Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

I remain disconcerted by Charles M. Blow’s April 18 column, “The Enemies Within,” describing the likely participation of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in white supremacist groups.

To focus on a very small number (a few hundred out of 300,000 veterans who exhibit symptoms of “post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression”) is to do a disservice to all. Certainly, the Department of Veterans Affairs needs to respond rapidly and thoroughly to the physical and emotional wounds of those returned from war, but Mr. Blow’s hypothesis and cited studies reinforce a stereotype we faced returning from Vietnam, that war veterans are somehow “armed and dangerous” and should be feared.

I have to say, with the myriad “adjustments” I faced those years ago (depression, Agent Orange poisoning, legal blindness, divorce), I never considered joining anything like the groups described by Mr. Blow.

We faced isolation, panic, sleeplessness—and decadeslong battles with the Veterans Administration regarding health care and compensation—but we tended to stay away from group participation of any kind.

The road home is long and hard enough without characterizing our returning service members as likely participants in hate groups.

Bruce Rider
Grapevine, Tex., April 21, 2009

Note from KBJ: I'm more worried about Charles Blow joining a black-supremacist group than I am about returning soldiers joining white-supremacist groups.