New Generation of Veterans Poses Unique Challenges

There is a new generation of veterans that is being welcomed in the United States, as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, and thousands of soldiers return home. However, there are stark differences between this generation of vets and the generation that returned from Vietnam.

Many troops are now female. Also, many veterans are members of the Reserves and National Guard. One of the most significant differences that California veterans benefits lawyers have found between these vets and in the past, is the injuries that these veterans have suffered. Many veterans now return with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and suffer severe and debilitating injuries like genital injuries, which were not seen in past wars.

There has been great progress made in helping military personnel survive debilitating injuries during combat. That is part of the reason why fatality rates in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been lower than in the past. However, the downside to this is that survivors are often left with catastrophic injuries.

For instance, the use of IED devices has meant that many veterans have suffered injuries to their genitals. These are serious injuries that in the past would have resulted in death from blood loss, but in a modern war, many veterans have survived these injuries. According to the Veterans Administration, among the recent veterans that it’s treated, more than 1,600 have suffered limb amputations.

There are vast numbers of vets currently seeking benefits for service-related disabilities. It is estimated that approximately 50% of the veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be filing veteran’s benefit claims. In fact, claims are being filed at a speedy rate, and the government is finding it hard to process claims quickly, leading to backlogs.