Hallucination of the Society about Honoring Veterans: The World’s Experience
In the point of view of sociology, “Reality”? is made and developed by the society in which humans interact with each other. Under the influence of forming the “Reality”? in the social situation, we witness appearance of a kind of social hallucination regarding the issue of “Honoring Isargaran”? [Isargaran is said to the people who participated in the sacred defense. In this article, this word has been translated as “Veterans”?] that can cause serious damages to the culture of self sacrifice and martyrdom.
The writer of the current article has made efforts to contribute to correcting this “Social hallucination”? by mentioning the experience of some countries of the world in the issue of “Honoring veterans of war”?.
In the point of view of sociology, “Reality”? is made and developed by the society in which humans interact with each other. Under the influence of forming the “Reality”? in the social situation, we witness appearance of a kind of social hallucination regarding the issue of “Honoring Isargaran”? [Isargaran is said to the people who participated in the sacred defense. In this article, this word has been translated as “Veterans”?] that can cause serious damages to the culture of self sacrifice and martyrdom.
The writer of the current article has made efforts to contribute to correcting this “Social hallucination”? by mentioning the experience of some countries of the world in the issue of “Honoring veterans of war”?.
Introductory:
In the point of view of sociology, the “Social Reality”? has “Social Construction”?; it means that “Social Reality”? is made in a social way. Based on this point of view; “Social Construction”? [1] is a behavior that seems natural, clear and obvious for the people who have accepted it; but in fact, it is made by that particular society. Hence, humans and groups of people have commonly participated in making the type of their understanding about that “Social Reality”? (Burger and Lookman – 1375). This way, we can say that the “Reality”? is made and developed by the society. And the members of the society create a kind of accepted look [view] to the “Reality”? in cooperation with each other. This process is formed unconsciously. And the important point is the fact that this type of look to the “Reality”? may not be completely rational [2].
Under the influence of the above mentioned phenomenon and after passing almost two decades after the end of the sacred defense, a kind of social hallucination regarding the issue of “Honoring Veterans”? was formed little by little during passing of time. And some people of the society believe that this group of people [veterans of war] enjoys too much facilities and welfare.
Lack of appropriate and positive view about providing services to the war veterans and war wounded people can cause numerous damages to the culture of self sacrifice. And occurrence of such damage will not only cause a social gap between the people in general and the war veterans, but also it can even be harmful for the future of the country. As it was mentioned before, appearance and occurrence of such understanding is usually formed unconsciously. And secondly, it can be irrational.
From one side, appearance of such misunderstanding is rooted in special elements that interact with each other and contribute to forming this misunderstanding during the time. From the other side, we can help to eliminating or correcting this misunderstanding by studying and knowing it; like many other social phenomena.
As for the elements that have caused this social hallucination regarding the way of honoring war veterans; we can refer to lack of transparent and honest information dissemination through the mass media in the field of the services that are provided to this group of people in other countries. In this article, the writer makes efforts to correct this social hallucination by mentioning some of the world’s experiences regarding the way of treatment of the society and government with the veterans of war.
Theoretical Frame Work:
Understanding the situation of war veterans in the frame work of “Life Course”? view [3]:
The view of “Life Course”? emphasizes on the model of important events of life such as education, marriage, occupation and other similar events.
Based on this view; the military service – especially during the war – is a unique activity that changes and disrupts the process of natural progress of the person in the different courses of life such as school and job in which the age of the person plays an important role. That is why this view mainly emphasizes on the idea of disruption [4] in the model of natural life course of a person.
The hypothesis in this view is that most of the side effects of war have been appeared for the people whose natural path of life has been disrupted. And obviously, in the center of this idea the negative effect of war on the path of life and the index of age has an important role; because many of social communities are administered and established based on ages of people. And participating in war causes these people not to access such communities. And depending on the age of the people who have participated in war, the disruption effect of war in this field is different for different people [5].
One of the important points in every society is the fact how the government recognizes formally the self sacrifice of people during the war time. And it is important what kinds of supports does the government give to these veterans and their families.
Generally and by giving services to combatants and veterans, the governments aim at the following objectives: A – Dividing the responsibilities and problems of war fairly among all citizens
B – Encouraging people to cooperate in defending their home land in the future [6]
We can study the efforts of societies for honoring these people in two general aspects:
A – Memorial buildings and giving individual supports
B – Memorial buildings and the war museums
By constructing museums and war memorials buildings, governments and societies have the hypothesis that built touchable things have an important influence on the memory of the nations [7]. In other words, buildings and memorials are tools for transferring concepts from one generation to the other generation. The experiences of some countries in this field are mentioned in the followings:
Australian War Museum [8] has three memorial collections:
A – Written records [9]
B – Trophies [10]
C – Pictorial records [11]
This museum was later renamed to the “War Memorial”? [12]. All documents and records regarding the wars in which Australia was involved are preserved in this collection [War Memorials] at the present time. As for these wars; we can refer to the war with Sudan, South Africa, China, Korea, the World War I and the World War II. You can have access to war memories, reports of the operations and the copies of the war documents in the library of this museum. In another section of the library of this museum, you can also have access to maps, hand writings, texts of war poems and songs, posters, brochures, stamps and photos (There are approximately 240,000 negatives in this archive), articles and the news published in news papers. There are more than 65 thousand titles of books on the shelves of this library. And there are pamphlets and small books regarding the military training, different types of guns and war equipments in the library of this museum. [13] Generally speaking, “War Memorial”? buildings have a considerable presence in the perspective of important cities of Australia.
There is a collection of war memorials in Canada too. And there was National Museum of War in Britain at the first [14]. Britain intended to change this museum into the formal memory of its nation about war. Therefore, they designed the building such that it could have the character of a memorial and memory. That is why this building was built as beautiful and rich as possible. Approximately 2.5 million people visited this museum during the first year of inaugurating the museum. This museum was renamed to “Imperial War Museum”? [15] later. And it is now called as “National War Memorial [16].
“War Memorial”? [17] in Britain refers to any object or physical building that has been constructed for honoring those who have been killed in war. This “War Memorial”? might have been donated under the names of these killed people in the war. This memorial can be also for the people who have participated in war and came back alive from war. With this definition, there are more than 70 thousand war memorials in Britain. Most of them are built with stone, wood or metal. In some cases, these memorials are built in the form of gardens, hospitals or bridges. And all these memorials have identity cards; it means that the following information has been recorded about them: place, brief description, its photo and explanation of what event this memorial has been built for. This information also contains cases such as the date of installation of the memorial as well as the name and information regarding the artist who has made this memorial. There is a board of trustees for these memorial buildings or statues, etc. This board of trustees has registered a charity organization with the objective of preserving all the memorial buildings, statues, etc. in Britain. All these memorial buildings, statues, etc. are inspected once a year. Within these inspections, they find out what materials these memorial buildings require in order to be reconstructed and repaired as fast as possible.
Personal Support:
It is usually said that we should look at the health condition of previous soldiers in order to find out the current health condition of every army (The health of our military is reflected in the health of our veterans' community.) [18].
Generally, the facilities provided to the veterans can be divided into three major and general groups. These groups are namely “Cash Facilities”?, “Non- Cash Facilities”? and “Preferences and Advantages”?. The volume of these facilities and services requires predicting organizational programs and facilities suitable with this volume of services. As an example, “Veteran Administration”? [19] in America improved in administrative ranks and achieved to the position of the government cabinet in 1989. In this year, “Veteran Administration”? changed in the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? [20]. This ministry has more than 3 thousand social workers at the present time [21].
Before mentioning the predicted facilities for the veterans in war in some countries, first it is better to find out what definition these counties have about “War Soldier”? [Veteran]. This way, we can have a better comparison about the volume of helps and services.
Definition of War Soldier [Veteran]:
The most comprehensive definition for “War Soldier”? [Veteran} [22] has been used in Britain; it means that they said “Veteran”? to the person who has been more than one day in the military service and the people who are under his guardianship. Based on this definition, it is anticipated that approximately 5.5 million people are included in this definition. And considering the approximate number of 7.5 million people who are under their guardianship, there are totally almost 13 million people included in this definition; and it means 20 percent of the whole population of Britain. New Zealand has recently followed Britain in this regard and accepted the same definition about “Veterans”?.
In America, people are included in his group who have passed the minimum period of military service and they have came out of the military service with “Honorable”? position [23].
Some of the most important predicted advantages and facilities for the people who have participated in war are mentioned in the followings:
Facilities, Services and Advantages Provided to the War Veterans in America (Vet):
In order to being eligible for using the advantages and services of being a veteran, it is required that the person has ended his military service in an honorable situation. A person who has participated in war can not use these services, facilities and advantages only in one case. And that is the situation in which the military court has realized that the person has done shameful acts or he has had bad behavior during war.
1 – Health Care [24]
“Department of Veteran Affairs”? has the biggest health care system in the whole America. This health care system includes more than 1,400 health care centers such as hospitals, clinics, nursing homes [25], system of visiting the sick veterans at home, consulting center and other similar center.
By registering in this unified system, veterans can use these health care and treatment services in any part of the country. In order to balance between demands and facilities, all these veterans have been categorized as groups with different priorities. In the first priority, there are veterans with war injury and disability of 50 percent and more. This group also consists of the people who can not have any jobs. And the last group of priority consists of the veterans who have no disability; but their total annual income is less than the amount defined by the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? in that particular geographical region.
To this end, the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? studies and compares the financial ability of this person with the income situation in his geographical region. And considering the result of this comparison, it becomes clear how much this person can use the medical services.
Generally speaking, in many cases that the person needs to be hospitalized, the person should have a little payment for the expenses of being hospitalized; but in many of the cases regarding the services out of the hospital, there is no need for payment by the person. And even for some people, the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? pays for the travel expenses of the person when he needs medical services (11 Dollars are paid per mile in the trip).
Consulting Services for Readjustment [26]:
There are more than 207 community – based centers established for solving the problems of veterans in the society. As for one of the services which are provided in these centers; we can refer to providing consulting services to veterans with the objective of helping them to readjust with the every day life. I these centers, they provide individual, group and family consultations. They help veterans to cure their stress that is rooted in “PTSD”? disorder. And generally, they help to treat any type of disorder than can have negative influence on the performance of the veteran in his family, office, school, university and other places and times in his personal life. All these are included in the duties of these centers.
They even provide bereavement counseling to the members of the family who has lost one member in the war [28]. These consulting services are provided to the wife, children, parents, brothers and sisters of the dead soldier.
Changes in Houses of the War Disabled People:
In order to help the war disabled people to have access to necessary things at home such as bath room, the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? has allocated up to 4,100 Dollars of cash aid for remodeling their houses and making them suitable for these disabled people.
Providing Services to the Blind Veterans:
As for some of these medical services; we can refer to complete coverage of medical treatment services, mental readjustment of the person for learning how to deal with this problems, changing and remodeling their houses in order to be fit with their needs, giving financial aid for transportation, purchasing electronic and mechanic equipments such as computers and the talking books, guide dogs, giving the expense of using these equipments and purchasing the talking books [29] as well as tapes and texts written in Braille.
Treatments Regarding Mental Health [30]:
All the people who are eligible for using the health care services of the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? can also benefit from the mental health services such as “PTSD”? and treatment of abusing narcotics.
Work Restoration Programs [31]:
The “Department of Veteran Affairs”? is obliged to provide health care services, job helps, treatment and job opportunities for the whole veterans who are eligible to receive these services. These programs aim at helping the person to become able to live naturally in his local community. Some of these programs are as follows:
- Incentive Therapy [32]: This program is a kind of activity before learning professions. This program has been designed for the group of disabled veterans that think they can not do any job in the future. The disabled veterans who participate in this program are even encouraged financially.
- Work Therapy [33]: This program is a kind of program that teaches professions during which the person’s profession learning is evaluated, he is rehabilitated and he learns professional experiences. This program aims at helping the veteran to find a job in the society. This program is held by the “Department of Veteran Affairs”?, non - governmental and community – based organizations as well as the private sector.
Nursing at Home:
These services are provided to the group of veterans who need the least health care services; but they do not need professional nursing services which are provided in the “Nursing Homes”?.
Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Services:
In many cases and for many of veterans, these services are provided free of charge.
Nursing Services in the “Nursing Homes”? [34]:
There are three types of “Nursing Homes”? for taking care of some of the veterans. These centers are categorized as follows:
A – The centers that belong to the “Department of Veteran Affairs”?
B – The centers that belong to the government and are administered by the governmental organizations
C – The centers that belong to non – governmental and community – based organizations
2 – Indemnity for Disability:
This indemnity is the money that is paid to the person who has been hurt during the military service. This physical hurt might be cause by any accident in the war or even an illness which has appeared during the military service. The amount of this indemnity depends on two factors; one of them is the percentage of disability and the other one if the number of people who are under his guardianship. This amount of money is paid every month. And no tax is taken from this amount of money. The amount of this indemnity is written in the following table:
Percentage of War Injury [Disability] and Amount of Monthly Payment:
10 percent – 115 Dollars
20 percent – 225 Dollars
30 percent – 348 Dollars
40 percent – 501 Dollars
50 percent – 712 Dollars
60 percent – 901 Dollars
70 percent – 1135 Dollars
80 percent – 1319 Dollars
90 percent – 1483 Dollars
100 percent – 2471 Dollars
It should be mentioned that the war disabled people with the minimum of 30 percent of disability receive extra pension for the people who are under his guardianship. The amount of this extra pension depends of the percentages of war disability.
In addition to the war disabled people, war captives are also eligible to receive this pension.
Professional Rehabilitation and Vocational Training:
In the frame work of this program, the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? pays the expenses of training programs. During this program, they also pay a little amount of money to make a living. Some of the services which are provided in the frame work of this program are as follows:
- Evaluating the needs, capabilities and talents of the person
- Introducing the job opportunities
- Helping the person to prepare a CV [Resume]
- Strengthening the skills for searching jobs
- Helping the person to find a suitable job and keeping that job
- Providing job consultations and job programming
- Teaching skills while the person is doing his job and helping the person to increase job experiences
Considering the situation of the person, this program will maximum last for 48 full time months. During this program, the person is monthly paid an amount of money. This amount of money depends of the number of people who are under the guardianship of that person. And it varies from 508 Dollars to 742 Dollars.
Providing Credit Loans to Some of the Veterans for Buying, Renting or Remodeling Houses:
Some people are eligible to use these loans for meeting their needs which are rooted in war disability. They need to buy a house that is suitable with their physical situation. Or they may need to make required changes to their current houses suitable with their physical situation. The amount of this loan varies from 10 thousand Dollars to 50 thousand Dollars.
Loan for Buying Automobiles for the War Disabled People:
A loan with the amount of up to 11 thousand Dollars is paid to the war disabled people for buying automobile. This loan is paid one time to these war disabled people. They can use this amount of loan for making any changes in their own automobiles in order to increase its safety or comfort in driving.
Annual Financial Aid for Clothes of the War Disabled People:
Any war disabled person who is forced to use orthopedic equipments and any war disabled person who is forced to use medicine and chemical materials that damage their clothes are entitled to use the annual financial aid for clothes.
Stay at Home War Disabled People:
Another kind of pension has been predicted for the war disabled people who have been recognized as bedridden by the “Department of Veteran Affairs”?. These people constantly need presence and care of another person; in other words, they are bedridden and can not go out of their homes. As for the war disabled people who have war injury and disability of more than 30 percent, another extra amount of pension is paid to his wife in order to be able to get help from another person.
3 – Retirement Pension:
The war disabled people who have low income or they have become permanently disabled or they are older than 65 years old are eligible to receive “Retirement Pension”?. The amount of this “Retirement Pension”? is written in the following table:
Situation of the Person and His Family and Amount of Annual “Retirement Pension”?:
The war disabled person without any person under his guardianship: 10929 Dollars
The Person with one person under his guardianship: 14313 Dollars
Permanent stay at home war disabled without any people under his guardianship: 13356 Dollars
Permanent stay at home war disabled with one person under his guardianship: 16740 Dollars
The war disabled person who always and constantly needs help and has no person under his guardianship: 18243 Dollars
The war disabled person who always and constantly needs help and has one person under his guardianship: 21615 Dollars
And for any one added person under his guardianship, the amount of 1866 Dollars is added to this amount.
4 – Teaching and the Training Courses:
The expenses of participating in colleges and job / skill training centers and also the monthly amount of 1,000 Dollars are paid to these people. The person can receive these financial aids for maximum 36 months.
These training courses are in different types which are mentioned as follows:
- University courses which result in receiving university licenses (By using cyber universities or teaching through correspondences)
- Training courses in the centers of teaching skills and professions
- Training courses while the person has a job and passes these courses concurrent with having the job
- The courses for becoming ready to enter universities
- Training courses for learning job creation and success in small economic businesses and activities
Training Consultations and Learning Professions:
These consultation services are provided aiming at identifying the strong and weak points of the person in different training and job fields. These consultations aim at helping the person to be able to program for training and job objectives.
5 – Guaranteeing the House Loan:
These facilities are provided in order to help the veterans to buy houses. By using these facilities, the person can receive loans for the following cases: buying a house, building a house and remodeling the house even for installation of heating and cooling systems [Remodeling here refers to making changes in order that the veteran can live comfortably in that particular house considering his health and physical situation and problems]. In addition to having suitable situation during the war, the people who have enough income and undertake that they live in that particular house are eligible to receive these loans.
With the guarantee, the loan giver, it means the bank, makes sure that the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? undertakes paying back the loan if the person was not able to pay the installments of his loan. Therefore, the bank gives the loan to this person with much more trust. In this situation, the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? guarantees and undertakes payment of minimum 25 percent and maximum up to 50 percent of the loan. It depends of the amount of received loan.
Amount of the Loan, Percentage of Guaranteeing the Loan, the Guaranteed Loan:
45 thousand Dollars to 50 thousand Dollars, 22,500 Dollars
1 – 56250, 4,500 Dollars, 40 – 50, 22,500 Dollars
56251 – 144000 Dollars, 40 – 25, 36,000 Dollars
144000 Dollars and more, 10425025 Dollars
6 – Life Insurance:
Many of the people are automatically covered by the “Life Insurance”? up to 400 thousand Dollars. The wives of these war soldiers are covered by the life insurance up to 100 thousand Dollars. And the children of these war soldiers are covered by the life insurance up to 10 thousand Dollars. And it is even predicted that the people who are recognized by their doctors that they will live for a limited and short time (For example for 9 months or less) to receive 50 percent of the amount of this life insurance previously; it means that they can received this 50 percent while they are alive.
This life insurance has a complementary form too. The people who are bellow 65 years old and are completely war disabled can be covered by a larger amount of insurance.
7 – Facilities regarding Burying the Person and Holding Funeral Ceremony:
All the people who have record of being in war, their wives and their children are eligible to use the facilities of being buried. There is no need that the combatant had died before his wife or his children in order that his family members could use these facilities.
The “Department of Veteran Affairs”? has 124 national cemeteries [35]. And the number of these national cemeteries is increased year by year. Combatants, their wives and their children can use these facilities without any charges. Besides, the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? is obliged to provide services such as allocating a tomb, preparing the tomb and the sign on the stone of the tomb and even permanent maintenance of the tomb. A special flag and holding military ceremonies are also predicted for the combatants [It is merely for the combatants]. The family members of the dead combatant can ask for a plaque of honor of the President. And even the wife of the dead combatant can use these facilities in case she gets married again; but as for the children for the combatant; these facilities are merely for the single children.
In the military ceremony of the dead combatant, the personnel should participate with their formal uniform. And at least one of these participants should be the member of the same company or the military squad that the dead soldier was.
8 – The Program of Helping to Transfer:
This program includes a 3- day training work shop that is in the form of one complete collection. This program is held aiming at helping to the person to be transferred from the military life to the normal life. This work shop is about different topics such as searching for job, information regarding the job market and the information regarding the current facilities, services and loans.
9 – Indemnity for Unemployment
The people who have not entered the job market immediately after leaving the military service are eligible to receive the indemnity of unemployment. They are eligible to receive this indemnity every week for a limited period of time.
10 – Priority in Being Employed:
Since the domestic war, the American soldiers are attached priority in being employed by the governmental organizations. And nowadays, these people – especially the war disabled people - are prior to the others in being employed by the governmental organizations. And even when organizations lessen the number of their employees in some situations, this group of employees should be kept in these organizations. This employment priority also includes the wives of the people who have died in the war. This rule is also obeyed for the wives of the war disabled people and even the mothers of the killed soldiers in the war and the mothers of the war disabled people.
And in some special situations, governmental organizations can employ these war soldiers without having them compete with others. In this case, the person gains the job after two years of working satisfactorily.
11 – Center of Helping to Small Businesses and Economic Activities
The “Department of Veteran Affairs”? has a special center in which they help the veterans that are interested in starting small economic businesses and activities or expanding their small businesses and economic activities.
12 – Facilities Provided to the Family Members of the Dead Soldier and the People under his Guardianship:
Some of these facilities are namely as follows:
- Providing consultation services to the members of the family of a dead soldier in order to tolerate the bereavement: the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? provides consultation services for all the family members of the person who has died in the military service. These members of the family consist of his wife, his parents, his parents and even his brothers and sisters. The consultation services are provided to these family members in order to help them to bear the bereavement.
- Death Pension: the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? gives pension to the wives and single children of the people who have records of serving during war and they have died now and they have low income. To use this pension, the wife of the dead person should have not married again. And the children of the dead person should be bellow 18 years old. And the combatant should have positive records and he should have at least 90 days of record of military service. And at least one day out of these 90 days should be during the war. The amount of death pension is mentioned in the following table. These amounts of pension are paid to the family members of a dead person with the above mentioned characteristics and records:
Receiver of the pension, annual pension:
The wife of the dead person: 7329 Dollars
The wife of the dead person and one child: 9594 Dollars
For each of other children: 1866 Dollars
If the wife of the dead person needs care of another person, she can ask for increasing her pension.
- Entitlement of being paid for the years of service: An amount of 12,500 Dollars is paid to the closest relative of the person who has been killed while being in the military service. This amount of money is also payable to the closest relative of a retired person who has died due to the injuries or the illness that are rooted in the military service. The amount of 100 thousand Dollars is paid to closest relative of the person who has been killed while carrying out a military operation or even while he is learning military trainings. This close relative is introduced to the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? by the combatant.
- Program of training for the people who are under the guardianship of the combatant: the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? holds training programs for the people who are under the guardianship of the combatant. These programs are held for the wife or the child of the person who has become permanently war disabled or the person who has died due to war disability. This program is also held for the wife or child of a person who has been lost or captured in the war. Within the frame work of this program; an amount of 860 Dollars is paid to this person in order to participate in the classes of the school or university. This financial aid is paid to the person for a period of 45 months. And the person can use this money for different types of training courses; for instance, the person can use it for educating in universities, participating in the technical and vocational centers and even for educating in schools for receiving diploma. In the frame work of this program, special training programs are held for the person who has physical or mental disability. These trainings are namely teaching lip – reading as well as reading and writing in Braille and etc.
- Supporting the children with physical problems: Those children of the combatants who are born with the physical problems can receive monthly pension. These children can also enjoy technical and vocational trainings. They are also covered by medical support services. There is an important point here. If the child of the combatant is convicted in a law court and he/ she is imprisoned for more than 60 days, many of these facilities and advantages are influenced by this event. As an example, his monthly pension is cut or it will decrease to half of the previous payment.
Experience of Canada:
There is the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? in Canada too [36]. In this country, two factors are used for paying pension to people:
1 – Pension Entitlement [37]: The amount of the entitlement depends on the extent of disability cause during the military service. This entitlement is calculated with the formula of one fifth. It means that it starts from one fifth. One fifth refers to the cases in which the military service has had the minimum influence on the disability of the person. And if the disability of the person is fully caused by the military service, it is calculated five out of five.
2 – Assessment of Disability [38]: It means assessment of the extent of the disability of the person. This number can be between zero and 100 percent.
Amount of the Pension:
In order to calculate the amount of the pension, they multiply the minus of the entitlement in the percentage of disability of the person. For instance, they multiply 3 fifth in 25 percent. And it is equal with 15 percent.
If this number is between 1 to 4 percent: the person is just once paid a complete pension; but the monthly pension is not given to this person.
But if this number is 5 percent and more: the person, his wife and children are monthly paid the pension. The amount of payment of this monthly pension is as follows:
Percentage of the pension
Monthly Entitlement
Wife, child
First for the first child
And second for each next child
1115 Dollars, 28 Dollars, 15 Dollars, 11 Dollars, 8 Dollars
100 2221 Dollars, 555 Dollars, 289 Dollars, 211 Dollars, 167 Dollars
Assistant Services [39]:
These consultation services are provided aiming at helping the person to over come the difficulties which have had negative influences on his personal and professional life.
Some of these problems are as follows:
Problems I the family and among couples: It refers to the problems that appear in the relationship of the person with his wife or in his relationship with his children. In this respect, we can refer to divorce or separation, violence in the family, educational problems of the children in the family, the problems which are rooted in stress and mental and spiritual disorders and other cases.
We can also refer to the problems that are rooted in transferring from the military life to the normal life as well as abusing narcotics, Alcohol and even medicines.
Financial Problems:
Problems related to job and business: As for these problems; we can refer to the problems such as organizational changes, stress, feeling to have no motive, accepting a new responsibility, instability in job, job discrimination and etc.
In all the above mentioned cases; the consultant helps the person to recognize that particular problem precisely and clearly. And later, the consultant introduces the current facilities and sources to the person.
Considering the particular problem of the person, the consultant introduces the person to a set of specialized people and specialized organizations. These specialized people and organizations can be the institutions that provide consultation services to families, social workers, marriage consultant, the program of managing and solving the problem of abusing narcotics and drugs, supporting groups, doctors, psychologists, specialist doctor for treating mental problems, mental health care centers, consultant of job affairs, lawyer, legal consultant, financial and investment consultant, consultant in spiritual issues and other similar people and organizations.
All the above mentioned services are provided free of charge. And the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? pays for the expenses of these services.
It should be mentioned that the above services and helps are provided to the person in a private and confidential way. These services are provided 24 hours a day. And there is even a 24 hour phone line for providing consultation services on the phone.
The total above mentioned services are merely parts of the facilities that are predicted for veterans. And all these show the fact that societies and governments imagine and accept a great responsibility for them in this field. These facilities and services are provided aiming at guaranteeing the physical and mental health of the people who participate in the war. And the objective in all of these facilities is to preserve the independence of the person [veteran]. It is important that the person can have an independent life without having to rely on other people.
And independence in life depends on three factors [40]. These factors are namely economic power [wealth] [41], health [42] and social integrity [43].
The facilities and services which are provided to veterans seek to fulfill these three above mentioned objectives. And by fulfilling these objectives, the person [veteran] can have an independent life.
Sources and References:
– Burger, Peter and Lookman, Tomas (1375) [1996- 1997], “Social Structure of Reality”?, Translated by Fariborz Majidi, Tehran, Scientific and Cultural Publication Corporation
– Blackburn, V. (1959), "Australian War Memorial Library ", Military Affairs, Vol. 23, No. 2, 102 - 104.
– Camacho, P.R. (2007), "Veterans and veteran's issues ", Armed Forces & Society, Vol. 33, 313 - 314.
– Department of Veterans Affairs (2007), "Federal benefits for veterans and dependents ", Washington DC.
– Elder, G., 1996. The life course paradigm; In: Moen, P., Elder, G. and Luescher, K., Editors, 1996. Examining Lives in Context: Perspectives on the Ecology of Human Development, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp. 101–139
http:// www.vac-acc.gc.ca (1386/6/20) [September 11th, 2007]);
– Manske, J.E. (2006), " Social work in the Department of Veteran Affairs: Lessons learned ", Health and Social Work, 31, 3, 233 - 238.
– Marshall, V. W., Mc Mullin, J.A., Ballantyne, P. J., Daciuk, J. F., & Wigdor, B.T. (1995). "Contributions to independence over the life course "; Centre for Studies of Aging, University of Toronto.
– Mookherjee, N. (2007), "The dead and their double duties ", Space and Culture, Vol. 10, No. 2, 271 - 291.
– Settersten, R. and Mayer, K., 1997. The measurement of age, age structure, and the life course; Annual Review of Sociology, 23, pp. 233 – 261
– Siegel, I. H., and Weinberg, E. (1950), "State bonuses for veterans", The Journal of Political Economy", Vol. 58, No. 1, 70 - 74
* Member of Scientific Board and Professor of University of Mazandaran
[1] – Social construction
[2] – Rational
[3] Life course
[4] Disruption
[5] Elder 1996; Settersten and Mayer 1997
[6] Siegel and Weinberg 1950
[7] Mookherjee 2007
[8] Australian War Museum
[9] Written records
[10] Trophies
[11] Pictorial records
[12] War Memorial
[13] Blackburn 1959
[14] National War Museum
[25] Imperial War Museum
[16] National War Memorial
[17] War memorial
[18] The health of our military is reflected in the health of our veterans' community. Camacho 2007
[19] Veteran Administration
[20] Department of Veteran Affairs
[21] Manske 2006
[22] Veteran
[23] Honorable
[24] Health Care
[25] Nursing home
[26] Readjustment
[27] Community-based
[28] Bereavement counseling
[29] Talking books
[30] Mental Health
[31] Work Restoration Programs
[32] Incentive Therapy
[33] Work Therapy
[34] Nursing home
[35] National cemetery
[36] Veterans Affairs Canada
[37] Pension Entitlement
[38] Assessment of Disability
[39] Assistance Service
[40] Marshall et al. 1995
[41] Wealth
[42] Health
[43] Social integration
The writer of the current article has made efforts to contribute to correcting this “Social hallucination”? by mentioning the experience of some countries of the world in the issue of “Honoring veterans of war”?.
Introductory:
In the point of view of sociology, the “Social Reality”? has “Social Construction”?; it means that “Social Reality”? is made in a social way. Based on this point of view; “Social Construction”? [1] is a behavior that seems natural, clear and obvious for the people who have accepted it; but in fact, it is made by that particular society. Hence, humans and groups of people have commonly participated in making the type of their understanding about that “Social Reality”? (Burger and Lookman – 1375). This way, we can say that the “Reality”? is made and developed by the society. And the members of the society create a kind of accepted look [view] to the “Reality”? in cooperation with each other. This process is formed unconsciously. And the important point is the fact that this type of look to the “Reality”? may not be completely rational [2].
Under the influence of the above mentioned phenomenon and after passing almost two decades after the end of the sacred defense, a kind of social hallucination regarding the issue of “Honoring Veterans”? was formed little by little during passing of time. And some people of the society believe that this group of people [veterans of war] enjoys too much facilities and welfare.
Lack of appropriate and positive view about providing services to the war veterans and war wounded people can cause numerous damages to the culture of self sacrifice. And occurrence of such damage will not only cause a social gap between the people in general and the war veterans, but also it can even be harmful for the future of the country. As it was mentioned before, appearance and occurrence of such understanding is usually formed unconsciously. And secondly, it can be irrational.
From one side, appearance of such misunderstanding is rooted in special elements that interact with each other and contribute to forming this misunderstanding during the time. From the other side, we can help to eliminating or correcting this misunderstanding by studying and knowing it; like many other social phenomena.
As for the elements that have caused this social hallucination regarding the way of honoring war veterans; we can refer to lack of transparent and honest information dissemination through the mass media in the field of the services that are provided to this group of people in other countries. In this article, the writer makes efforts to correct this social hallucination by mentioning some of the world’s experiences regarding the way of treatment of the society and government with the veterans of war.
Theoretical Frame Work:
Understanding the situation of war veterans in the frame work of “Life Course”? view [3]:
The view of “Life Course”? emphasizes on the model of important events of life such as education, marriage, occupation and other similar events.
Based on this view; the military service – especially during the war – is a unique activity that changes and disrupts the process of natural progress of the person in the different courses of life such as school and job in which the age of the person plays an important role. That is why this view mainly emphasizes on the idea of disruption [4] in the model of natural life course of a person.
The hypothesis in this view is that most of the side effects of war have been appeared for the people whose natural path of life has been disrupted. And obviously, in the center of this idea the negative effect of war on the path of life and the index of age has an important role; because many of social communities are administered and established based on ages of people. And participating in war causes these people not to access such communities. And depending on the age of the people who have participated in war, the disruption effect of war in this field is different for different people [5].
One of the important points in every society is the fact how the government recognizes formally the self sacrifice of people during the war time. And it is important what kinds of supports does the government give to these veterans and their families.
Generally and by giving services to combatants and veterans, the governments aim at the following objectives: A – Dividing the responsibilities and problems of war fairly among all citizens
B – Encouraging people to cooperate in defending their home land in the future [6]
We can study the efforts of societies for honoring these people in two general aspects:
A – Memorial buildings and giving individual supports
B – Memorial buildings and the war museums
By constructing museums and war memorials buildings, governments and societies have the hypothesis that built touchable things have an important influence on the memory of the nations [7]. In other words, buildings and memorials are tools for transferring concepts from one generation to the other generation. The experiences of some countries in this field are mentioned in the followings:
Australian War Museum [8] has three memorial collections:
A – Written records [9]
B – Trophies [10]
C – Pictorial records [11]
This museum was later renamed to the “War Memorial”? [12]. All documents and records regarding the wars in which Australia was involved are preserved in this collection [War Memorials] at the present time. As for these wars; we can refer to the war with Sudan, South Africa, China, Korea, the World War I and the World War II. You can have access to war memories, reports of the operations and the copies of the war documents in the library of this museum. In another section of the library of this museum, you can also have access to maps, hand writings, texts of war poems and songs, posters, brochures, stamps and photos (There are approximately 240,000 negatives in this archive), articles and the news published in news papers. There are more than 65 thousand titles of books on the shelves of this library. And there are pamphlets and small books regarding the military training, different types of guns and war equipments in the library of this museum. [13] Generally speaking, “War Memorial”? buildings have a considerable presence in the perspective of important cities of Australia.
There is a collection of war memorials in Canada too. And there was National Museum of War in Britain at the first [14]. Britain intended to change this museum into the formal memory of its nation about war. Therefore, they designed the building such that it could have the character of a memorial and memory. That is why this building was built as beautiful and rich as possible. Approximately 2.5 million people visited this museum during the first year of inaugurating the museum. This museum was renamed to “Imperial War Museum”? [15] later. And it is now called as “National War Memorial [16].
“War Memorial”? [17] in Britain refers to any object or physical building that has been constructed for honoring those who have been killed in war. This “War Memorial”? might have been donated under the names of these killed people in the war. This memorial can be also for the people who have participated in war and came back alive from war. With this definition, there are more than 70 thousand war memorials in Britain. Most of them are built with stone, wood or metal. In some cases, these memorials are built in the form of gardens, hospitals or bridges. And all these memorials have identity cards; it means that the following information has been recorded about them: place, brief description, its photo and explanation of what event this memorial has been built for. This information also contains cases such as the date of installation of the memorial as well as the name and information regarding the artist who has made this memorial. There is a board of trustees for these memorial buildings or statues, etc. This board of trustees has registered a charity organization with the objective of preserving all the memorial buildings, statues, etc. in Britain. All these memorial buildings, statues, etc. are inspected once a year. Within these inspections, they find out what materials these memorial buildings require in order to be reconstructed and repaired as fast as possible.
Personal Support:
It is usually said that we should look at the health condition of previous soldiers in order to find out the current health condition of every army (The health of our military is reflected in the health of our veterans' community.) [18].
Generally, the facilities provided to the veterans can be divided into three major and general groups. These groups are namely “Cash Facilities”?, “Non- Cash Facilities”? and “Preferences and Advantages”?. The volume of these facilities and services requires predicting organizational programs and facilities suitable with this volume of services. As an example, “Veteran Administration”? [19] in America improved in administrative ranks and achieved to the position of the government cabinet in 1989. In this year, “Veteran Administration”? changed in the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? [20]. This ministry has more than 3 thousand social workers at the present time [21].
Before mentioning the predicted facilities for the veterans in war in some countries, first it is better to find out what definition these counties have about “War Soldier”? [Veteran]. This way, we can have a better comparison about the volume of helps and services.
Definition of War Soldier [Veteran]:
The most comprehensive definition for “War Soldier”? [Veteran} [22] has been used in Britain; it means that they said “Veteran”? to the person who has been more than one day in the military service and the people who are under his guardianship. Based on this definition, it is anticipated that approximately 5.5 million people are included in this definition. And considering the approximate number of 7.5 million people who are under their guardianship, there are totally almost 13 million people included in this definition; and it means 20 percent of the whole population of Britain. New Zealand has recently followed Britain in this regard and accepted the same definition about “Veterans”?.
In America, people are included in his group who have passed the minimum period of military service and they have came out of the military service with “Honorable”? position [23].
Some of the most important predicted advantages and facilities for the people who have participated in war are mentioned in the followings:
Facilities, Services and Advantages Provided to the War Veterans in America (Vet):
In order to being eligible for using the advantages and services of being a veteran, it is required that the person has ended his military service in an honorable situation. A person who has participated in war can not use these services, facilities and advantages only in one case. And that is the situation in which the military court has realized that the person has done shameful acts or he has had bad behavior during war.
1 – Health Care [24]
“Department of Veteran Affairs”? has the biggest health care system in the whole America. This health care system includes more than 1,400 health care centers such as hospitals, clinics, nursing homes [25], system of visiting the sick veterans at home, consulting center and other similar center.
By registering in this unified system, veterans can use these health care and treatment services in any part of the country. In order to balance between demands and facilities, all these veterans have been categorized as groups with different priorities. In the first priority, there are veterans with war injury and disability of 50 percent and more. This group also consists of the people who can not have any jobs. And the last group of priority consists of the veterans who have no disability; but their total annual income is less than the amount defined by the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? in that particular geographical region.
To this end, the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? studies and compares the financial ability of this person with the income situation in his geographical region. And considering the result of this comparison, it becomes clear how much this person can use the medical services.
Generally speaking, in many cases that the person needs to be hospitalized, the person should have a little payment for the expenses of being hospitalized; but in many of the cases regarding the services out of the hospital, there is no need for payment by the person. And even for some people, the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? pays for the travel expenses of the person when he needs medical services (11 Dollars are paid per mile in the trip).
Consulting Services for Readjustment [26]:
There are more than 207 community – based centers established for solving the problems of veterans in the society. As for one of the services which are provided in these centers; we can refer to providing consulting services to veterans with the objective of helping them to readjust with the every day life. I these centers, they provide individual, group and family consultations. They help veterans to cure their stress that is rooted in “PTSD”? disorder. And generally, they help to treat any type of disorder than can have negative influence on the performance of the veteran in his family, office, school, university and other places and times in his personal life. All these are included in the duties of these centers.
They even provide bereavement counseling to the members of the family who has lost one member in the war [28]. These consulting services are provided to the wife, children, parents, brothers and sisters of the dead soldier.
Changes in Houses of the War Disabled People:
In order to help the war disabled people to have access to necessary things at home such as bath room, the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? has allocated up to 4,100 Dollars of cash aid for remodeling their houses and making them suitable for these disabled people.
Providing Services to the Blind Veterans:
As for some of these medical services; we can refer to complete coverage of medical treatment services, mental readjustment of the person for learning how to deal with this problems, changing and remodeling their houses in order to be fit with their needs, giving financial aid for transportation, purchasing electronic and mechanic equipments such as computers and the talking books, guide dogs, giving the expense of using these equipments and purchasing the talking books [29] as well as tapes and texts written in Braille.
Treatments Regarding Mental Health [30]:
All the people who are eligible for using the health care services of the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? can also benefit from the mental health services such as “PTSD”? and treatment of abusing narcotics.
Work Restoration Programs [31]:
The “Department of Veteran Affairs”? is obliged to provide health care services, job helps, treatment and job opportunities for the whole veterans who are eligible to receive these services. These programs aim at helping the person to become able to live naturally in his local community. Some of these programs are as follows:
- Incentive Therapy [32]: This program is a kind of activity before learning professions. This program has been designed for the group of disabled veterans that think they can not do any job in the future. The disabled veterans who participate in this program are even encouraged financially.
- Work Therapy [33]: This program is a kind of program that teaches professions during which the person’s profession learning is evaluated, he is rehabilitated and he learns professional experiences. This program aims at helping the veteran to find a job in the society. This program is held by the “Department of Veteran Affairs”?, non - governmental and community – based organizations as well as the private sector.
Nursing at Home:
These services are provided to the group of veterans who need the least health care services; but they do not need professional nursing services which are provided in the “Nursing Homes”?.
Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Services:
In many cases and for many of veterans, these services are provided free of charge.
Nursing Services in the “Nursing Homes”? [34]:
There are three types of “Nursing Homes”? for taking care of some of the veterans. These centers are categorized as follows:
A – The centers that belong to the “Department of Veteran Affairs”?
B – The centers that belong to the government and are administered by the governmental organizations
C – The centers that belong to non – governmental and community – based organizations
2 – Indemnity for Disability:
This indemnity is the money that is paid to the person who has been hurt during the military service. This physical hurt might be cause by any accident in the war or even an illness which has appeared during the military service. The amount of this indemnity depends on two factors; one of them is the percentage of disability and the other one if the number of people who are under his guardianship. This amount of money is paid every month. And no tax is taken from this amount of money. The amount of this indemnity is written in the following table:
Percentage of War Injury [Disability] and Amount of Monthly Payment:
10 percent – 115 Dollars
20 percent – 225 Dollars
30 percent – 348 Dollars
40 percent – 501 Dollars
50 percent – 712 Dollars
60 percent – 901 Dollars
70 percent – 1135 Dollars
80 percent – 1319 Dollars
90 percent – 1483 Dollars
100 percent – 2471 Dollars
It should be mentioned that the war disabled people with the minimum of 30 percent of disability receive extra pension for the people who are under his guardianship. The amount of this extra pension depends of the percentages of war disability.
In addition to the war disabled people, war captives are also eligible to receive this pension.
Professional Rehabilitation and Vocational Training:
In the frame work of this program, the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? pays the expenses of training programs. During this program, they also pay a little amount of money to make a living. Some of the services which are provided in the frame work of this program are as follows:
- Evaluating the needs, capabilities and talents of the person
- Introducing the job opportunities
- Helping the person to prepare a CV [Resume]
- Strengthening the skills for searching jobs
- Helping the person to find a suitable job and keeping that job
- Providing job consultations and job programming
- Teaching skills while the person is doing his job and helping the person to increase job experiences
Considering the situation of the person, this program will maximum last for 48 full time months. During this program, the person is monthly paid an amount of money. This amount of money depends of the number of people who are under the guardianship of that person. And it varies from 508 Dollars to 742 Dollars.
Providing Credit Loans to Some of the Veterans for Buying, Renting or Remodeling Houses:
Some people are eligible to use these loans for meeting their needs which are rooted in war disability. They need to buy a house that is suitable with their physical situation. Or they may need to make required changes to their current houses suitable with their physical situation. The amount of this loan varies from 10 thousand Dollars to 50 thousand Dollars.
Loan for Buying Automobiles for the War Disabled People:
A loan with the amount of up to 11 thousand Dollars is paid to the war disabled people for buying automobile. This loan is paid one time to these war disabled people. They can use this amount of loan for making any changes in their own automobiles in order to increase its safety or comfort in driving.
Annual Financial Aid for Clothes of the War Disabled People:
Any war disabled person who is forced to use orthopedic equipments and any war disabled person who is forced to use medicine and chemical materials that damage their clothes are entitled to use the annual financial aid for clothes.
Stay at Home War Disabled People:
Another kind of pension has been predicted for the war disabled people who have been recognized as bedridden by the “Department of Veteran Affairs”?. These people constantly need presence and care of another person; in other words, they are bedridden and can not go out of their homes. As for the war disabled people who have war injury and disability of more than 30 percent, another extra amount of pension is paid to his wife in order to be able to get help from another person.
3 – Retirement Pension:
The war disabled people who have low income or they have become permanently disabled or they are older than 65 years old are eligible to receive “Retirement Pension”?. The amount of this “Retirement Pension”? is written in the following table:
Situation of the Person and His Family and Amount of Annual “Retirement Pension”?:
The war disabled person without any person under his guardianship: 10929 Dollars
The Person with one person under his guardianship: 14313 Dollars
Permanent stay at home war disabled without any people under his guardianship: 13356 Dollars
Permanent stay at home war disabled with one person under his guardianship: 16740 Dollars
The war disabled person who always and constantly needs help and has no person under his guardianship: 18243 Dollars
The war disabled person who always and constantly needs help and has one person under his guardianship: 21615 Dollars
And for any one added person under his guardianship, the amount of 1866 Dollars is added to this amount.
4 – Teaching and the Training Courses:
The expenses of participating in colleges and job / skill training centers and also the monthly amount of 1,000 Dollars are paid to these people. The person can receive these financial aids for maximum 36 months.
These training courses are in different types which are mentioned as follows:
- University courses which result in receiving university licenses (By using cyber universities or teaching through correspondences)
- Training courses in the centers of teaching skills and professions
- Training courses while the person has a job and passes these courses concurrent with having the job
- The courses for becoming ready to enter universities
- Training courses for learning job creation and success in small economic businesses and activities
Training Consultations and Learning Professions:
These consultation services are provided aiming at identifying the strong and weak points of the person in different training and job fields. These consultations aim at helping the person to be able to program for training and job objectives.
5 – Guaranteeing the House Loan:
These facilities are provided in order to help the veterans to buy houses. By using these facilities, the person can receive loans for the following cases: buying a house, building a house and remodeling the house even for installation of heating and cooling systems [Remodeling here refers to making changes in order that the veteran can live comfortably in that particular house considering his health and physical situation and problems]. In addition to having suitable situation during the war, the people who have enough income and undertake that they live in that particular house are eligible to receive these loans.
With the guarantee, the loan giver, it means the bank, makes sure that the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? undertakes paying back the loan if the person was not able to pay the installments of his loan. Therefore, the bank gives the loan to this person with much more trust. In this situation, the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? guarantees and undertakes payment of minimum 25 percent and maximum up to 50 percent of the loan. It depends of the amount of received loan.
Amount of the Loan, Percentage of Guaranteeing the Loan, the Guaranteed Loan:
45 thousand Dollars to 50 thousand Dollars, 22,500 Dollars
1 – 56250, 4,500 Dollars, 40 – 50, 22,500 Dollars
56251 – 144000 Dollars, 40 – 25, 36,000 Dollars
144000 Dollars and more, 10425025 Dollars
6 – Life Insurance:
Many of the people are automatically covered by the “Life Insurance”? up to 400 thousand Dollars. The wives of these war soldiers are covered by the life insurance up to 100 thousand Dollars. And the children of these war soldiers are covered by the life insurance up to 10 thousand Dollars. And it is even predicted that the people who are recognized by their doctors that they will live for a limited and short time (For example for 9 months or less) to receive 50 percent of the amount of this life insurance previously; it means that they can received this 50 percent while they are alive.
This life insurance has a complementary form too. The people who are bellow 65 years old and are completely war disabled can be covered by a larger amount of insurance.
7 – Facilities regarding Burying the Person and Holding Funeral Ceremony:
All the people who have record of being in war, their wives and their children are eligible to use the facilities of being buried. There is no need that the combatant had died before his wife or his children in order that his family members could use these facilities.
The “Department of Veteran Affairs”? has 124 national cemeteries [35]. And the number of these national cemeteries is increased year by year. Combatants, their wives and their children can use these facilities without any charges. Besides, the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? is obliged to provide services such as allocating a tomb, preparing the tomb and the sign on the stone of the tomb and even permanent maintenance of the tomb. A special flag and holding military ceremonies are also predicted for the combatants [It is merely for the combatants]. The family members of the dead combatant can ask for a plaque of honor of the President. And even the wife of the dead combatant can use these facilities in case she gets married again; but as for the children for the combatant; these facilities are merely for the single children.
In the military ceremony of the dead combatant, the personnel should participate with their formal uniform. And at least one of these participants should be the member of the same company or the military squad that the dead soldier was.
8 – The Program of Helping to Transfer:
This program includes a 3- day training work shop that is in the form of one complete collection. This program is held aiming at helping to the person to be transferred from the military life to the normal life. This work shop is about different topics such as searching for job, information regarding the job market and the information regarding the current facilities, services and loans.
9 – Indemnity for Unemployment
The people who have not entered the job market immediately after leaving the military service are eligible to receive the indemnity of unemployment. They are eligible to receive this indemnity every week for a limited period of time.
10 – Priority in Being Employed:
Since the domestic war, the American soldiers are attached priority in being employed by the governmental organizations. And nowadays, these people – especially the war disabled people - are prior to the others in being employed by the governmental organizations. And even when organizations lessen the number of their employees in some situations, this group of employees should be kept in these organizations. This employment priority also includes the wives of the people who have died in the war. This rule is also obeyed for the wives of the war disabled people and even the mothers of the killed soldiers in the war and the mothers of the war disabled people.
And in some special situations, governmental organizations can employ these war soldiers without having them compete with others. In this case, the person gains the job after two years of working satisfactorily.
11 – Center of Helping to Small Businesses and Economic Activities
The “Department of Veteran Affairs”? has a special center in which they help the veterans that are interested in starting small economic businesses and activities or expanding their small businesses and economic activities.
12 – Facilities Provided to the Family Members of the Dead Soldier and the People under his Guardianship:
Some of these facilities are namely as follows:
- Providing consultation services to the members of the family of a dead soldier in order to tolerate the bereavement: the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? provides consultation services for all the family members of the person who has died in the military service. These members of the family consist of his wife, his parents, his parents and even his brothers and sisters. The consultation services are provided to these family members in order to help them to bear the bereavement.
- Death Pension: the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? gives pension to the wives and single children of the people who have records of serving during war and they have died now and they have low income. To use this pension, the wife of the dead person should have not married again. And the children of the dead person should be bellow 18 years old. And the combatant should have positive records and he should have at least 90 days of record of military service. And at least one day out of these 90 days should be during the war. The amount of death pension is mentioned in the following table. These amounts of pension are paid to the family members of a dead person with the above mentioned characteristics and records:
Receiver of the pension, annual pension:
The wife of the dead person: 7329 Dollars
The wife of the dead person and one child: 9594 Dollars
For each of other children: 1866 Dollars
If the wife of the dead person needs care of another person, she can ask for increasing her pension.
- Entitlement of being paid for the years of service: An amount of 12,500 Dollars is paid to the closest relative of the person who has been killed while being in the military service. This amount of money is also payable to the closest relative of a retired person who has died due to the injuries or the illness that are rooted in the military service. The amount of 100 thousand Dollars is paid to closest relative of the person who has been killed while carrying out a military operation or even while he is learning military trainings. This close relative is introduced to the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? by the combatant.
- Program of training for the people who are under the guardianship of the combatant: the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? holds training programs for the people who are under the guardianship of the combatant. These programs are held for the wife or the child of the person who has become permanently war disabled or the person who has died due to war disability. This program is also held for the wife or child of a person who has been lost or captured in the war. Within the frame work of this program; an amount of 860 Dollars is paid to this person in order to participate in the classes of the school or university. This financial aid is paid to the person for a period of 45 months. And the person can use this money for different types of training courses; for instance, the person can use it for educating in universities, participating in the technical and vocational centers and even for educating in schools for receiving diploma. In the frame work of this program, special training programs are held for the person who has physical or mental disability. These trainings are namely teaching lip – reading as well as reading and writing in Braille and etc.
- Supporting the children with physical problems: Those children of the combatants who are born with the physical problems can receive monthly pension. These children can also enjoy technical and vocational trainings. They are also covered by medical support services. There is an important point here. If the child of the combatant is convicted in a law court and he/ she is imprisoned for more than 60 days, many of these facilities and advantages are influenced by this event. As an example, his monthly pension is cut or it will decrease to half of the previous payment.
Experience of Canada:
There is the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? in Canada too [36]. In this country, two factors are used for paying pension to people:
1 – Pension Entitlement [37]: The amount of the entitlement depends on the extent of disability cause during the military service. This entitlement is calculated with the formula of one fifth. It means that it starts from one fifth. One fifth refers to the cases in which the military service has had the minimum influence on the disability of the person. And if the disability of the person is fully caused by the military service, it is calculated five out of five.
2 – Assessment of Disability [38]: It means assessment of the extent of the disability of the person. This number can be between zero and 100 percent.
Amount of the Pension:
In order to calculate the amount of the pension, they multiply the minus of the entitlement in the percentage of disability of the person. For instance, they multiply 3 fifth in 25 percent. And it is equal with 15 percent.
If this number is between 1 to 4 percent: the person is just once paid a complete pension; but the monthly pension is not given to this person.
But if this number is 5 percent and more: the person, his wife and children are monthly paid the pension. The amount of payment of this monthly pension is as follows:
Percentage of the pension
Monthly Entitlement
Wife, child
First for the first child
And second for each next child
1115 Dollars, 28 Dollars, 15 Dollars, 11 Dollars, 8 Dollars
100 2221 Dollars, 555 Dollars, 289 Dollars, 211 Dollars, 167 Dollars
Assistant Services [39]:
These consultation services are provided aiming at helping the person to over come the difficulties which have had negative influences on his personal and professional life.
Some of these problems are as follows:
Problems I the family and among couples: It refers to the problems that appear in the relationship of the person with his wife or in his relationship with his children. In this respect, we can refer to divorce or separation, violence in the family, educational problems of the children in the family, the problems which are rooted in stress and mental and spiritual disorders and other cases.
We can also refer to the problems that are rooted in transferring from the military life to the normal life as well as abusing narcotics, Alcohol and even medicines.
Financial Problems:
Problems related to job and business: As for these problems; we can refer to the problems such as organizational changes, stress, feeling to have no motive, accepting a new responsibility, instability in job, job discrimination and etc.
In all the above mentioned cases; the consultant helps the person to recognize that particular problem precisely and clearly. And later, the consultant introduces the current facilities and sources to the person.
Considering the particular problem of the person, the consultant introduces the person to a set of specialized people and specialized organizations. These specialized people and organizations can be the institutions that provide consultation services to families, social workers, marriage consultant, the program of managing and solving the problem of abusing narcotics and drugs, supporting groups, doctors, psychologists, specialist doctor for treating mental problems, mental health care centers, consultant of job affairs, lawyer, legal consultant, financial and investment consultant, consultant in spiritual issues and other similar people and organizations.
All the above mentioned services are provided free of charge. And the “Department of Veteran Affairs”? pays for the expenses of these services.
It should be mentioned that the above services and helps are provided to the person in a private and confidential way. These services are provided 24 hours a day. And there is even a 24 hour phone line for providing consultation services on the phone.
The total above mentioned services are merely parts of the facilities that are predicted for veterans. And all these show the fact that societies and governments imagine and accept a great responsibility for them in this field. These facilities and services are provided aiming at guaranteeing the physical and mental health of the people who participate in the war. And the objective in all of these facilities is to preserve the independence of the person [veteran]. It is important that the person can have an independent life without having to rely on other people.
And independence in life depends on three factors [40]. These factors are namely economic power [wealth] [41], health [42] and social integrity [43].
The facilities and services which are provided to veterans seek to fulfill these three above mentioned objectives. And by fulfilling these objectives, the person [veteran] can have an independent life.
Sources and References:
– Burger, Peter and Lookman, Tomas (1375) [1996- 1997], “Social Structure of Reality”?, Translated by Fariborz Majidi, Tehran, Scientific and Cultural Publication Corporation
– Blackburn, V. (1959), "Australian War Memorial Library ", Military Affairs, Vol. 23, No. 2, 102 - 104.
– Camacho, P.R. (2007), "Veterans and veteran's issues ", Armed Forces & Society, Vol. 33, 313 - 314.
– Department of Veterans Affairs (2007), "Federal benefits for veterans and dependents ", Washington DC.
– Elder, G., 1996. The life course paradigm; In: Moen, P., Elder, G. and Luescher, K., Editors, 1996. Examining Lives in Context: Perspectives on the Ecology of Human Development, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp. 101–139
http:// www.vac-acc.gc.ca (1386/6/20) [September 11th, 2007]);
– Manske, J.E. (2006), " Social work in the Department of Veteran Affairs: Lessons learned ", Health and Social Work, 31, 3, 233 - 238.
– Marshall, V. W., Mc Mullin, J.A., Ballantyne, P. J., Daciuk, J. F., & Wigdor, B.T. (1995). "Contributions to independence over the life course "; Centre for Studies of Aging, University of Toronto.
– Mookherjee, N. (2007), "The dead and their double duties ", Space and Culture, Vol. 10, No. 2, 271 - 291.
– Settersten, R. and Mayer, K., 1997. The measurement of age, age structure, and the life course; Annual Review of Sociology, 23, pp. 233 – 261
– Siegel, I. H., and Weinberg, E. (1950), "State bonuses for veterans", The Journal of Political Economy", Vol. 58, No. 1, 70 - 74
* Member of Scientific Board and Professor of University of Mazandaran
[1] – Social construction
[2] – Rational
[3] Life course
[4] Disruption
[5] Elder 1996; Settersten and Mayer 1997
[6] Siegel and Weinberg 1950
[7] Mookherjee 2007
[8] Australian War Museum
[9] Written records
[10] Trophies
[11] Pictorial records
[12] War Memorial
[13] Blackburn 1959
[14] National War Museum
[25] Imperial War Museum
[16] National War Memorial
[17] War memorial
[18] The health of our military is reflected in the health of our veterans' community. Camacho 2007
[19] Veteran Administration
[20] Department of Veteran Affairs
[21] Manske 2006
[22] Veteran
[23] Honorable
[24] Health Care
[25] Nursing home
[26] Readjustment
[27] Community-based
[28] Bereavement counseling
[29] Talking books
[30] Mental Health
[31] Work Restoration Programs
[32] Incentive Therapy
[33] Work Therapy
[34] Nursing home
[35] National cemetery
[36] Veterans Affairs Canada
[37] Pension Entitlement
[38] Assessment of Disability
[39] Assistance Service
[40] Marshall et al. 1995
[41] Wealth
[42] Health
[43] Social integration
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