among these, moral injury, born from betrayal and the violation of deeply held beliefs and values, has increasingly come into focus.

Military service places individuals in situations of extreme moral complexity. Combat, life-and-death decisions, civilian casualties, and perceived betrayals by leaders or institutions can leave lasting psychological and spiritual scars. While much public attention has focused on Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, moral injury addresses the profound inner conflict that arises when service members violate, witness, or feel betrayed in relation to deeply held moral beliefs. Military moral injury represents a fear-based trauma response, as well as a crisis of conscience, identity, and meaning.

The term “moral injury” was introduced by psychiatrist Jonathan Shay in the 1990s when he was working with Vietnam War veterans at the VA. Shay defined moral injury as the psychological, social, and spiritual harm that occurs when a person experiences a betrayal of “what’s right” by someone in legitimate authority in high-stakes situations.

Later, psychologist Brett Litz expanded the definition to include personal transgressions, acts of commission or omission that violate one’s own moral code. These include killing in combat, failing to prevent harm, or surviving when others did not. Unlike PTSD, which is rooted primarily in fear-based trauma, moral injury centers on guilt, shame, anger, and existential conflict.

Military environments are uniquely conducive to moral injury because they require rapid, irreversible decisions under extreme stress. Common causes include participation in or witnessing civilian harm, failure to act, betrayal of leadership, and survivor’s guilt.

Moral injury does not have a formal diagnostic category in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, but its symptoms overlap with depression, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. Core features often include persistent guilt or shame, loss of trust in authority or institutions, spiritual or existential crisis, social withdrawal, self-sabotaging behavior, and suicidal ideation. Veterans experiencing moral injury often describe feeling “contaminated” or unworthy of forgiveness. The injury can alter one’s identity and worldview, leading to alienation from family, community, and former beliefs. While moral injury and PTSD frequently co-occur, they differ in significant ways.

PTSD treatment often emphasizes exposure therapy and fear extinction. Moral injury, however, requires approaches that address forgiveness, reconciliation, and moral repair.

Addressing moral injury involves more than symptom reduction; it requires rebuilding a sense of moral integrity and connection. Effective approaches include Cognitive Processing Therapy, Adaptive Disclosure Therapy, spiritual counseling and chaplain support, group therapy, and narrative reconstruction.

Central to recovery is the concept of moral repair—a process that may involve self-forgiveness, making amends, community acknowledgment, and reintegration into society. Unlike fear-based trauma recovery, moral injury healing often depends on relational and communal support. Understanding military moral injury has important implications for military training, leadership, and veteran care. Recognizing moral injury helps shift the narrative from “psychological weakness” to moral burden—acknowledging the ethical weight service members can carry.

Public awareness is also critical. Communities play a role in welcoming veterans home and validating the complexity of their experiences without oversimplification.

Military moral injury represents a profound wound to conscience and identity that extends beyond traditional trauma models. Addressing moral injury requires psychological, spiritual, and communal engagement. By recognizing and treating these invisible wounds, society honors the sacrifices of servicemembers and the moral dimensions of warfare itself.

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