In ‘Island of Warriors,’ the second episode of the new PBS series America by the Numbers, Maria Hinojosa, executive producer and anchor of NPR’s Latino USA, examines the challenges faced by American veterans in Guam. While Guamanian residents serve in the military at three times the rate of the rest of the United States and territories, they receive the lowest per capita medical spending from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. This discrepancy in resources translates to only two full-time psychiatrists for an island of as many as 16,000 veterans — 3,000 of whom are actively requesting VA medical support for psychological disorders like PTSD.
How could this be possible?
Like Puerto Rico, Guam is a U.S. territory. While residents of these territories can, and do, enlist in the American military, they cannot vote for the president who sends them into battle. Similarly, they are represented on the floor of the House of Representatives only by delegates, who have no voting power. Eddie Calvo, the Republican governor of Guam, spoke truthfully when he ventured to call Guam a “colony” of the United States.
This disenfranchised status means that residents of U.S. territories like Guam have no real standing in American democracy. They must rely on others to advocate for them. When every state could use more resources to take care of the nearly 20 percent of veterans returning from Iraq with PTSD, who’s going to stand up for Guam?
As far as geopolitical power, Guam truly is the “least of these” in American democracy. While many Americans deplore Puerto Rico’s secondary status in American political discourse, Hinojosa recalled one Guamanian saying, “We just wish we were Puerto Rico. At least then people would know where we are.”
Think about it: Do you know where Guam is? I didn’t.
On the one hand, the neglected status of Guam’s veterans seems to require a simple political solution: give the people of Guam the means to participate in democracy. Support organizations like We the People, who advocate for the voting rights of Americans in U.S. territories. If you’re feeling adventurous, maybe you’ll even write a letter to your congressperson drawing attention to the maltreatment of Guamanian veterans. But that’s about all you can do, right? This is a simple, though of course sad, problem that requires a simple political solution, right?
I mean, did you see how far away Guam is?
Hinojosa’s statistical storytelling in America by the Numbers does more than expose inconsistencies in financial expenditures and political power. Although neglected demographics are Hinojosa’s starting point, she also captures deeply American cultural tensions in the personal narratives of those she interviews. Like any good storyteller, she probes larger themes through the idiosyncrasies of a particular community.
‘Island of Warriors’ primarily explores American patriotism and mental health, two topics that should be of utmost importance to those who profess to follow Christ. Although few places wrestle with these issues as painfully as Guam, many other communities face similarly difficult questions.
What can Christians do to protect the mental health of forgotten veterans?
For starters, we can talk about it. A recent survey by LifeWay Research found that two-thirds of pastors rarely discuss mental health from the pulpit. Yet, 23 percent of pastors surveyed said they had personally experienced mental illness. We cannot pretend that mental health is an individual issue, one that folks need to work out in their own head or solely in their personal spiritual life. Such a perspective only sustains the culture of stigma that discourages recognition of mental illness.
Good Christian community cannot replace professional support for these veterans. But Christians can offer loving acceptance and listening ears to veterans currently neglected by unjust institutions. They can also provide financial and emotional support to the families of veterans. Families suffer when their veterans suffer, and state mental health resources rarely cover for lost income and collateral emotional damage.
‘Island of Warriors’ highlights a population and issue neglected by the state. As Christians advocate for state support, will we also intervene as best we can, ushering shalom into our local communities?
Although Hinojosa’s investigative work outwardly focuses on the moral questions surrounding mental health care for Guamanians leaving military service, ‘Island of Warriors’ cannot escape the moral question regarding Guamanians entering military service. Regardless of veterans’ treatment after they leave, questions remain on the front end: why do they join the military? Should they?
For example, could the high rate of Guamanian military enlistment be an expression of a longstanding cultural tradition and a profound belief in American democracy? As one Guamanian veteran remarked, “We saw American troops liberate our country and that runs deep — deep — in our blood.”
Or, is their service the result of American military recruiters taking advantage of an economically burdened population by tempting them with the posh financial benefits of the American uniform? As Michael Bevacqua, professor of history at the University of Guam explained, the “clean, green [military] offers economic opportunity” and appeals strongly to the poorer people of Guam.
This tension, between patriotic American service and opportunistic recruiting, runs through every community in the United States. How can Christians speak — and act — into this tension?
On the one hand, Christians call Jesus Lord, a radical, anti-imperial claim that precludes support for American nationalism. Christians should be voices for peace, loving their enemies and resisting the call to violence in all its manifestations.
Yet, on the other hand, Christians — especially white, Western Christians — have a responsibility as cultural and racial reconcilers to respect other cultures. Should Christians be out on the streets urging young men and women not to join the American military? If we’re honest in our allegiance to Jesus as Lord, perhaps we should embrace such unpopular advocacy.
Yet this work becomes painful and difficult when faced with Guamanian veterans who have risked death and incurred injury for their country and would gladly do it over again. Throw in a history of colonialism and this work becomes even trickier.
Until we establish clear answers to these questions, I believe Christians should patiently and lovingly resist military recruitment as they advocate for alternative paths for young men and women contemplating enlistment — all while balancing a deep respect for culture alongside this call to peace.
In a nation that will be majority non-white by 2043, where U.S. elected officials increasingly look nothing like the people they serve, America needs more storytellers like Maria Hinojosa — storytellers willing to shine light on the populations neglected by mainstream media. Christians who watch future episodes of America by the Numbers will greatly benefit from the questions Hinojosa raises in relation to a rapidly diversifying America.
Ryan Stewart is online assistant at Sojourners.
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