The war on terrorism is very much like other wars; and it is very different from other wars. Like all wars before it, people die and are wounded in body and mind. Like no war before it in our nation's history, our military is a conquering and occupying force in a hostile land.
Like no war before it, roughly 20 percent of the personnel are women. While they do not serve in infantry units, given the nature of the attacks on U.S. troops, even their support role is often perilous.
Add to this the almost constant threat of improvised explosive devices.
It is no wonder that those who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan are bringing home more than their duffle bags. Many are also bringing emotional scars.
Kelly Musick, a civilian who served in Iraq with the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, is greeted by son Jack, 1.
Churches are welcoming home their marines, soldiers, sailors and air force personnel and are wondering what they can do to help these returning heroes adjust to civilian life. Fortunately, most adjustments go smoothly and little outside help is needed.
Kelly Musick, a civilian who was assigned to the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq (MNSTC-I) in Baghdad, was spared combat assignments. Plugging back into the routine of family life “wasn't so difficult for me because I was not in actual combat, but those who are go through decompression training just before they come home.” Although Musick and his wife, Dana, have encountered only minor adjustments since his return from Iraq a month ago, many are not so fortunate.
According to Navy Chaplain Commander Roosevelt Brown, “about 20 percent of those returning from Iraq will experience some kind of emotional problems requiring help. About 15 percent will experience post-traumatic stress disorder.” Brown stresses that these individuals will require professional help, but he also emphasizes that to focus on these individuals is to miss the needs of the great majority. “The 80 to 85 percent are the people churches should focus on” says Brown.
Despite impressions to the contrary, veterans of Iraq are no more likely to experience PTSD than in previous wars. “In Vietnam, the figure was actually higher—15.6 percent—and in Afghanistan it's a little lower, 8 percent.”
Brown, stationed at the Norfolk Naval Base, believes churches may provide an array of services to deployed and returned military personnel and their families, but the crucial first step is to learn to identify with them. “I suggest that former military people within the congregation take the lead in ministry because they will understand the culture within which these people operate.” Lacking this, Brown believes with some effort others can learn this. Churches may call on chaplains serving with local units to help sensitize them to the specific needs of the military.
Before beginning a military ministry, “I suggest that a church first order and watch The Soldier's Heart produced by Frontline Productions in association with PBS.” Brown offers. “If, after watching this video, a church still wants to begin a ministry to military personnel and their families, they should proceed.”
In true military fashion, Brown provides a list of ministries churches may consider when a church or community member is deployed. He urges churches to be assertive in making contact and providing care.
Ministry begins by caring for the family back home. This is often the greatest single ministry that can be rendered. Knowing that their families are being cared for takes much worry off their minds and allows them to focus on the task at hand. Musick's wife, Dana, demonstrates the need for churches to be proactive. “For me personally, it was very difficult for me to ask for help because I didn't want to be a burden to anyone else.”
Based on her own experience and what she has observed, Musick suggests that ministry to families might include:
• Offering to watch children at times to give the parent at home a break. Musick is appreciate of her friends from her church, First Baptist of Newport News. “My friends from church helped with that” she remembers.
• Musick also suggests that “there are a lot of things he does around the house that I don't know how to do. If a husband, for example, is gone for a year, that equals several oil changes and four seasons worth of house and lawn maintenance. A detail of handymen and women would be invaluable.
•“Prayer support and reassurance are really big needs,” recalls Musick. “Being alone while he was there; being on the phone and hearing mortar attacks going on in the background and I was having panic attacks. Staying faithful to God and having confidence that [Kelly] was going to be alright were things I had to deal with.”
• “Military families often feel offended when civilians compare the family separations they have experienced with military separation,” cautions Brown. Although any separation causes the family to miss the absent member, having a son or daughter living in another state is vastly different than having a child or spouse in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Chaplain Brown suggests that, especially with National Guard units, churches may contact the commander and provide information to be distributed about services they offer military families. He cautions churches to enter this kind of ministry with only what they can do for the families in mind. “Families can sense if the ulterior motive is to get them to join their church and it turns them off.” Other practical actions churches may take include:
• Dedicate a bulletin board in the church to church members (or community members) who are serving. Update it often with new information.
• Send supplies to a chaplain to be distributed to local families. Although regulations will vary from location to location, those living in war-ravaged places often need the basics. Contact the military base near you and ask to speak to a chaplain for guidelines.
• Write letters from Sunday school classes—particularly children's classes. A brief note from someone back home can be a real source of encouragement.
• Pastors can incorporate the role of service personnel into sermons and worship themes as appropriate at times other than Memorial Day.
• Identify churches that have effective military ministries and contact them for suggestions.
• Churches can provide a safe place to talk for returning veterans. Often military personnel will not talk with someone connected with the military for fear that their careers will be hurt. A small men's or women's group, especially if they have been in the military, provides immediate identification.
• Offer to watch the children while husband and wife take time to renew their relationship.
The chaplain repeatedly emphasized that emotional problems after returning are usually relative to the amount of combat experience or wounds received while serving in a war zone. Signs that a returned veteran is having emotional problems include difficulties following through with commitments made, plugging into routine, going to work, depression and anxiety.
Most emotional problems will not be severe and by being a caring community can help vets and their families through the rough times. If a pastor becomes aware that someone is experiencing more than the usual kinds of adjustment problems, however, Brown emphasizes that very few pastors have the training to deal effectively with PTSD and that resources are available.
The first line of care is to call a chaplain. Beyond that, Military OneSource offers counseling that does not appear on the service person's military record so they need have no fear of career implications. “If more serious help is needed, start with the veteran's center rather than a veteran's hospital because the center is better equipped to act quickly,” says Brown. Military Tricare is also a resource.
The sobering reality is that the cost of war is paid not only in dollars and blood but in the bodies and minds of those who serve. The bad news is we cannot yet determine the cost of this conflict in those terms. The good news, if such it be, is that the human emotional toll does not appear to be higher than in previous wars. The divorce rate does not appear to be rising as a result of separation and anxiety upon return.
Wars and rumors of wars will not cease until the very return of Christ, the Bible declares. And, where there are wars, there must be the church bringing comfort to grieving families, healing to wounded bodies, health to wounded minds and hope to wounded nations.