Alejandro “Alex” Rosales served 20 years in the U.S. Army as a mechanic, but that in no way prevented him from being caught in enemy fire or from close calls with improvised explosive devices.
“It felt like a risk getting back out on the road again,” Rosales said, who retired as a staff sergeant.
Rosales remembers traveling in a convoy in 2004 during the first year of Operation Iraqi Freedom, from Sadr City back to Camp Anaconda near Balad.
“It was just a training mission,” he said, but in Iraq, training and actually being in combat were loosely defined prospects, and he said his company voiced frustration with the training mission before they set off. They knew they would encounter something.
“The left side of the convoy was damaged from an I.E.D.,” he said, but the only injuries on the convoy were concussions.
Even in camp, insurgents fired on them constantly, to a point that, by the end of Rosales’ tour, it began to wear him out, making him apathetic.
The protocol during an attack at night was to hop out of bed, grab your gear, and head for the bunker.
“Sometimes I’d be sleeping and the alarms would go off, I’d grab my helmet and roll off the bed and sleep on the floor,” he said.
Even after retiring, Rosales returned to Iraq and Kuwait as a contractor for Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), putting his mechanic skills from the Army to work as a civilian.
Adjusting to life at home
A 1983 graduate of New Braunfels High School, Rosales moved back to New Braunfels recently from Killeen, and eventually joined the Veterans of Foreign Wars. After his years of service in Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield, the Bosnian War and Operation Iraqi Freedom, Rosales represents a new group of veterans looking for support and camaraderie once leaving the military.
That sense of belonging affects Rosales profoundly.
“You’re bonded, you have a bond. Even the people that died, even if I didn’t know them, they are part of me,” he said.
Rosales sought out support at the VFW. He said many younger vets shy away from such organizations, often because they do not know of the services they offer.
So far, the number of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars entering the VFW and the American Legion has been at a trickle. However, getting older vets of those conflicts involved, such as Rosales, who might have ties to younger veterans, helps spread word of their services.
There are still generational gaps to overcome, but unlike the social and political gap that kept some Vietnam vets from joining after returning from conflict, the Iraq and Afghan vets are being actively recruited and educated on the services they could benefit from by joining organizations like the VFW and the American Legion.
Each of the organizations offers assistance, both financial and emotional, to families currently serving and those transitioning out of active duty.
“We pay their dues as long as they’re on active duty,” said Pat Seegers with the American Legion.
A gap still exists between the perception of the organizations’ image as a social place for older vets, and their actual service missions.
Cliff Hyatt, a veteran of Vietnam and commander at the VFW post in New Braunfels, said, “We have to get past this perception that it’s a bunch of old guys drinking beer and telling war stories,” he said.
Outreach
Both the VFW and American Legion are increasing their outreach, and have a lot recently to show for it.
“We had a guy come in here on a Friday. His wife had cleaned out his checking and left him homeless. We gave him $400 to get through the weekend (and got him on his feet),” said Dan Hafeman with the VFW.
Seegers said the American Legion recently discovered a homeless veteran who is completely disabled, and the group was able to find him a home.
The Legion is collecting and donating computers to both the active military and veterans.
The VFW recently sent phones with live video messages for active duty troops and hospitalized veterans through Operation Uplink.
While Rosales believes it will take time for new veterans to come around to these organizations, younger veterans will ultimately need a place to “heal their mind, body and soul,” he said.
