On Veterans Day a tribute and a renewed commitment
Veterans Day evolved from the armistice of World War l. Around the globe on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, bells are wrung, and citizens pause in memory of loved ones and the sixteen million who perished in what became known as the “Great War.”
On this sacred day I remember my father’s military service in World War ll as well as others in my family who served in our armed forces. There are approximately 15,000,000 military veterans in the U.S. today.
My father, Edward John Bonior, was big from the moment he took his first breath. Legend has it that he weighed in at 11 pounds at birth, setting a new hospital record. He would grow up to be a tall, handsome man who would overshadow a room full of people by his mere presence.
Born on Washington’s Birthday in 1922 — 2/22/22 — he would eventually find his way into politics and public service. He would also hang onto the number 2 like a boy carrying a rabbit’s foot on a chain.
In 1944 after his induction, the army sent him to Texas for basic training. My father’s next stop was to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital outside of Denver, where he received training as a medic.
On January 3, 1945, he sailed on the SS Brazil bound for Le Harve, France, with the 123rd Evacuation Hospital unit. He would serve in the outfit’s field hospital, the first stop for servicemen wounded in battle.
As so often is the case with returning veterans, Dad shared little with his family about his time at war. Nevertheless, it’s no secret that bottling up such traumatic memories is not healthy. Nowadays we call the sad results of this silence, post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. During World War I, the diagnosis was “shell shock”; in World War ll, it was called “battle fatigue.”
Near the end of my father’s life, he finally shared with my brother an experience he kept inside for over 50 years. As Jeff tells it, our father arrived in Le Harve sick as hell from the ocean voyage. From the ship he boarded a truck that was to take him to Camp Lucky Strike where he was to be based. On the way over, however, they got word the enemy had blown up a train at the train station.
Dad was called into action. He ran to administer aid to an American soldier who lay by the mangled train. As Dad cradled the soldier’s head in his arms, he saw a third of it was gone. That was my father’s welcome to Europe and the war.
Years later as a boy I would slip into my parents’ bedroom and open the bottom drawer of my father’s dresser. Inside, neatly laid out like a chalice and eucharist on an altar, were his army scarf, brown foldable army side cap, the two bronze stars he had won, and a copy of his unit’s yearbook with names and photos of those with whom he served.
When I peered inside the cedar drawer, I could smell the wood and see the items that were a reminder of his service to our country and his fellow soldiers. I felt his pride.
But we owe our veterans more than just pride in what they did. We owe them the best mental health we can provide. There is a growing body of evidence that these “quiet” suppressed wounds of our soldiers are as debilitating as wounds to limbs.
During and after the Vietnam War, the mental health needs of those who served were manifesting themselves in depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorders, panic attacks, insomnia, and the most severe mental health illnesses such as schizophrenia. The number of deaths by suicide rose alarmingly. Consider these numbers:
• Number of Vietnam Vets who died by suicide are in the tens of thousands.
• Number of those who served after 9/11 and died by suicide is 30,177, four times higher than the 7,057 killed in war operations. (Cost of War Project at Brown University)
• Addiction and insufferable pain have raised the suicide rate. Veterans’ deaths by suicide have risen by more than 20 a day since 2021.
• The VA’s 2019 National Veterans Suicide Prevention Annual Report says the U.S. suffered around 58,000 fatalities over the course of the Vietnam War which lasted twenty years. More U.S. veterans have committed suicide between 2008-2017 than the number of U.S. soldiers who died during the entire Vietnam War according to the defense news site, Military. com. More than 6,000 Veterans committed suicide every year during the 2008-17 time frame.
On this Veterans Day weekend let us commit ourselves to invest as a nation in the mental health resources needed by our soldiers and veterans and their families. As we watch the horrific wars unfold in Ukraine, Gaza, and Israel let us rededicate ourselves to the original theme of Armistice Day— laying down our arms. In peace let us remember those who sacrificed so much for the protection of our democracy, our liberties, and our freedoms.
David Bonior represented Macomb and St. Clair counties in the U.S. House of Representatives from19772003. He was elected by his colleagues to their leadership position of Whip. Mr. Bonior served in the U.S. Air Force (1968-72). He founded Vietnam Veterans in Congress and is the co-author of Vietnam Veterans: A History of Neglect. Mr. Bonior is also a lifetime member of Vietnam Veterans of America.
But we owe our veterans more than just pride in what they did. We owe them the best mental health we can provide. There is a growing body of evidence that these “quiet” suppressed wounds of our soldiers are as debilitating as wounds to limbs.