Older veterans

Many older veterans came home and went straight back to work and family life without talking about what they saw. That got them through. It can also mean memories were never fully worked through.

Looking back on life is a normal part of aging, and it can bring unwanted memories along with good ones.

Older veterans often bring patience, perspective and a lifetime of getting through hard things. Researchers who study aging veterans say returning to wartime memories can lead to growth as well as distress.

Staying connected, keeping active and finding meaning are all part of healthy aging.

Older veterans served in many eras and roles. Vietnam-era veterans are now the largest single group, about 31% of all U.S. veterans.

How people were treated coming home differed a lot by era. Some were celebrated. Others felt ignored or blamed. Those experiences can shape how a veteran feels about service decades later.

• Fewer daily demands and more quiet time
• Health problems, pain or less ability to get around
• Losing a spouse, friends or people you served with
• News of wars, anniversaries or reunions
• Reflecting on your life and what it meant
• Retirement and unstructured days

In one VA program for aging Vietnam veterans, a 10-week group taught about this process, coping and mindfulness, and helped veterans make meaning of their service. Veterans reported fewer depression and PTSD symptoms afterward, though the group was small.

Veterans in the group also said it helped them cope and understand their thoughts and feelings, and many went on to seek more care.

• Ask about talk therapies for PTSD, which work at any age
• Join a group with other veterans your age
• Keep in touch with people, and try volunteer or group activities
• Talk with a provider about a plan that fits your health
• Treatment may be available by telehealth from home

• Get up and go to bed at about the same time
• Plan one thing to look forward to each day
• Put people on the calendar, like a weekly coffee or call
• Move your body every day, even a short walk

VA’s Gerofit program offers exercise programs for older veterans at some VA sites. Ask your VA team whether it is near you.

• Help at a veterans’ group, food bank or place of worship
• Mentor younger veterans or young people
• Share skills like woodworking, gardening or fixing things
• Volunteer or join group activities

Unstructured time can leave more room for trauma memories to surface. If the days feel long and heavy, that is a signal to add structure and talk to someone.

Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000. It is run by the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center and preserves veterans’ own accounts of their time in uniform.

A grandchild, friend or neighbor can record an interview with you. You choose what to share, and you can leave out anything you want.

Looking back can stir up guilt about things done or not done, or grief for those who didn’t come home. These feelings make sense. They can ease with support.

• Values you lived by that you hope others carry on
• Lessons from service and from life after it
• Stories that make you laugh, not just the heavy ones
• Photos, letters or medals with the story behind them

The “My life story: service & beyond” worksheet below can help you gather these.

For many veterans, a spouse was the one person who understood their moods and memories. Losing them can bring deep grief and leave old feelings with nowhere to go.

As buddies pass away, it can feel like losing the last people who were there. Funerals and memorials can stir memories of those lost in service.

Ways to honor them

• Call their families on special days
• Go to reunions or memorial events while you can
• Share their stories with younger people
• Write down what each of them gave you

• A veterans’ group, post or peer support group
• A senior center, faith community or club
• Regular calls or video chats with family
• Volunteering, which brings both purpose and people

The Eldercare Locator, a public service of the U.S. Administration for Community Living, can connect you with local services for older adults: 1-800-677-1116.

In a large study of veterans aged 55 and older, those with PTSD were nearly twice as likely to develop dementia during the study as those without PTSD (about 11% compared with 7%).

This doesn’t mean PTSD causes dementia, and most people with PTSD do not develop it. The researchers said treating PTSD and checking memory in older veterans with PTSD is important.

Some veterans live with illnesses linked to service, such as conditions VA connects to Agent Orange. VA “presumes” certain illnesses were caused by Agent Orange for veterans who served in certain places, and the PACT Act added more conditions and locations.

Worry about a service-related illness is a real stress. Getting answers and benefits can ease it.

As bodies age, they handle treatments differently, so providers need to think about your other health conditions and current treatments. Tell your provider about your mood, sleep and memories, as well as your body.

VA offers geriatric evaluations and GeriPACT primary care teams that help older veterans stay independent.

Home Based Primary Care brings health care to veterans in their home. It is for veterans who need team-based support at home for ongoing illnesses that affect daily life.

Other home and community services can include home health aides, homemaker help, respite for caregivers, palliative care and hospice.

VA helps veterans with advance care planning: working out your priorities for care and telling others your wishes for future care.

Planning ahead can ease worry for you and spare your family hard guesses later.

VA’s Caregiver Support Program has teams at VA medical centers. The Caregiver Support Line is 1-855-260-3274.

• Drinking more
• Getting upset by news, anniversaries or reminders
• Losing interest in people or hobbies
• New trouble sleeping or nightmares
• Feeling there is no reason to live

You don’t need to ask what happened in the war. Asking “How are you really doing?” and listening is often enough.

In 2024, the suicide rate for veterans aged 75 and older was 35.8 per 100,000, and it rose from 2023 while rates for most other age groups fell. Firearms were involved in about three in four veteran suicides.

How you can help

• Ask directly: “Are you thinking about ending your life?” Asking does not raise the risk.
• Help put time and distance between them and firearms during hard times, such as locked storage or keeping them elsewhere.
• Stay with them and listen.
• Call the Veterans Crisis Line together: dial 988 then press 1.

• Faith groups: check on older members who live alone
• Neighbors: offer a ride to appointments or the store
• Schools and libraries: invite veterans to share their stories
• Veteran groups: reach out to members who stop coming

Staying socially connected is part of healthy aging, and volunteer or group activities help.

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988
• Eldercare Locator: 1-800-677-1116
• VA Caregiver Support Line: 1-855-260-3274
• Vet Center Call Center: 1-877-927-8387, 24/7
• Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988 then press 1, or text 838255

If you served in another country’s forces, your country’s veterans’ agency can tell you what support exists for older veterans. Veterans: coming home & life after service lists lines in the UK, Canada and Australia.

Findahelpline.com lists free, confidential helplines in many countries, searchable by country and topic.