Military Vets Smoking

[carlweis]

I know there are veterans out here on this site, has pipe smoking helped you both mentally and emotionally. I know it has me. I know its kinda a touchy subject for some but I figured it did me such a world of good I was just wondering who else has found this beautiful art.

 

[carlweis]

Hey does anyone think we could convince the VA to start a pipe smoking program. They like handing out meds, why not a tin of sam gawith or dunhill nightcap and a new Dunhill or Peterson Pipe? LOLOL :rofl:

 

[yaboofive]

I love my yearly VA exam where they determine if I'm still broken or miraculously healed. Every year my doctor asks if I'm ready to stop smoking my pipe , when I say no he simply asks what blend I brought in that day. For me, I smoked my pipe while in the military. It is a fixed point to which my world revolves. Getting deployed (again) smokes pipe. Gets married, smokes pipe. Gets divorced, smokes pipe. Etcetera and so fourth.

Can I say its helped my as a veteran? I wouldn't know, I have always been a veteran with a pipe so I do not posses the data to asses how I would be without it.

 

[tuold]

Well you may know the military during WWII handed out cigarettes to the troops to help deal with the stress of combat. It was even included in rations. While being effective, it probably did create a lot of nicotine addicts!
I never saw combat in my nearly six years of service during the seventies and eighties, but my pipes went everywhere I went, which was from Texas to DC, to Japan and Korea. They've been with me through some pretty stormy times and continue to be a much appreciated source of relaxation.
I'm in favor of a "Pipes for Vets" Program!

 

[mso489]

I didn't smoke on the ship, Operation Market Time off the DMZ. Just cigars now and then after service.

Pipe smoked when my late wife chain smoked nails. Quit when she quit, to support her. Took up a pipe

a little when she was gone, then lapsed. Took it up again when my living wife had her first hip replacement

revision. I tease her that she drove me to Cavendish; not that that's all I smoke, but it sounded funny.

I think vets have the additional stress of having coped with an unusual stressful circumstance in a formative

period of their lives (boy does that sound pompous and ponderous, but I think there's truth in it). Pipe smoking

is a good way to relax, bond without getting all touchy feely which is stressful in itself, and to pace a conversation

to thought processes rather than psychobabble or caffeine.

 

[cmdrmcbragg]

I was a cigarette and cigar smoker when I was in the Navy. I can't complain about needing any "help" as the only things I've drug around after service is an anal retentiveness for sticking to a schedule, expecting things to get done and being clean and organized. The pipe just allows me to enjoy tobacco in another way different than cigars.
Non-combat vet

 

[kcvet67]

Well you may know the military during WWII handed out cigarettes to the troops to help deal with the stress of combat. It was even included in rations.

This was continued through Viet Nam. C Rations had a 4 pack of cigarettes. Forward areas were often supplied with free cartons of cigarettes from the manufacturers. When I first got in-country cigarettes were $1.40 a carton in the PX, then went all the way up to $1.50 a carton. Pipe tobacco in most PXs was problematic, there was usually not much of a selection. I depended mainly on shipments from Iwan Ries.

 

[dieseltech]

I Think recreational smoking has helped with post deployment issues. I can say that I am more relaxed when smoking a pipe or a cigar. I was deployed to Iraq 3 times, I was there for the invasion of 03, the election year of 05, and securing the Anbar province from in 07-08. I do have times when on edge and anxiety gets the best of me but I don't deal with the VA. I got what I wanted, an honorable discharge. I don't need anything else. It's a good program for some but it's not for me. I have some friends who utilize the VA system, for some it works well and others it don't. just my 2 cents
Travis

 

[dread]

I think it helps me relax. It is a touchy subject for some folks, but I'm pretty open about it as I think it helps other people treat folks with more severe cases of PTSD than I better. It is a very calming activity that engages multiple senses and lets you physically interact with something. That is a very Zen thing, literally. I've only had one panic attack since I went back to the pipe and quit cigarettes, and only one adverse reaction to excessive noise. That is a big change and I think the pipe is in part helping out as it is such a relaxing activity to me.

 

[dieseltech]

couldn't agree more with you dread, since going back to pipes and cigars i am able to go shooting, and hunting. and i don't dive for cover every time there's a whistling or a loud bang. I haven't had a panic attack in about 3 years now.

 

[elliott]

I am a Vet and still Active Duty, I really do enjoy my time smoking my pipes. They seem to give me time to relax, unwind, de-stress, and actually think about things that need to get done. My last 2 tours of duty were spent primarily in direct combat for the majority of both and the little time I did have to sit down and smoke a cigar or my pipe was awesome. This tour is mostly a time killing mission which gives me ample time to partake in my pipe smoking as well as learn and grow my knowledge of pipes, tobacco, and smoking thanks to PM and all you guys here. I have realized that taking on this hobby full time is not only rewarding in that I am constantly learning but that I have been given the opportunity to meet some amazing folks that I otherwise probably would not have had the opportunity to converse with or learn from otherwise. Looking in the near future and the PITA of re-integrating back into stateside living and returning from this deployment(although this one isn't stressful) I can honestly say I am overly excited to get back, take some leave, get out camping/fishing, sit back and smoke my pipe.