Did You Know?

Our soldiers return home with physical and psychological wounds. They face unemployment, families that are not always intact, and communities unable to meet their immediate and long-term needs.

• Nearly 50,000 military men and women have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• 11-20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans live with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
• One third of Vietnam-era veterans live with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
• Since 2000, nearly 250,000 soldiers have been diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
• 2,293 U.S. military members have committed suicide since 2001.
• 18 veterans commit suicide each day.
• Men and women with multiple deployments are far more likely to commit suicide.
• 27 percent of troops returning from Iraq/Afghanistan battle alcoholism and abuse.
• Veterans make up 20 percent of the country’s homeless population.
• 67,000 veterans are homeless on any given night.
• Of today’s homeless veterans, 33 percent served in a war zone and 47 percent served in the Vietnam era.
• In 2011, the unemployment rate rose to 12.1 percent for Gulf-war era veterans.
• The unemployment rate for female Gulf War-era veterans is 12.4 percent.
• The divorce rate for military families increased 38 percent from 2001 to 2010.