Veterans Studies Interest Group Listserv Issue #35 October 2019

The Veteran’s Creed 1. I am an American Veteran 2. I proudly served my country 3. I live the values I learned in the military 4. I continue to serve my community, my country and my fellow veterans 5. I maintain my physical and mental discipline 6. I continue to lead and improve 7. I make a difference 8. I honor and remember my fallen comrades

This month’s Listserv includes a Survey of Attitudes of Post-9/11 Veterans Compared to Their Elders; Murders Via Insulin at One VA Medical Center; Genetic Blood Test for PTSD; Punishment for Two Men Who Lied About Being Veterans; and a New Museum

Survey of Attitudes of Post-9/11 Veterans Compared to Their Elders The headline statement in an interesting Pew Foundation survey on Post 9/11 veterans pretty well describes it: “For many veterans, combat experiences strengthened them personally but also made the transition to civilian life more difficult”

The study provides a window to the lives of these veterans. Pew found that transitions to civilian life were difficult as were certain other aspects of civilian life. One third had trouble paying their bills when leaving the military and 47% of post 9/11 veterans said readjustment to civilian life in the military was difficult as against 21% from previous generations. A full 43% felt that the government has not given them sufficient help compared to 27% of pre-9/11 veterans, 85% were optimistic about their future and 61% felt that military service helped them get a job. We also know from other studies that veterans have a lower unemployment rate than civilians and do better in universities (Listserv #9).

The higher level of deployment time and combat experienced by post 9/11 veterans had an effect. Those who had been in combat “struggled with the lack of structure in civilian life and have disconnected from family and friends.” On the other hand, combat experience “…made [these younger veterans] feel closer to those who served alongside them, showed them that they were stronger than they thought they were and changed their priorities about what was important in their life.” And 90% were proud of their service.

The younger veterans are from a different generation and also were professional military in an all-volunteer force. As our wars are winding down, we have a lot to think about.

1 Some Numerical Comparisons of Post 9/11 to Older Veterans Post-9/11 (%) Pre-9/11 (%) Deployed at some time 77 58 Combat experience 49 24 Deployment helped them 68 30 financially Transiti0n to civilian life was 32/16 17/4 somewhat/very difficult Deployment positively affected 17/31 31/24 mental/physical health Deployment negatively impacted 52/41 28/34 mental/physical health Suffered PTS 36 14 Alcohol or substance abuse 24 19 Received VA Benefits 81 71 Received gov’t help appropriately 49 68

Effects of combat experiences. From Pew Research Center report, September 2019.

Generally positive view of fellow workers toward veterans’ military service. From Pew Research Center report, September 2019

2 The survey utilized an established sample of 1,087 U.S. adults (error ± 3.1%) and a new sample of 1,284 veterans (error ±3.9%). See report for other methodology

Murders Via Insulin at One VA Medical Center For over a year, the VA Inspector General has been investigating a series of 11 apparent homicides from second half of 2017 to July 2018 at the Clarksburg West Virginia VA Medical Center. As described in a front-page article in the Washington Post, the victims were elderly veterans with a variety of illnesses. All the deaths were associated with a very low blood sugar level apparently caused by late-night injections of insulin, a vehicle used in the past by a few murderous hospital employees. None of the patients was in extremis ruling out mercy killings.

The VA has been criticized for poor oversight and quality control at certain Medical Centers and in this case a number of clues had been missed – unexpected deaths, low blood sugars and death rates twice as high as equivalent hospitals. According to House Veterans Affairs Chairman Mark Takano (D-CA) "You had 11 people die. There was a missed pattern If you are a manager you have to understand the warning signs." An outraged Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) is preparing to call for a Senate investigation.

The case has a person of interest who had been found to lie about her certification as a nursing assistant and had access to insulin. She has not yet been charged. Though there are supposed to be hospital checks, permission and tallies of medicine carts containing the drug, the carts were often left unlocked and the drugs were easy to steal. Autopsies found needle marks in the abdomen and limbs that were insulin injection sites.

Genetic Blood Test for PTSD In a Pentagon funded study, a team of researchers from several medical schools have identified blood test indicators (called “biomarkers”) of PTSD. According to the researchers, a positive blood test corresponds to what clinicians reported 77% of the time. Out of 1 million potential biomarkers, the group found just over two dozen that seemed to work. While no biomarker works for everyone, this discovery is potentially a major advance. About 11-20% of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan in a given year have PTSD and a screening test will be most valuable. So far, the only proven tests available involve patient interviews and a biomarker would make the diagnosis of PTSD much more efficient and accurate. Considerably more work needs to be done since the study involves less than 200 combat veterans and there is a meticulous and lengthy process for any test to be approved. But it does provide hope. See also other listserv entries on ecstasy for PTSD, service dogs, other blood tests and voice analysis to diagnose PTSD.

Punishment for Two Men Who Lied About Being Veterans Veterans courts are special entities designed to divert those with non-violent offenses and service-related mental health problems to treatment rather than jail. Two individuals masqueraded as veterans to get lighter sentences in a Montana veterans court - one even claimed that he was injured by an IED explosion during one of seven combat tours. The defendants faced 10 years in prison for violating probation and 5 years for drug possession.

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The judge said their claims were “abhorrent to the men and women who actually served our country”. He did give a chance for parole but only if they handwrote the names of all 6756 Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, wrote out the obituaries of the 40 Montana soldiers in the group and completed 44 hours of community service after being released from prison, one hour for each Montanan killed in combat from the Korean War on. Perhaps still too lenient.

New Medal of Honor Museum A $150 million National Medal of Honor Museum will be in Arlington Texas near a number of stadiums and the Six Flags Over Texas theme park. The structure to honor the 3524 recipients of this highest award is funded mainly by private donations and will open in 2024. Texas was considered by many to be a natural site for the museum since about 1.8 million veterans and active-duty military reside in the state

The first Medal of Honor was awarded by Secretary of War in 1863 to Pvt. Jacob Parrott for his participation in a bold hijacking of a Confederate train which was the subject of 2 movies “The ” (1956) and silent film “The General” with Buster Keaton (1927) (see also Listserv January 2018). Recently, former Pvt. Francis Curry, who earned the Medal of Honor for heroic fighting against a German tank attack died at age 94 years. This leaves only two WW 2 era winners alive (of 70 all together) - former Pvt. Charles Coolidge, 98, and former Marine Cpl. Hershel Williams. 96,

MOH won by Neel Kirby displayed in Arlington City Hall. From t he Dallas Morning News

The Listserv is available as an archive on the Georgetown University Library website under the title “Veterans Interest Newsletters”.

Joel Kupersmith, M.D. Director, Georgetown University Veterans Initiatives Professor of Medicine

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State by State Number of World War II Veterans

From VA

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