Veterans, PTSD, and the insurrection.

Jump to Last Post 1-7 of 7 discussions (16 posts)
  1. profile image0
    PrettyPantherposted 4 years ago

    I am sitting in our car waiting to pick up my autistic son from work. My husband is outside the car, pacing and watching. He is worried about a car with heavily tinted windows that circled around and parked two rows behind us.

    My husband is a veteran who did three combat tours in Vietmam and subsequently served in assignments at the Pentagon, NORAD, and more. He once regularly walked the Halls of Congress as part of his job.

    Watching white supremacists, Nazis, and Trumpers desecrate the Capitol and attempt to halt a constitutional process has triggered his PTSD. He is worried because we are Democrats living in a rural county, a real hotbed of angry Trumpers.

    To make matters worse, his son, a recently retired marine, has disappeared since the day of the insurrection, when he told his brother he was going to D.C. for the rally and protest.

    This event has been difficult for combat veterans who are shocked to see Americans breach the Capitol and terrorize legislators in an effort to overturn democracy. They have given so much for this country and it is breaking their hearts.

    I am also wondering what role PTSD might be playing in the actions of veterans who are convinced the election was stolen? Could this be a factor in the volatility of some who believe the election was fraudulent?

    He is now back in the car, and constantly checking his surroundings. He is insisting we practice shooting in the mountains today, as it is not raining, a rarity in January in Oregon.

    Sadly, I am seeing a profound effect on many veterans, and I hope we can all be kind to them as they process these tragic events  My husband is very level headed. He just wants to be prepared.

    I do not personally feel at risk like my husband seems to. How have recent events affected you and your family?

    1. GA Anderson profile image84
      GA Andersonposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      That was a hellava snapshot. I have never had felt concerns like yours so it is an effort to try to emphasize with you. But I do understand your thought.

      GA

    2. Sharlee01 profile image83
      Sharlee01posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Good question --  My community also has lots of Trump supporters. Each Saturday since the election they hold what I would call rallies outside and on our City Hall grounds. Signs and flags have not been taken down, it appears more have been put up. Tonight on the news they reported the National Guard would be deployed at our State Capitol from tomorrow until after the inaugural. It has been reported that the protesters will come prepared and carrying weapons. This all is very concerning. So, to answer the question-- It has not affected me personally, but it is very concerning.  It makes me wonder when will this all end and will it end without violence. My husband is a vet, and he has never shared or I should say refused to share anything about his tour with me or anyone that I know of. He was sickened by the attack on the Capitol, as I was. He said I never thought I would see the day that American's could attack our Capitol.

      What you have shared makes me realize this unrest is affecting some more than others. And I am so sorry to hear it is affecting your home life.

      I just hope at some time soon we can move on, and find solutions that might satisfy most.

      1. profile image0
        PrettyPantherposted 4 years agoin reply to this

        I think a lot of people are worried and reacting in different ways. Having a family member joining in with the insurrectionists (apparently, we don't know for sure) has made me wonder about the  veterans who participate as well as those who abhor what is happening.

        1. Sharlee01 profile image83
          Sharlee01posted 4 years agoin reply to this

          Yes, it is clear there is a split with how Trump supporters are reacting to him losing at this point.  Like I say, my husband is discussed with what went down at the capitol. What scares me worse is the unknown at this point. No way to know how far some of the far-right groups will go. I really feel the large majority that showed up at the Jan 6th protest were not there to cause trouble. It looks like the attack was at least loosely planned by an element that showed up with a purpose to overtake the Capitol.

          I will admit I desire change, I had even hoped and felt an investigation might have worked to ease tension. But, this all is very unsettling. I would guess most Republicans are not willing to take up an actual physical battle.

          I guess this week we will have to hold our breaths.

    3. Ken Burgess profile image72
      Ken Burgessposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I can't speak to your husbands experiences while in the military.

      But like many others that have served, I have been to foreign lands and seen situations far removed from 'normal' American life.

      There are two things that come from your husbands experiences for certian.

      One is that he understands our government and how it works differently than most Americans think of it working.

      The second is he has seen cultures/societies far different than our own, where the values of/for life and liberty are far different.

      Not all military people have these experiences of course, but all military people who have served many years and seen combat probably do fall into this realm.

      We see the world in ways that people who have not had these experiences could ever hope to.  Some are wired better to handle these revelations than others... all of us who survived them, have an eye for trouble that others do not.

    4. abwilliams profile image77
      abwilliamsposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I have a nephew living in Portland, that I and the rest of the family are very worried about. He is in the hospital right now. Not sure what all is going on, but he is no longer thinking straight. He is mixed up in a crazy, disorganized, uncaring, unfeeling place and although, he is an adult, his parents need to get him out of there, quickly!
      This Country seems to have gone mad, I don't blame your husband for his uneasiness, it's not longer the Country it once was.
      Please thank him for putting his ass on the line, for my freedom! This is some payback he and all that have served or are serving, are getting huh! sad

  2. The Masked Marauder profile image70
    The Masked Marauderposted 4 years ago

    PrettyPanther. What a heartwarming, descriptive post. The moment I read it I felt the need to respond. After reading your post I feel that my earlier position in regard to the "failed Vietnam War" would require further clarification and felt I needed to to do so.

    While I readily admit that my college career at the University of California at Berkeley consisted of being a member and defacto leader of various radical protest groups, I feel it necessary to explain that I was never targeting our serviceman (and today women).

    In fact, before protests I was adamant that no national guard members should be abused verbally or physically or anyone I saw doing so would not need a police nightstick across the head for I would deal with them myself on the spot. The protests weren't about our brave brothers and sisters but about the governments failure to support them,

    In closing and on a personal note, I would like you to thank your husband from me for his service to our nation and his commitment and bravery in doing so. I a greatly admire and respect the duties he performed to protect our freedoms.

    Sincerely,
    The Masked Marauder

    Postscript:
    Perhaps you should think of writing for a living. You do it well.

  3. Kathryn L Hill profile image84
    Kathryn L Hillposted 4 years ago

    We struggled an entire summer watching the utterly destructive antics of Antifa.
    The governors and mayors of blue states and cities just let them have at it.

    Trump's supporters are peaceful.
    Yet look at the protective forces brought in to protect Kind Joe.
    Something is off.

    1. profile image0
      PrettyPantherposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, something is off, that is for sure. I just don't think we would agree on what.

  4. MizBejabbers profile image95
    MizBejabbersposted 4 years ago

    My husband is a Vietnam era veteran with PTSD. He was stationed at Tachikawa Airbase as an aircraft mechanic in the early part of the war, but later was transferred into the CIA, following a family tradition. Most of his experiences that caused the PTSD occurred during the stint with the company, so a lot of people don’t believe him when he says he has PTSD. He was co-pilot on a B-52 when it was shot down by a SAMS missile in Vietnam, and he was the only survivor of the crash. It is difficult for today’s military doctors to believe he has PTSD because his official records show that “he was only an aircraft mechanic.” However, he was accepted into in-hospital PTSD therapy at the regional VA in our state.
    He said the therapy itself was a traumatic experience for him because the it negated much of the deprogramming he received when he was released from the company. He was forced to find his own outlet, which was to talk with others of like mind and experience in chatrooms as the internet grew.
    Currently, he participates daily in a particular chatroom and does a podcast once a week. In it many more liberal and middle of the road people have been keeping up with the temperature and plans of the Trump supporters. We live in an area of avid Trump supporters and don’t dare put up a political sign to the contrary in our yard.
    The discussions of the last four years prepared him for the rush on the Capitol, so he was expecting that. I don’t believe anything could have prepared him for the degree of violence that occurred that day. But I don’t think it affected his PTSD the way it affected many veterans because those days are over for him. My husband is a very spiritual person and as a native Cherokee, he practices Shamanism. He has only one word for the "QAnon Shaman" who is now trying to use his alleged shamanism as a defense: Bullshit!

    1. profile image0
      PrettyPantherposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, thank you for sharing that. My husband was NSA so his PTSD was also fueled by events after the war. It irks me no end how the VA  makes it so difficult for veterans who did classified work to receive the full benefits to which they are entitled. My husband's "official" records don't show everything he did and the NSA won't release the real records so he is being denied disability that he is entitled to.

      As an aside, I love that your husband practices shamanism. We need more of the old spirituality in this world and a lot less of the monotheistic, dogmatic religion that most people follow these days

  5. Mark O Richardson profile image82
    Mark O Richardsonposted 4 years ago

    All of these riots are crazy. We'll have to wait and see what happens.
    People should handle losing elections more gracefully.

  6. Kenna McHugh profile image83
    Kenna McHughposted 4 years ago

    I understand your husband’s concern as we are all concerned with the plight of this country.

    It reminds me of a story about a General in Columbia, which used to be one of the most violent countries in the world engulfed with drug wars until he took one of the most heroic and proactive measures.

    He heard about The Way to Happiness booklet, which statistically calms the area wherever it has been massively passed out.

    The General began extensive distribution of the booklet. First, his military units distributed the booklet at a soccer game where violence occurred with a vengeance. Miraculously, there was no violence at the soccer game that day.

    With such surprise, he continued distributing the booklet and the violence and crime rate in Columbia plummeted 70 percent. The drug wars ended and the President of Columbia received the Nobel Peace Prize.

  7. IslandBites profile image69
    IslandBitesposted 4 years ago

    I hope your husband is feeling better. Do you know about anything his son? I hope he's ok.

    1. profile image0
      PrettyPantherposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, he is feeling better, to the extent that he has adjusted to not knowing. We have not heard from his son but heard third hand that he is okay but unwilling to contact anyone. Not sure why, unless he is part of the so-called "patriots" who are planning further disruptions. But, I really don't know.

      It's insane to me.

      And thank you for asking. :-)

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)