According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, an estimated 22 veterans take their own lives each day. Last year, more U.S. military personnel died by their own hands than the hands of others. On any given night, nearly 63,000 veterans are homeless. Many suffer chronic debilitating mental health problems.
Read MoreAll our veterans need support and understanding everyday of the year but for today, please know how much I care for you all.
Read MoreTwo years ago, I marked Veterans Day in DC admiring the splendor and beauty of the World War II memorial. Finding those two certain names on the spare and solemn granite wall of the Vietnam memorial and tracing my fingers over the etched remains of their lives brought home, like a chisel through stone, how blessed I was my son came home alive.
Today, I wrestle with my longing for the man he was before war …
The superbly done photo essay, montage now showing at the New American Art Union in Portland, Exit Wounds: Combat Trauma and the trials of homecoming, is earning rave reviews. Jim Lommasson’s photographic work surrounded by photos taken from the veterans themselves tells a story that we will not see in mainstream media. Dahr Jamail who has reported from Iraq and is author of ‘Beyond the Green Zone’, writes for IPS News
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