By Natasha Korecki
POLITICO
September 5, 2021
The day Kabul fell, veterans’ mental health crisis hotlines lit up.
As Taliban militia members streamed into Afghanistan’s capital, Veterans Affairs chief of staff Tanya Bradsher blasted out an email to the department’s senior staff. “My veteran network is reeling and I am sure yours are as well,” Bradsher wrote in the Aug. 15 email, which was obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request and shared with POLITICO. “Can we highlight in our comms channels that VA has resources available? I am thinking of the vet centers in particular but open to all resources. This is devastating to so many.”