PANEL 8
LIFE AFTER SERVICE
SUPPORT
Returning and adjusting to civilian life requires support. How have Veterans’ mental and physical health been supported or not supported upon returning home? What level of support did their family, community, or the government provide or not provide? How did the experiences and roles Veterans held while in service impact this time of transition? What happens when Veterans are not provided support or cannot access support? What help is available to family members who are struggling to understand their loved ones challenges upon returning to civilian life?
“When I came back from Vietnam.. We were being shot at every day, for 365 days, you know, that’s not good. And messes your mind up. Your body. Your feelings. Your health, everything.” – Ed Garza (U.S. Army, served 1967-1969).
Antonio Baez (U.S. Marines and U.S. Army Guard/Reserves, serving 2004-present): “It’s given me a level of respect for those that came before me, or that were before me to pave the way for me. They had it worse, you know, they experienced a lot worse. So they deserve their respects, their honors, their thanks. But also, you know, remorse and support too, because they need it. They didn’t, they didn’t ask for help. They just lived with it their entire lives, but they paved the way. We, as younger military veterans, can ask for help and can seek some kind of guidance. We’re losing 22 a day. 22 veterans, 22 service members a day, to suicide. That’s what I think about every day – is how can I help them? And that’s why I choose the job that I’m in – I work for Congress.”
Catalino Ramos O’Neill (U.S. Army, served 1969-1971): After reminiscing on the beauty of Korea he experienced while serving in the DMZ, he acknowledged, "The only sad part of this, that being in the DMZ, they use Agent Orange, and I was exposed to Agent Orange. ...It was a chemical mainly used in Vietnam but also in the DMZ and some part of the world. It’s a chemical which is placed on the ground so you don’t have any greenage growing. Nothing green will grow. It will just eliminate the green areas. ...I have quite a few health issues." "When 25 years after people from Vietnam started having issues with their medical issues because of the [Agent Orange], and I was in an area which they used it, and I was denied twice my benefit, but the third time, and I’m talking about a nine year span of going to the VA, ‘I don’t feel well, I’m doing this, this is happening to me.’ And finally in 2013, I got from zero to a hundred percent disability because of [Agent Orange].”
Alicia Marquez, "I think the Vietnam War – I remember when [my brother] came home, and it was like they spent all this time in this war. And there was no respect when they came home. There was nothing. … But it was a war that was so controversial, that nobody believed in it, but ...you should have believed in our men.”
Jose Rodriguez (U.S. Army, served 1966-1968): "The thing with that was that while all that was going on, I was dealing with depression, anxiety - and I did not know - well didn’t know there was PTSD. I didn’t get diagnosed until 1998, and I went to the VA for help in 1970. They just gave me the runaround." Jose managed his feelings by becoming a workaholic. He added, "The depression didn’t hit me real bad till later on when I got married and my wife had to go through all of that with me. So if anybody needs to or should get a Purple Heart it’s my wife."
_JPG.jpg)
Members of the Lorain chapter of the Latin American Motorcycle Association (LAMA)
