Dustin Biggerstaff’s nine-year career in the Marines ended because of eye injuries. But the wounds, received during training missions, also gave him a vision of what he could do to help others in the military.
After receiving a medical discharge, Biggerstaff turned to the nonprofit Semper Fi & America’s Fund for financial and emotional support while he was retraining for a new career. He was so impressed with the organization that decided to help the group raise money to help other veterans.
It’s a timely effort. A higher percentage of troops who have returned home from Afghanistan and other post 9/11 wars have come back with combat and work-related injuries. A little more than 40% of post-9/11 veterans who served in combat zones have confirmed disabilities compared to less than 25% of those who served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the first Gulf War, according to researchers with Brown University’s Cost of War Project.
Veterans get help from Veterans Affairs, but there’s also a web of 40,000 U.S. charities with military-related missions that are offering services.
For Biggerstaff, it was an easy call to try to give back to Semper Fi & America’s Fund, which provides financial and medical help, as well as transportation for veterans injured while serving in combat or peacetime.
His injuries came on training missions with the special forces Reconnaissance Battalion. He was accidently stabbed in an eye in 2015, but it healed. In 2019, a blow to the head during an underwatering training ruptured the eye and led to a medical discharge.
Biggerstaff has raised about $15,000 for the nonprofit over the two years by participating in triathlons, marathons and other long-distance athletic events and getting donors to sponsor him by the mile or event.
“I have the ability to do that, and many (injured veterans) don’t,” said Biggerstaff. “So I am going to do it for them. I know they would want to do it. There are so many people in the world that sacrificed so much and aren’t able. ... So it’s how I can give back.”
The increase in disabled veterans has happened for many reasons, said Linda J. Bilmes, a Harvard University professor of public policy and contributing researcher to the Costs of War Project.
First, more troops are surviving injuries. That’s because there’s better body armor, quicker medical evacuation and improved medical treatment than in previous wars, she said.
Also, the numbers were pushed up because many soldiers of recent wars went through multiple deployments and ended up more often in dangerous zones. The U.S. used contractors for some softer duties, such as driving trucks, Bilmes said.
The Department of Defense lists more than 60,000 men and women killed or wounded in action in the last 20 years. But the wars have left over one million post-9/11 veterans with some level of disability from noncombat injuries, such as those inflicted in vehicle wrecks, according to Bilmes.
That number could continue to rise, because injuries sometimes don’t become apparent until months or years after troops’ return, for instance, post-traumatic stress disorder or injured backs, she said. Those injured during their service may qualify for federal help, such as partial or full disability payments.
Nonprofits have become an important secondary source of help.
Credit: Daniel Varnado
Credit: Daniel Varnado
Amy Stevens, who founded Georgia Military Women, said support and social groups are an important link for veterans coming home. They provide help with everything from easing the transition out of the military to critical help for veterans with physical or financial needs.
“The military is a family,” she said. “And, when you leave the military, it is sometimes almost like a divorce, and you feel so alone.”
Many in the public want to give back to veterans. But Jeremy Butler, CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, said donors need to carefully evaluate the organizations they give financial support to.
He has a list of steps donors could take — volunteer with the group, talk to staff members and ask veterans which organizations they have used or believe in.
Donors also can check the Charity Navigator website to see how nonprofits use their donations.
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