The community should come together for veterans

LaJayah Blain/ Contributing Writer

Veterans are the strong men and women that braved the unimaginable to make America the place we know today. Throughout history our veterans have been fighting for our freedom and the pursuit of happiness. Don’t you believe they deserve the same?

Imagine enduring such traumatic events and seeing the unthinkable. Combat changes a person. Being in this environment does things to the mind that we could never imagine.

Our veterans fight so hard for our peace of mind and they absolutely deserve the same. So many of these men and women struggle with mental health illnesses.

Mental illness is no game.

When our military personnel come home from war they should be greeted with warm hugs and family, but yet they are still fighting an ever losing battle within themselves.

Post traumatic Stress, Depression, Anxiety, Traumatic Brain Injury and the list continues on. Our heroes’  continue to struggle even returning to their former lives because of the burden that war has laid upon their minds.

How many families have been torn apart by the issue of veterans mental health? How many men and women are we going to lose that could have been helped? Changes must be made in order to get more war veterans into mental health facilities and properly helped before it is too late.

The rate of suicide in war veterans is grueling high and consistently on the incline. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration veterans make up 20% of the national suicide rates.

Everyday we are losing more and more of our heroes. How can we blame them? Seeing what they have seen, living through what they have lived through, and then being expecting to come home and rebuild what they had before. That is a difficult fight. This is why we need more veteran services. With strong, reliable programs and aid in every state, city, and town we can cut this percentage in half.

So you ask yourself what can you do? How can I make a difference? Well the number one way to help is to always vote, in ever election, every time the polls are open.

Our voice effects how these people live. It is extremely important that we help them by doing all we can. Another thing we can do to help is get involved in our communities. Look around and see if there is something being offered in your local community that will benefit our war veterans. You don’t have to do it everyday. Imagine if every single one of us lended a helping hand just once.

It would make an unimaginable difference in the lives of these veterans and their families. We all live in this world together it’s our duty to come together as brothers and sisters and help make our world just a little bit better for the people around us.

Thank you to all of the amazing people who serve our country and make our lives as free and blissful as we desire. For without you life as we know it would not exist. Happy Veterans Day!!

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

Photo by Norbert Tóth on Unsplash