Commentary
During my time in the Army, I had the great fortune to “unplug” from the operational Army and be a graduate student at Princeton University. During that time, I must admit I was chasing ghosts. I toiled and mulled over thoughts and feelings wondering: “Is there something wrong with me?” Sadly, veterans and the military have been used as political footballs on many occasions. Inconsistent and overinflated statistics of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are touted by politicians to score points or attempt to skew arguments in their favor.
An example is one senator’s declared concern about whether veterans, possibly suffering from PTSD—in her words, “a new phenomenon as a product of the Iraq War”—should be afforded the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, which they fought so hard to protect. Of course, this discussion on the rights of veterans is underscored by the inaccurate statement that PTSD is somehow a manifestation of the Iraq war; battle fatigue and shell shock have been around long before the 21st century….