Coming Home as "Wounded Warriors": Identity, Stigma, and Status among Post-9/11 Wounded Veterans

Abstract

Increased public attention on wounded and injured veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has popularized the term "wounded warrior.” This defining phrase is used as both a colloquial term and an official status. This dissertation traces the symbolic meaning of “wounded warrior” in the lives of post-9/11 wounded veterans. Specifically, I examine how this socially constructed status is defined, its impact on the community of wounded veterans, and how it has come to shape the everyday experiences of post-9/11 wounded veterans. I rely on two forms of qualitative data, content analysis and in-depth interviews, to capture public discourse and personal experiences of being a “wounded warrior.” In the content analysis I use news media coverage from 2001 to 2013 to analyze the broader construction of wounded veterans as “wounded warriors.” Secondly, I conducted in-depth interviews with 39 wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to examine how veterans see themselves and their injuries and how they craft their personal and social identity within the “wounded warrior” framework. In both sets of data I attend to the role of visibility, whether a veteran’s injuries are readily seen, as a significant factor affecting both the portrayal and experience of veteran’s status as a “wounded warrior.” Post-9/11 wounded veterans are a socially valued group, benefiting from civilians who want to “support the troops” after the hostile homecoming of Vietnam veterans. “Wounded warrior” is a status connected to material benefits, social esteem, and symbolic capital, but the definition of who qualifies shifts and changes depending on the context. Combat wounded veterans use social and symbolic boundaries to establish themselves as the real “wounded warriors.” Wounded veterans employ social closure, a strategy of social stratification, for distinction using expectations and community norms to position themselves as the most worthy “wounded warriors”, protecting the meaning of their service and sacrifice. The visibility of a veteran’s injuries conditions their experience as a “wounded warrior”, impacting their relationship to the wounded veteran community, the experience of stigma, and their own identity. Overall, I find that post-9/11 wounded veterans actively shape and are shaped by their status as “wounded warriors.”