SLIDESHOW: Family and Support Focus of Framingham's Veterans Day Program

Families face a number of challenges before, during, and after loved ones join the military and are deployed.

On Veterans Day, Framingham Police Officer Jose Cosme, a Staff Sgt. in the U.S. Army National Guard talked about the sacrifices Veterans make for their families and the sacrifices families make, too.

The guest speaker for the Town of Framingham’s Veterans Day program Cosme spoke of the need to remember Veterans families as much as the Veterans on Nov. 11.

“Without the support from our families, the mission would be that much harder,” said Cosme.

A tradition that dates back to the formal end of World War I on Nov. 11, 1918, Veterans day honors and remembers those who sacrificed for our country.

But Cosme said it is important to also focus on those left at home.

“When Troops deploy, families are left with the impossible task of filling our shoes at home,” said the Framingham Police Officer wearing his Army uniform inside Cushing Memorial Chapel. “They are the ones we try to protect the most, when we enlisted. Yet, they are the ones we hurt the most when we have to say goodbye.”

The United States has more than 150,000 military members deployed in 150 countries in 2015, according to the Department of Defense.

During a deployment, the members enlisted are focused on a mission or a task, but families members face a range of emotions and issues, including worry, loneliness, fear for a loved one’s safety, feeling overwhelmed, financial worries, etc.

Framingham Selectman Cheryl Tully Stoll said Veterans Day is a remind to also focus on how to help Veterans when they return from service.

“They have willngly signed up for a job where they could be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf,” said Stoll. “In the past, wounded Veterans who returned to our shoes were often met by grateful Americans and given every assistance they needed. Unfortunately, many of today’s Veterans are returning with invisible wounds.”

Statistics indicate 3 out of every 10 military members who return home develop a mental health issue.

Stoll said the Veterans Administration “doesn’t have a mental health system robust enough to serve these heroes and their families in a timely and convenient way.”

She said “our Veterans, service members, and their families have made life-alerting sacrifices for us and it is our turn to help them get the life-saving care they deserve.”

Post-traumatic stress syndrome, and other mental health issues such as depression and anxiety disorders are affecting recent Veterans in unprecedented numbers, said Stoll.

The most common symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome include: difficulty concentrating, lack of interest/apathy, feelings of detachment, loss of appetite, hypervigilance, exaggerated startle response, and sleep disturbances (lack of sleep, oversleeping.

Framingham Town Manager Bob Halpin said in his remarks when you see a veteran not only thank they for their service, but ask them how they are doing.

And Veterans if they don’t get help, sometimes turn to alcohol, drugs, and crime.

According to the U.S, Department of Justice:

• Equal percentages of Vietnam-era and Post-Cold War-era (72 percent) veterans reported prior drug use.
• 37 percent of Vietnam-era veterans and 44 percent of Post-Cold War-era used drugs in the month before the offense.
• 21 percent of Vietnam-era veterans and 20 percent of Post-Cold War-era veterans used drugs at the time their offense.

State Rep. Chris Walsh said that is why it was important to see the opening of the new Veterans Court in Framingham this week. And Framingham Veterans Agent peter Harvell said even more imprortant that a former U.S. Air Force Veteran is the judge that oversees that new court - Judge Michael Fabbri.

Following the rain-shortened Veterans Day program, guests were invited back to the Framingham Elks Lodge for a reception with sandwiches, soup, cookies, and coffee.