What will happen if disabled veterans lose everything? What happens when they can no longer access mental health care? I have lived this fear every day since the inauguration.

For longer than two decades, between 2008 and 2022, twenty-two veterans a day committed suicide. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) annual report on the suicide epidemic in veteran population has shown a decrease in these numbers since 2022, the number dropping from 22 to 18. Even so, veteran suicides remain heartbreaking and will again spike for years to come if DOGE has its way by planning to cut 70,000 VA staffers.

Veterans have had major upheaval and chaos since draft-dodging Trump announced the “Department of Government Efficiency” – which is run and staffed by those who would never have the courage to pick up a weapon and fight for their lavish way of life. As a young adult, I had the courage to fight, and then fellow soldiers raped me while I served in Iraq in 2004 as an intelligence specialist. I dodged bullets and improvised explosives, but my life was forever altered by Americans.

Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and other conflicts, are now facing our own worst fears every single day. The collapse of the VA is an omen of dark tidings. Millions of veterans and their families depend on the VA to survive. If the VA fails, millions of veterans will face homelessness. Millions of veterans will face a mental health crisis as they may not get their medication. Millions of veterans will face a world where they no longer fit in. We will face unemployment. We will face not only a changed world, but we will also face a world of veterans without jobs, without support, and without anywhere to go for help.

Epigenetics is the study of how phenomenon and trauma alter human DNA. Sufficient trauma – like war or homelessness – causes certain genes to be activated and expressed in DNA. Methylation of the DNA (adding methyl groups to cytosine bases in DNA) causes predictable outcomes in behavior and mental health. It leads to an increase in risk taking behavior and impulsivity. These newly activated genes will be passed down to the offspring of the people affected, reproducing these behavioral issues in the next generation. It has created new challenges for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder because it must be treated at the cellular level. Without medication and therapeutic intervention, these changes will cause catastrophic mental health problems. An increase in impulsivity would affect a person’s chances of suicide.

Injuries from military service causes veterans to experience chronic pain and anxiety. Pain and anxiety are not good for behavioral health. When a person struggles against multiple barriers to living a normal life, it wears the body down. It affects the nervous system, the immune system, and the digestive system. Stress wears the human body down to an existence of endless illnesses and injuries. This is the cycle veterans will face for the rest of their lives. Pain. Stress. Exhaustion. Illness. Injuries. Pain. Stress. Exhaustion. Illness. Injuries. So on ad infinitum. Veterans are angry, and this is why.

Unleashing a flood of unstable veterans on the civilian population will cause serious problems. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder include emotional instability and impaired impulse control. Without a positive support system this will lead to drug abuse and an increase in crime. An increase in risk taking behavior would potentially increase incidents of drunk driving, for example. Another risky behavior is having unprotected sex – which could lead to public health problems. An entire generation of children from these veterans will be born with these same dangerous traits.

Trump and Musk are playing with fire. You can’t just forget all the people damaged by the wars capricious politicians have brought us to. Scientific evidence exists to prove that wars have far reaching consequences. Taking away our support system will cause disasters in the country you profess to love. Historical evidence shows that warriors cannot be forgotten during times of relative peace. How soon you forget the warriors who fought and died to keep you and your families lives so ultra privileged. It’s a basic tenant of leadership that leaders are responsible for their subordinates. If a soldier is wounded in a battle, their leaders have a responsibility to pick that soldier up and carry them to safety.

The Trump-Musk alliance has terminated employment of over 6,000 veterans working for the VA. More terminations are scheduled for later in the year. Increasing the unemployment rate of this vulnerable population is ill advised. Veterans are a fierce and proud people, they won’t let this stand. Protests have already started. A large group of veterans (with increased impulsivity) all protesting together is a recipe for riots.

Tampering with veteran’s benefits is going to wreck the America I grew up in. The economy is already unstable. The housing market is volatile and unaffordable for many. The effects of climate change have destabilized the weather. Like Sam Cooke said, “A change is gonna come.”  Increasing social inequality in this country will affect everybody, not just veterans.

Draft dodger Trump sending the military to new shores will only create more damaged veterans. Veterans know this.