“The historical implications were apparent right away,’’ recalled Nash, now a lieutenant colonel. “That was the start of World War III.’’
Since that morning a decade ago, almost nothing has been the same for Nash, or for the Massachusetts National Guard. Nearly 11,000 soldiers and airmen have been deployed overseas, many more than once. They have endured the hardships of a two-war campaign in which a resilient enemy has been unseen and everywhere. They have bled alongside their counterparts in the Army.
The country’s first colonial militia with roots dating to 1636, the Guard is a force transformed - better equipped, better funded, better educated, and more diverse than ever. But it is also a force hit hard by the long years of war.
Sixteen members of the Massachusetts National Guard have died on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001; more than 120 have been wounded in action. Overall, 116 military personnel from the state have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. And about half of the guardsmen who deployed overseas have reported mental-health concerns such as post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Sergeant Scott Chapman of East Taunton is one of them. Chapman, 41, suffered a head injury in Iraq in April 2009 that has left him unable to walk without help or supervision, and unfit to reclaim his job as a trucker. He and his wife, Sylvia, have had to approach private support groups to pay utility and car-repair bills.
It is painful. And humbling. A debilitating side effect of his long-ago decision to serve.
“I had over 20 years in the military,’’ Chapman said of a career split between the Army and the Guard. He was on his sixth deployment when his Humvee rolled over in Baghdad. “I thought that would be my last deployment, and I would retire.’’
In the first days after the accident, what seemed to be only a headache and disorientation turned dramatically worse. The right side of his face and ear became numb, Chapman was evacuated to Germany, “and the rest is all a big blur,’’ he said.
