The burden of America’s two wars over the past decade has been borne almost exclusively by members of the armed forces and their families. More than 2 million soldiers have served in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001; 6,179 of them died and 47,000 were wounded.
The shame of America’s two wars over the past decade is that as a country we were barely aware of their sacrifices and today we’re blithely unaware of their suffering.
The Veterans Administration has treated 210,000 veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder — that’s roughly the population of Boise, Idaho.
“You fight for your country, then come home and have to fight against your own country for the benefits you were promised,” said one Marine, who, depressed, later killed himself.
