Let me give you some personal experience on the matter. I worked security in a hospital for just over 5 years. I often had to restrain patients that were having "behavioral" problems. Depending on how badly they were behaving some of them got a severe beating. As the wars in Iraq and Afganistan continued I would see more and more recently returned vets that had several problems. We would get drunk vets, high vets, drug seeker vets, scared vets, angry vets, just plain crazy vets, etc. Though we tried to give them as much of a pass as possible, they were strong and they often got to swinging at nurses and doctors. And because they are so strong it often required a higher level of force to "assist" them into cooperation. I would say that I have beaten up more vets from Iraq and Afganistan than just normal folks. I think this is for several reasons.
Our military trains our armed forces to have a high degree of pride and confidence. They train them to be the baddest, best, biggest, etc. They fight and they win. They are not used to losing and they know that they are truly important in the world. They know how important they are for us regular folk. The problem is that when they get home and put on their civilian clothes they are not treated with the same respect and reverence that they had when they are in active duty. So many of them are used to giving orders and hear "yes sir!" When they get home their life just plain sucks until they get used to being in a totally different world. We send them out to a place that tries to kill them and then we bring them back and toss them off the plane onto their butts and say "have a nice life." For some of them that really have the pride and confidence that the military gives them they can deal with it and find a way to survive. For others they can't adjust to the "new" culture that they are immersed in and it leads to drinking, drugs, shady living, fighting to uphold their honor or prove they are not just some civilian. Though I believe that the majority of our returned vets are great guys, a few after the military are often wasted away into self pity and false pride. They spend their days wishing they could have that brotherhood and self worth that the military gave them, but they can't find it in the civilian world.
Many that are like that come home and pick fights with people or allow themselves to be goaded into fighting. Especially when alcohol is a factor. Though they are strong, they aren't always strong enough to not end up in the hospital. Many of the people that I beat up had already been beat up in a bar and didn't think the fight was over yet.
Now, you are used to fighting. You are used to being given respect and companionship. You are used to being told how great you really are. You are used to being obeyed by the people there. When you get home all that you are used to will all STOP. Don't let it get to you. It will take some time getting used to it. Don't try and treat civilians like they should know what you went through. They are dumb and can't figure it out. Though the military was important to you in your life, other people get upset if you talk about how great you are and all the awesome things you did. Around here people start rolling their eyes and leave when someone at the bar starts talking about Iraq. They know a fight is coming.
So, to answer your question, I do believe that there is a lot of violence done to our servicemen at home. Though the Fort Hood shooting and others were unavoidable by all the victims, there are many time that servicemen put themselves in potentially violent situations. If there is any advice I could give someone coming back it would be to avoid alcohol at all costs. Live a higher law. It sucks to deprive yourself of some things, but in my experience not one beat up drunk expected to fight when they started drinking. I think that because servicemen spend so much time fighting while active duty, some switch to default when they're intoxicated.
Now, I have several friends that are returned vets from Iraq, Afganistan, and even Vietnam. Many of them were my coworkers at the hospital. All of them were great men and not one of them didn't have to hold back their urge to beat the living snot out of the guys that were giving the military a bad name. In fact, my friend that was a Marine in Vietnam didn't hold back as much as he could have. I learned a lot from him. But all of them did say that it sucked to come home and adjust to a new world.
I hope the best for you and come home safe.
