The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive how the veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.- George Washington
Who is in this community?
The bulk of this community are veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom) who are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and related conditions, either in themselves or people close to them.
My focus is on troops/veterans who 1) are Illinois natives; 2) are attending college in Illinois; 3) are stationed in Illinois; and/or 4) are living in Illinois after finishing their military service.
This is a big group. Illinois is home to two major military installations: Naval Station Great Lakes, with about 15,000 recruits present at any one time and 50,000 recruits annually, according to GlobalSecurity.org, and Scott Air Force Base, with about 5,800 active-duty personnel, 2,000 Guard and Reserve members, approximately 8,314 family members, and more than 5,500 civilian employees, according to its Web site.
Also, VA facilities in Illinois are seeing more younger veterans. The department says, “In Illinois, more than 4,300 active-duty service members and veterans of the Global War on Terrorism have sought VA health care … Many veterans from the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan have visited the nine VA counseling centers in Illinois.”
Nationwide, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America says, “About one in three Iraq veterans will face a serious psychological injury, such as depression, anxiety, or PTSD. About 1.5 million people have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, so approximately half a million troops are returning with combat-related psychological wounds.”
Other community members include:
- Veterans’ friends and family members.
- Veterans service organizations (i.e. the American Legion) and more specific groups (i.e. Student Veterans of America, IAVA).
- Anti-war groups and anti-anti-war groups.
- State agencies and local offices of federal agencies that serve veterans, and the people who work for them, such as benefits counselors.
- Civilians who work with veterans or in the mental-health field, or are concerned about veterans’ issues in general.
- Military psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental-health professionals.
- Churches and other religious organizations that are near military bases or have a large military contingent among their members.
- Colleges and universities that are getting lots of returning veterans as students or have ROTC programs.
- Older veterans who want to help the younger generation.
What is this community’s content interests, and where does it get information?
For this cohort of veterans, popular topics are improving and qualifying for education benefits, getting health-care coverage from the federal and state governments, and making the general public aware of what’s happening in the ongoing wars and how veterans are faring in general.
Younger veterans seem to have a much greater online presence than older ones, and I’d be willing to bet that they use the Internet for most of their news. The IAVA Web site features numerous blogs and “action alerts” about pending legislation (the group also has a MySpace page). Military.com says it has 10 million members, and it has extensive message boards for all branches of the armed forces. People in this community likely get some information from official sources (such as the VA), but they also want independent publications and blogs (such as www.vawatchdog.org) that keep tabs on the powers that be.
They also get information from mainstream news outlets, groups they belong to and other veterans and military families they know and/or live alongside. This group may be less trusting of the mainstream media because of perceived biases, but it may also be eager to work with journalists to counteract what it sees as misconceptions and to get its point across.
Families and civilians who want to “support the troops” can do so through programs such as Soldiers’ Angels and others listed on the Department of Defense’s America Supports You site.
Some community members have started excellent blogs. Two examples are PTSD Combat: Winning the War Within, by Illinois journalist Ilona Meagher, and Diary of a Formerly Homeless Veteran, which is exactly what it sounds like.
How and under what circumstances does this community communicate?
Besides Web sites, this community attends lots of official and unofficial events.
Veterans service organizations hold annual state and national conventions. Veterans also gather on Veterans Day, Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and other significant dates. They participate in events in their local communities, in Washington, D.C., and at sites such as Pearl Harbor. These have traditionally been dominated by older generations, but younger veterans will likely be attending in greater numbers.
Veterans who served or trained together hold reunions, and the families of injured veterans who are all being treated at the same hospital may bond together there and stay in touch once they return home.
As far as numbers, many Google groups for Iraq and Afghanistan vets, such as Veterans of a New Era, are small and inactive. The Student Veterans of America group is doing better, with 208 members. A few people post articles from Military.com and discuss them, but participation is small. A Facebook group is more lively, with threads on starting chapters and where members served. A message board could improve discussion by allowing participation from veterans who aren’t on Facebook or aren’t students.
