1įor this study, veterans were defined as men and women who do not currently serve on active duty in the U.S.

In addition, 36% say that – regardless of whether they have sought help – they think they have suffered from post-traumatic stress (PTS), according to a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S.

Roughly half say they had emotionally traumatic or distressing experiences related to their military service, and about a third say they sought professional help to deal with those experiences. And post-9/11 veterans are about twice as likely as their pre-9/11 counterparts to have served in a combat zone.īecause they are more likely to have been deployed and to have seen combat, post-9/11 veterans are also more likely to bear the scars of battle, whether physical or not. Roughly three-quarters of post-9/11 veterans were deployed at least once, compared with 58% of those who served before them. Their collective experiences – from deployment to combat to the transition back to civilian life – are markedly different from those who served in previous eras. About one-in-five veterans today served on active duty after the terrorist attacks of Sept. What it means to be a military veteran in the United States is being shaped by a new generation of service members. (Steven Clevenger/Corbis via Getty Images)

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