Veteran Affairs with Mickey McCamish in Chattanooga

United States veterans have struggled with adjusting to civilian life after war ever since Vietnam. According to retired United States Navy Captain Mickey McCamish, "America turned its back on us but, we did not turn our back on America."

Fifty-thousand soldiers lay at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

Still to this day, the veterans' struggle continues. Cpt. McCamish noted the reason why veterans struggle so much is that they must re-establish themselves from scratch and take new, different responsibilities to what the veterans previously had. Twenty percent of the 1.7 million soldiers that served in Iraq or Afghanistan get diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or manic depression. As of 2016, about eight percent of the homeless population, are veterans and 1.4 million veterans are at risk of homelessness. 

The United States Veteran Affairs Department has not done an adequate job of taking care of America's returning soldiers. The V. A. serves nearly 9.1 million veterans and the wait lists for medical attention are over a month long. Departments across the country have been concealing these month-long wait lists which caused V. A. Undersecretary, Dr. Robert Petzel, to resign in 2015. 

However, Chattanooga V. A. Clinic Manager and veteran Chris Marcus has hope, "I'm assuming the new administration will be very responsible for veterans' needs... I have seen, over the last couple of years, a lot of very positive changes." Wes Cooper has more on that story.

For more information:

Chattanooga V. A. Outpatient Clinic's Facebook Page

U. S. Department of Veteran Affairs Facebook Page