The Veteran’s Invisible Wounds


I placed my backpack on the bus seat and slid next to the window. Others were boarding and stowing their luggage up on the overhead shelf. A young man with two small plastic garbage sacks was waiting for everyone else to board—he was either being polite or embarrassed, I couldn’t tell. 

Where we live, if you’re carrying your belongings in garbage sacks, it sends the message that you’ve either just gotten out of jail or a treatment center.

 

He politely showed the driver his ID and handed him the voucher that state agencies give in lieu of cash. He carried his two bags all the way to the back of the bus. I was a couple seats in front of him. A man behind me nodded to the young man as he placed his bags down.

 

“Where are you heading?” the older man asked.

 

“Seattle, but not for long. I hope to go somewhere else.”  The young man seemed distant, not inviting conversation.

 

But the older man persisted— “Do you have family there?”

 

“No.”

 

The older man asked, “Do have work lined up?”

 

“No. I’ll find something.”

 

“What kind of work do you like?” the older man asked.

 

“I’ll do anything for now.” The young man’s answer would have been a perfect place to nod and allow the rumble of the bus engine to cover the silence. But the older man seemed intent on connecting with a young man heading to Seattle without a plan.

 

I listened as they talked about the young man’s military service in Afghanistan. He’d returned home, but not fully. It seemed there were parts of his life left back in that embattled nation. He couldn’t find a place to start his life here. He’d used a variety of street drugs to escape his war-time nightmares, but now he was clean.

 

This is the reality for some of our nation’s veterans. Some come back with invisible wounds to their minds. Brain trauma, PTSD, depression. The statistics bear this out. Since our nation went on the offensive after 9/11, we’ve lost 7,057 military personnel in conflict. But even more sobering, is that we’ve lost over 30,000 veterans to suicide. According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, seventeen vets commit suicide each day. 

 

The mental health services offered our nation’s veterans aren’t as timely as needed. Waiting a couple months for an appointment and then talking to someone who hasn’t experienced the same mental anguish isn’t helpful. 

 

But as a young veteran talked, an older man on a bus listened. Two hours later I noticed the older man emptying his backpack. 

 


“Here, take this. I have another one at home.” The man gently handed over his backpack.

 

A slight smile came to a young man’s face. He placed his garbage-bagged belongings in the gifted backpack. He might be heading out into the big city, but he didn’t look as hopeless. 

 

America, we should honor those who have served us. We should make sure all our veterans get the care they need. I was humbled by what I heard and saw—all it took was a willingness to care. God bless our veterans and their future here back home.

 


Popular posts from this blog

Dreaming the Dream

Image
Dreaming big dreams about the future is easy for kids. The only thing standing in the way is time.  Kid’s dreams are not about skills, or opportunities, or even practicality. Those things come much later.  My grandson hopes to be professional soccer player when he grows up. This week, a small piece of his dream came true when his Boys and Girls Club was invited to participate in pre-game activities with the Seattle Sounders Football Club.  He got to suit up in a real jersey and walk on the field with a real pro player. Imagine a young soccer player looking up to who he hopes to be one day. If you haven’t taken the time to talk to a child about their future dreams—you should.  They believe. As we get older we sometimes forget that dreams fuel our hopes—and that's something we all need. So, do you still dream? Or have you left those childhood thoughts behind?  S pending time with children will  inspire you to believe agai
Read more

Wild or Tame? Which One Are You?

Image
Finally! Research that explains why I act the way I do. Columbia University’s Motivational Science Center studied people’s activities and what brought them the most happiness. Even more telling were how those activities changed as they aged. Twenty-somethings tend to equate happiness with high-energy activities. Words like excited and ecstatic are usually attached to spontaneous things—even risky things—and living life full throttle.  Researchers labeled this Promotion Motivation —the urge to take chances, including career moves that may not work out. Happiness comes from happenings—the more happenings, the more happiness. By age forty, adults associate happiness with things running smoothly at work and home. It’s also about feeling secure in relationships. Keeping healthy matters more too. This behavior is called Prevention Motivation —and people are more concerned with preserving and maintaining the things they value. It appears that time ofte
Read more

The Quiet Dad

Image
After my granddaughter’s gymnastics, she’d always ask to go to the park next door—even in the winter. When you’re a high energy child, cold is relative. Our routine seemed to overlap with a dad and his son. I’d watch them as I watched my granddaughter go through her favorite activities—crossbar, swings, spinner, and the curly slide.  But the dad was not doing the same. He’d go hand-in-hand with his boy—pointing to trees, clouds, and the texture of the grass. I could see they were in a different place—one of sights, smells, and feels.   His son didn’t speak, so the father spoke into the silence around them. Since it was winter, the park was quiet—just the four of us—an energetic girl, and a boy who experienced the park in a way I never had.   We were at the same place, but in different worlds.    I saw a father’s love for his son expressed in quiet words of exploration. Never once did his son use the swing or try the crossbars. His world was spent touching tree bark and looking a
Read more