Afghanistan withdrawal takes toll on US veterans’ mental health: retired lieutenant colonel

Three years after the deaths of 13 American service members at Abbey Gate during the hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, veterans are voicing their opinions about the toll that experience has taken on them.

Mission Roll Call CEO and retired Lt. Col. Jim Whaley gave an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital to honor those service members’ sacrifices.

Mission Roll Call is a national nonprofit whose mission is to “gather and deliver the unfiltered, unbiased, and apolitical voice of veterans and their supporters across America, advocating for meaningful improvements and ensuring their concerns and ideas are heard at the highest levels of policy-making,” according to its website.

A poll of veterans nationwide from Mission Roll Call found that 70% believe the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal “negatively affected the way they view America’s legacy on the Global War on Terror and their service more broadly.”

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Over 775,000 U.S. service members have deployed to Afghanistan since 2001. Many veterans carry uncertainty about the purpose of their sacrifice, according to Mission Roll Call.

“Unfortunately, after the Afghanistan withdrawal, there was, you know, a spike in emergency calls from veterans, suffering from anxiety and PTSD. We know that the vast majority of veterans feel betrayed from the withdrawal. It has spiked a lot of emotions,” said Lt. Col. Whaley.

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According to the National Center for PTSD, 7 out of every 100 veterans live with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The same center discovered that veterans who have deployed are three times as likely to develop PTSD than their domestic counterparts.

“Our poll shows, through Mission Roll Call, that 72% of veterans believe the Taliban’s advance into Afghanistan was a reason, for their personal reflection [or] sadness. [The] vast majority of our veterans, 83%, are not satisfied with the level of accountability among senior leaders and civilians due to the withdrawal,” said Whaley.

“So, when you think about the sacrifices that veterans and their families made for two decades, in the fight against terrorism, and then to have the withdrawal happen the way it did, you can understand why this causes mistrust, causes anxiety and causes a general feeling of why did I do all that? Why such a sacrifice?” he added.

Thirteen American service members, mostly Marines, lost their lives during the withdrawal while aiding in evacuation efforts on Aug. 26, 2021.

September is Suicide Prevention Month in the U.S., and Mission Roll Call seeks to meet veterans where they are regarding mental health issues, including those related to the Afghanistan withdrawal.

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“We know that on any given day, we lose 22 veterans. So, that number is extraordinarily high,” Whaley said. “A great embarrassment for our country. We need to get that number to zero. We need to strive as a nation to drive suicides among veterans to zero

“We’ve lost more veterans to suicide than we have for the entire war against terror. And that, to me, seems a tragedy.”

If you or a loved one is having suicidal thoughts, dial 988 to reach the suicide hotline. 

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