Afghanistan withdrawal was triggering for veterans. Experts say to check in.
Jeannette Hinkle
Chris McEntee was in his seventh grade math class at the Forestdale School in Sandwich when America learned two planes had hit the World Trade Center.
He didn't know what the Twin Towers were at the time, and 20 years ago, it wasn't something he could easily Google. But by reading the anguish etched in the faces of his teachers, McEntee knew whatever happened that morning had been "a big deal."
When McEntee went to his parents at age 17 to ask if they'd sign the papers he needed to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, his father voiced concern about the war sparked by the 9/11 terror attacks five years earlier.
"I don't think he necessarily agreed with the reasons why we were over there," McEntee remembered.
McEntee, who works as a Cape Cod firefighter, now has a better understanding of his father's reservations about what would become America's longest war.
"To this day I don't really know why we were over there," he said. "There's a saying, 'Poor man's battle, rich man's war.' When you are over there, you can't think about that. You try to just think that you're there for the best of the possible reasons that are out there."
Other veterans, too, are questioning what happened in Afghanistan, experts say, and still others are struggling with mental-health issues that have surfaced in the wake of last month's troop pullout from the country.
Since October 2001, 800,000 American service members have served in Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Defense Department. More than 20,000 of them were wounded there, and 2,352 of them died.
Experts predict the swift collapse of the government in Afghanistan, which is now under the control of the very Taliban fighters Americans were deployed to defeat 20 years ago, will result in a wave of need among many veterans of that war, and others.
A flood of calls for help
Greg Quilty, a retired U.S. Marine Corps major, is the director of the Veterans' Services District Office in Barnstable. Quilty's office, which serves the roughly 21,500 veterans living on Cape Cod, is the largest veterans' services district in the state.
In a typical year, the four veterans services officers and three support staff who work there field between 8,000 and 9,000 calls from veterans in need of services ranging from financial assistance to transportation to housing.
Over the past few weeks, Quilty's office has been flooded with calls. Some are from veterans themselves, but most have been from the family members, spouses and the significant others of veterans. Some callers have noticed worrying changes in their loved one's behavior.
"Some are calling or coming in because their veteran is getting in a hyper-vigilant or agitated state or they are more depressed," he said.
The scenes of chaos in Kabul as American troops pulled out last month were triggering, Quilty said, not only for veterans of Afghanistan, but combat veterans from all eras, including Vietnam.
"It's hard to verbalize, but it's that nagging sense of 'Were we there for a good reason? Did we need to be there for that long? Was it worthwhile?'" Quilty said. "Most veterans handle it pretty well, but it does bring back a flood of memories. It's a visceral and visual reaction for me, so for a veteran that was there in Afghanistan, it has to be overwhelming."
Quilty, who emphasized the resilience of America's veterans, said many are able to cope with those feelings.
Some, though, are now in urgent need of help, especially those already dealing with turmoil ranging from substance use disorder to housing insecurity. His office recently sent veterans services officers to a Cape Cod motel room where one veteran was "in a bad way."
"It wasn't so serious that we worried about them harming themselves or others, but it was not a good situation either," said Quilty, who noted the district doesn't have any trained mental health professionals on staff. "We would love to have the (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) have mental-health outreach workers that could respond in those situations, before things escalate. That's where I think the weakness is on the Cape."
Erin Fletcher, director of Wounded Warrior Project's Warrior Care Network, said that in the wake of the troop withdrawal, her organization has been making proactive outreach calls to members who served in Afghanistan.
In experiencing this moment, she said, veterans and their loved ones should know that "no feelings are off the table."
"Some veterans will feel anger, they'll feel sadness, they'll feel anxiety, the anxiety of memories coming back to them about their previous deployments," Fletcher said. "Some veterans might feel relieved in the sense that this is 'over.' They're allowed to feel all of that and they need to know that they're not alone in those feelings, whatever they might be."
Veterans who are having trouble with the emotions they're experiencing might exhibit signs that they need extra support.
"What I would look for first, if I was a family member or support person, are changes in behaviors," Fletcher said. "They might be going to the (gun) range more, they're not home as much. They're sleeping more. They're sleeping less. They're eating more. They're eating less. They're engaging less with their families and friends. I think isolation can be a really dangerous thing right now."
Inquiries to speak with counselors at the Cape and Islands Veterans Outreach Center have increased in the past few weeks, according to executive director Joe Taylor.
"We do have veterans that express their feelings," Taylor said. "My concern is the ones that don't. If it is eating at them and we don't know it, we can't help them, and we want to help them. There is help out there."
People with veterans in their lives can help by checking in with them, and offering the occasion to talk about how the withdrawal could be affecting them, Fletcher said.
Loved ones don't need to have military experience to support a veteran during this time, she added.
"There is a lot of pressure that can be released from talking about it without needing that answer or solution," she said. "There is no manual for this."
That said, Fletcher emphasized that people who want to start a conversation with veterans about how the situation in Afghanistan is affecting them should do all they can to be intentional in the discussion, and not veer into territory that could be alienating.
"The intent is to be supportive, to be a friend, to be compassionate," she said. "It is not to change a political view or tell them to snap out of it or feel differently. If you feel like you can't maintain that intent and that it's just going to end up jumping into a politically motivated conversation, then maybe you're not the person to have that conversation right now. But if you're not the right person, you can work together to find that person."
"Because," she said, "they deserve that."
Contact Jeannette Hinkle at jhinkle@capecodonline.com.
If you are a veteran who has been struggling during this time, or you are a friend or family member of a veteran who is struggling, there is help available. You are not alone. Some options:
Wounded Warriors offers a Resource Center hotline for post-9/11 veterans and family support members that is staffed from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday: 888-997-2586.
The Veterans Crisis Line is available to support veterans 24/7. To reach the team there: 1-800-273-8255. Press #1 after dialing to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.
If you are a veteran coping with housing or financial insecurity, or you need help accessing your benefits, you can reach the Veterans' Services District Office in Hyannis at 508-778-8740.
Heroes In Transition — which helps veterans with home modifications, transitional support group therapy, financial support and assistance dogs for veterans — can be reached at 508-539-1010.
The Cape and Islands Veterans Outreach Center, which offers mental health support and other resources, can be reached at 508-778-1590.