We thank veterans for their service. Why don’t we support them when they stumble?

David MacEwen, a retired brigadier general, spent more than 30 years in the U.S. Army, concluding his service as the 59th Adjutant General. He is the director of the Council on Criminal Justice Veterans Justice Commission.

There is no shortage of celebrations for veterans in America, and rightfully so. But while our leaders give these men and women parades and patriotic speeches on Veterans Day, they often turn a blind eye when a veteran’s legacy of service haunts them back home.

As a retired brigadier general who spent more than three decades in the U.S. Army, I know that most veterans return home with a greater sense of pride and purpose. But many also carry invisible wounds. Conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury can cause them to fall through the cracks — into homelessness, our criminal justice system, or worse.

We’ve seen encouraging signs that our government is prioritizing veterans. But we need less cheerleading and more leading. It’s time to turn admiration into accountability and ensure that those who served our nation, including those who stumble, are met with more than empty promises.

America is asking much more of our service members than it once did. Post-9/11 veterans are twice as likely as veterans of previous wars to have served in an active combat zone and to have made multiple deployments. Veterans with multiple deployments are three times more likely to suffer from PTSD than veterans who weren’t deployed.

Most veterans transition successfully to civilian life. But those suffering from PTSD are more likely to struggle with mental health problems, addiction and homelessness — factors that can lead to criminal behavior. Nearly one-third of veterans have been arrested and booked into jail at some point in their lives, compared to one in five non-veterans. Veterans from previous eras, such as World War II and Vietnam, were half as likely as non-veterans to go to prison. But today, veterans are twice as likely as non-veterans to face incarceration.

To help veterans in the justice system, we first need to know who and where they are. Yet incredibly we have no accurate count of veterans behind bars. Estimates range from 50,000 to 180,000.

Why is counting veterans so hard?

There is no consistent or universal definition of who is and is not a veteran, nor uniform standards for whether and how prisons should identify them. Many agencies rely on self-identification, but some hesitate to do so. While many veterans are unsure of their status, others hesitate to reveal it due to shame, stigma or fear of losing benefits.

When veterans in the justice system aren’t identified, they can miss out on programs and services designed for them, such as veterans housing units, Department of Veterans Affairs benefits and mental health and reentry support. Those resources recognize their service and can address the very challenges that contributed to their incarceration, from trauma and substance use to unstable housing.

Without targeted interventions, many veterans continue to struggle upon release — and some reoffend, putting public safety at risk. As the saying goes: You break it, you buy it. And while our leaders talk a good game and hold meetings about how to support veterans who need help, action rarely happens when those folks leave the room. This is not just a policy failure; it’s a moral one.

Fortunately, we have a blueprint for change. The Council on Criminal Justice Veterans Justice Commission, chaired by former Defense Secretary and Vietnam combat veteran Chuck Hagel, produced an actionable roadmap to help policymakers tackle the issues that put some veterans on the wrong side of the law.

First, we must better support service members when they transition to civilian life. The Department of Defense should create a dedicated transition office, identify and support at-risk veterans, and expand access to VA health benefits.

Second, when veterans break the law, the government should expand diversion and treatment options as alternatives to prosecution and incarceration for those who qualify and improve the system for identifying veterans in the system.

Finally, we must strengthen support for veterans while they’re incarcerated and when they re-enter communities. Congress should require the VA to provide health care for those behind bars, businesses should prioritize hiring justice-involved veterans, and agencies should remove barriers that make it harder for veterans to access housing and benefits after release.

Turning these recommendations into reality won’t happen overnight, but there have been encouraging signals from federal and state leaders. Earlier this year, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth committed to improving the transition process and increasing collaboration between their departments. A Senate appropriations bill also included $5 million to fund a National Center for Veterans Justice, which the commission proposed to fund badly needed research and coordinate veterans’ support.

Some states are taking action as well. In 2024, Nebraska passed a law to expand alternatives to prosecution and incarceration for justice-involved veterans. Virginia, Texas and Arkansas have followed with their own legislation, and  15 other states have introduced more than 40 bills related to the commission’s recommendations.

To be sure, veterans who break the law must be held accountable for their actions. But our country must also be held accountable for what we’ve asked of our veterans in the first place. With accountability comes the responsibility to fix things when they go wrong.

When the parades end and the applause fades, we must uphold our military’s commitment that no man or woman who served our nation be left behind. Veterans who run afoul of the law must receive more than punishment — they need opportunities for restoration.