It’s a great time to be a U.S. veteran

OPINION:

Twenty years ago, between deployments to Iraq, I wrote on these pages about how wonderful it was to be an American soldier. Today, I am older, fatter, less energetic and have less hair, but now is nonetheless a wonderful time to be a veteran.

I see many of us old vets staying involved for Americans in need and our allies at war, and I couldn’t be prouder. I often join my fellow former service members to volunteer for disasters and war here and abroad.

It was painful to watch the defeatism I wrote about in 2005 grow to dominate nearly all news coverage, to the point that, in recent years, many Americans have become antagonistic toward us. There is not a single movie that accurately tells what we did in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the conventional wisdom today is that we vets are all messed up, angry, withdrawn and resentful.

The opposite is, in fact, the case. Not only is my friend from Vets for Freedom, whom I helped before my last deployment to Iraq, now the U.S. defense secretary, but I am constantly working with fellow veterans in all disasters, including helping Israel.

For example, Team Rubicon, a disaster response organization started by a group of combat veterans in 2010, has become one of the most important charity groups in all disasters around the country.

I’ve repeatedly deployed with Team Rubicon, including during President Trump’s first term. In every natural disaster and extreme weather event at which I’ve volunteered, such as the Los Angeles wildfires early this year, I’ve been surrounded by veterans, many of whom were wounded in combat but have never stopped serving the American people in crisis.

Like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, I joined the U.S. Army after 9/11 to serve our country in war, and Voice of America interviewed me to talk about our work. I tried hard to counter the onslaught of defeatist, negative news.

Regrettably, I failed on Afghanistan. That painfully disastrous collapse in 2021 was shocking for those of us who served. I helped Team Rubicon with the initial arrival of Afghans coming to America directly from Kabul, as the Taliban retook Afghanistan, and it was a brutal experience that badly hurt us veterans. I saw many tears among fellow veterans.

Now, as the world’s negative press heaps criticism on our democratic ally Israel, as it faces a desperate war on terrorism, I have also gone there to volunteer. After the Hamas terrorist attack in 2023, I volunteered in several capacities through the multifront wars against Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and Yemen. Even there, I am often with U.S. combat veterans working hard with the best of American idealism to help our friend in the Middle East persevere and overcome tragedy.

For example, earlier this summer, I was on an Israeli military base putting together medical supplies and was joined by William Jones. Neither of us is Jewish, but like me, Mr. Jones wants to help America’s vital ally in its fight for survival while studying homeland security and terrorism courses at an Israeli college. Mr. Jones served in the U.S. Army in Iraq as a fellow combat engineer and hopes to return to the U.S. someday to become a Homeland Security Department employee.

When I went to the Gaza Strip to help the Israeli military, I was joined by Kiel Hendricks, who had been a U.S. Army Military Police soldier in Iraq and was severely wounded in 2009. Mr. Hendricks is not Jewish either, but he also wants to help our ally during this most difficult time.

As American military veterans, we know not to fall for terrorist propaganda that accuses Israeli soldiers of all sorts of crimes, including the starvation of civilians. Israel’s is the most difficult war, far worse than what we faced after 9/11. Many Israeli soldiers are also American, and I assure you they are good people trying their hardest to avoid civilian casualties. This is why you will often find us American combat veterans helping Israel.

The thing about all these American war veterans I keep seeing on volunteer missions is that, like I wrote 20 years ago, everyone from Mr. Hegseth to Messrs. Jones and Hendricks to all my veteran friends volunteering for Team Rubicon missions, it’s a wonderful time to be an American veteran.

• Joseph Roche is a U.S. veteran living in the District of Columbia. He works for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.