Editorial: Helping the troops

Sunday, Sept. 2, 2007 | 12:58 p.m.

Rep. Bob Filner is offering a novel plan to help soldiers who serve in combat zones readjust to life back home.

Filner, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, figures that as there are boot camps that prepare soldiers for war, there should be "de-boot camps" that help soldiers return to normal life. He said the camps could be a mandatory part of duty when soldiers return from combat. Filner said he is proposing a pilot program to help soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder.

"When you leave the combat zone, you can be in Baghdad yesterday and tomorrow you are taking your kids to a soccer game. There is no time for decompression," Filner said.

The California Democrat cited high rates of suicide, domestic violence and drug and alcohol abuse in the Army, and said, "We're releasing a time bomb to the community.

Speaking before a crowd filled with Vietnam veterans at the national American Legion convention in Reno last week, Filner said that Vietnam veterans did not receive the support they needed after returning from combat.

"We have to do a better job," he said, linking that to the high rates of suicide and homelessness among Vietnam veterans. "We have to serve our Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans."

Filner is smartly trying to separate the soldier from the war, which he said did not happen with the Vietnam War. He said that during the Vietnam era, "many people in this country confused the war and the warrior. If you didn't like the war, you said, 'To hell with the warrior.' "

Thankfully, although Americans oppose this war, they support the troops, and it is important to continue doing so. Filner's idea is one worth pursuing. The troops need to be brought home and helped to return to normal life.