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Friday, November 19, 2021
The Spokesman-Review
VETERANS CHRONICLE
How Afghanistan veterans can learn from Vietnam veterans By Adam Stump
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
This is the second in a four-part series about Afghanistan veterans and how they can get help. This series focuses on how those who served in Afghanistan can learn from those who served in Vietnam. While the conflicts are different, there are parallels. Each operation had U.S. involvement for about two decades. Both countries had a low initial amount of forces. Both later had a surge in forces. U.S. forces in both theaters fought an enemy that hid among the people. The U.S. participation in the Vietnam War started ending in 1973 with the signing of the Paris Peace Accords. The U.S. withdrew, leaving the country to determine a path ahead. In Afghanistan, the U.S. withdrawal will leave Afghans to determine their own future.
Emotions on Afghanistan
When the announcement came that U.S. forces would leave Afghanistan, it triggered a complicated wave of emotions through those who served in the country. Air Force veteran Scott Watson is one of them. Watson spent a year in Afghanistan from July 2009 to July 2010. He worked for Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan as the Afghan National Army fuels officer, the top level of the supply chain when it came to fuel. He spent a year separated from his daughter. “It was a mix of disappointment and relief,” Watson said about hearing the news. “I’m disappointed that we’re leaving, and I don’t feel like we’re done training the Afghan security forces. At the same time, I’m relieved that I don’t ever have to go see names of people that I know redeploying to
this place where it’s just Groundhog Day every day.”
Veterans coming together
The withdrawals are an experience that Afghanistan and Vietnam veterans share. One of the ways these veterans come together is through Vet Centers. Vet Centers operate outside of the traditional medical model, where eligible veterans, service members and their families can come together to find meaning in their service. Talking through these shared experiences helps, and there’s no time limit or additional cost for services. “I’ve got Vietnam veterans who are still coming here, not because we failed to resolve any issue in their life, but because they found a home in the community,” said Joe Lasky, director of the Las Vegas Vet Center. “They found friendships and a way to come talk and
deal with issues that may have started in Vietnam, but now affect their current health. Because Vet Centers are readjustment counseling, that’s defined by every veteran who comes in here.” Lasky can see the bonds because he’s an Afghanistan veteran himself. He served on active duty in the 1st Ranger Battalion for four years, then joined the National Guard.
Vet Centers provide help
Vietnam veterans created those first grassroots Vet Centers as early as the 1970s, because of a lack of trust that their service and trauma could be understood, as well as a seemingly limited access to VA benefits and services. Today, Vet Centers help veterans and service members who deployed to areas of hostility or who experience certain types of trauma while serving, as well as
their families. In doing so, professional counselors and outreach staff work with individuals from all generations. Counselors help to identify goals and create support structures to accomplish those goals and overall aid in the readjustment of those who served. That ranges from assisting in referrals for VA benefits like GI Bill or VA home loans to more traditional counseling. Counseling can include individual, group, couples and family counseling, tackling symptoms associated with anger management or improving relationships. Lasky said Vet Centers also try to get veterans together for activity-based groups based on the local needs and desires of the community the Vet Center is in. These may include activities ranging from outdoor recreational trips, yoga classes, gardening groups See AFGHANISTAN, PAGE 11
