emotional resiliency you say?

1. i don't know if some weekly 90 minute classes will help but it SURE CAN'T HURT. we have to take care of our heroes. we're not in a lot of cases. it's our DUTY as citizens of the united states of america. they protect us WE MUST PROTECT THEM WHEN IT'S THEIR TURN
   

Mental Stress Training Is Planned for U.S. Soldiers
By BENEDICT CAREY

PHILADELPHIA — The Army plans to require that all 1.1 million of its soldiers take intensive training in emotional resiliency, military officials say.

The training, the first of its kind in the military, is meant to improve performance in combat and head off the mental health problems, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide, that plague about one-fifth of troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Active-duty soldiers, reservists and members of the National Guard will receive the training, which will also be available to their family members and to civilian employees.

The new program is to be introduced at two bases in October and phased in gradually throughout the service, starting in basic training. It is modeled on techniques that have been tested mainly in middle schools.......

this article restates what we already know

and what i've posted about a LOT. i will never stop posting about this subject though. women in the military being raped and/or brutalized (i will NOT stop posting about lavena johnson either. i won't stop posting about lavena johnson until the truth comes out. until her family gets the TRUTH AND PEACE. lavena johnson did NOT commit suicide, SHE WAS MURDERED AND THE MILITARY IS COVERING IT UP



Culture of Unpunished Sexual Assault in Military

by Dahr Jamail

MARFA, Texas - Sexual assault of women serving in the U.S. military, while brought to light in recent reports, has a long tradition in that institution.

Women in America were first allowed into the military during the Revolutionary War in 1775, and their travails are as old.

Maricela Guzman served in the Navy from 1998 to 2002 as a computer technician on the island of Diego Garcia, and later in Naples, Italy. She was raped while in boot camp, but was too scared to talk about the assault for the rest of her time in the military.

In her own words she, "survived by becoming a workaholic. Fortunately or unfortunately the military took advantage of this, and I was much awarded as a soldier for my work ethic."

Guzman decided to dissociate from the military on witnessing the way it treated the native population in Diego Garcia. Post discharge, her life became unmanageable. The effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from her rape had taken a heavy toll.

After undergoing a divorce, a failed suicide attempt and homelessness, she moved in with her parents. A chance encounter with a female veteran at a political event in Los Angeles prompted her to contact the veteran's administration (VA) for help. She began seeing a therapist there who diagnosed her with PTSD from her rape.

She told IPS that the VA denied her claim nevertheless, "Because they said I couldn't prove it ... since I had not brought it up when it happened and also because I had not shown any deviant behaviour while in the service. I was outraged and felt compelled to talk about what happened."..............

this is sickening

but they've done it before - in wars gone by. an example you ask? agent orange exposure i answer. that's only ONE example of our brave men and women getting the shaft from the good ol' boyz network

again, this makes me want to effing puke

still don't believe the good ol' whiteboy network (the ones that run stuff including our military) doesn't give a flying fuck about our returning heroes? two words for ya

WALTER
(and)
REED

Tale of the secret Army tape

After a soldier taped a psychologist saying he'd been pressured not to diagnose PTSD, the Army launched an investigation. Read the details of how the Army declared itself innocent.

Editor's note: Read about Sgt. X's tape -- and listen to a segment of it -- in the first story in this series, "I Am Under a Lot of Pressure to Not Diagnose PTSD." Read a summary of the Army's internal investigation, in which it determined that it was not exerting such pressure, here.

By Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna

April 9, 2009 | In a story published yesterday, Salon reported on a surreptitious tape recording of an Army psychologist telling a patient last June that he had been pressured not to diagnose soldiers as having post-traumatic stress disorder. The soldier, whom Salon dubbed Sgt. X to protect his identity, recorded the Fort Carson, Colo., psychologist, Douglas McNinch, twice describing pressure to label soldiers with "anxiety disorder" instead of PTSD. The diagnosis of anxiety disorder could result in improper treatment and lower disability payments if the Army discharges a soldier from the military. "It's not fair," McNinch said on the tape. "I think it's a horrible way to treat soldiers."

But neither the U.S. Senate nor the Army apparently agrees with McNinch's assessment of the treatment that returning soldiers are receiving. By early July, news of the tape recording had made its way to both the Senate Armed Services Committee and the upper reaches of the Pentagon. Despite prodding from Sen. Kit Bond, the Senate Armed Services Committee declined to investigate the tape's implications. A veterans' advocacy group then had a combative July 14 meeting at the Pentagon with the Army's vice chief of staff, at which the vice chief was reportedly dismissive. Two weeks later, the Army issued the results of an internal investigation and absolved itself of any wrongdoing.

Today's article describes the contentious meeting at the Pentagon, how the tape got to the Senate and the secretary of the Army in the first place, and which Senate aide determined it was not worth investigating. It also details how the individuals assigned by the Army to investigate the tape were connected both to the individual who had allegedly pressured McNinch not to diagnose soldiers as having PTSD and to earlier questionable in-house investigations of Army medical care............

i think both of these generals are courageous

if you don't think generals and majors and commanders and lieutenants (and any other officer i've forgotten to name) are not effected by what they've seen and done and ordered others to do, in combat you're a stooge. i wouldn't want someone in charge who doesn't have a psyche or a soul or a heart or a conscience or morals. thanks to brig. general gary s. patton and gen. carter ham!

Generals share their experience with PTSD
By Larry Shaughnessy and Barbara Starr
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Army generals aren't known for talking about their feelings.

But two high-ranking officers are doing just that, hoping that by going public they can remove the stigma that many soldiers say keeps them from getting help for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Brig. General Gary S. Patton and Gen. Carter Ham have both sought counseling for the emotional trauma of their time in the Iraq war.

"One of our soldiers in that unit, Spec. Robert Unruh, took a gunshot wound to the torso, I was involved in medevacing him off the battlefield. And in a short period of time, he died before my eyes," Patton told CNN in an exclusive interview. "That's a memory [that] will stay with me the rest of my life."

Ham was the commander in Mosul when a suicide bomber blew up a mess tent. Twenty-two people died.

"The 21st of December, 2004, worst day of my life. Ever," Ham said. "To this day I still ask myself what should I have done differently, what could I have done as the commander responsible that would have perhaps saved the lives of those soldiers, sailors, civilians."....

i've done many tetris postings

here and at the reformed pirate

but this one is REALLY good and REALLY amazing as well (oh, and i always mention cv rick in my tetris postings)

Cognitive vaccine: using Tetris to fight PTSD

By Jonathan M. Gitlin

Exposure to traumatic events can often come back to haunt people. Violent crime, car crashes, warfare: all of these bring with them the specter of long term psychiatric issues due to post-traumatic stress. Now a new study suggests that Tetris—yes, that Tetris—might be able to help with that problem.

On the face of it, Tetris seems like such a simple game. You move blocks around on a screen to complete lines, all to a catchy Russian-inspired MIDI melody. But the game's simple appearance belies the complexity within; playing Tetris is an involved visuospatial task that utilises the pathways in the brain associated with visual memory. It's strong stuff too; I'm sure many of you are familiar with the sensation of seeing tetrominos in your head after a long Tetris session. Indeed, this phenomenon has been clinically documented!

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has an incidence in the US of around eight percent, although this figure is significantly higher among returning combat veterans and those who live in violent neighborhoods. As the name suggests, it stems from experiencing or viewing traumatic stress, such as that involving death or violent injury, and manifests, among other symptoms, as vivid flashbacks, putting the sufferer back at the scene.............

and here is what ANOTHER

bunch of veterans think of john mccain. (hint, NOT TOO MUCH)
McCain's Miserable Record of Not Supporting America's Troops and Veterans

by: Brandon Friedman

On Friday, September September 26, 2008, John McCain said the following:

"I know the veterans, I know them well, and I know that they know that I'll take care of them, and I have been proud of their support and their recognition of my service to the veterans, and I love them, and I'll take care of them, and they know that I'll take care of them."

This statement--made near the end of Friday's debate--immediately infuriated veterans across America and overseas. In fact, Senator John McCain has a very clear, long, and illustrious history of not supporting troops and veterans one bit.

Now, I've seen legislative examples, I've watched the YouTubes, and I've lived this lack of support in more ways than one. But now, for the first time, I've tried to compile as much of this non-support as possible into a single document--from a variety of sources--complete with links, quotes, and video clips. It's something that readers often ask me about, so I hope this helps. I'm sure there's a lot missing, so feel free to add more in the comments. But for now, I think this should give us a good start in exposing John McCain's abysmal of record of supporting troops and veterans. Here we go:

Senator John McCain's Record on Troop and Veterans' Issues

Voting Against Veterans

Veterans Groups Give McCain Failing Grades. In its most recent legislative ratings, the non-partisan Disabled American Veterans gave Sen. McCain a 20 percent rating for his voting record on veterans' issues. Similarly, the non-partisan Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America gave McCain a "D" grade for his poor voting record on veterans' issues, including McCain's votes against additional body armor for troops in combat and additional funding for PTSD and TBI screening and treatment.

could we be any LESS caring

about our wounded warriors? what are we thinking?

the we isn't me by the way. if i was in charge, they would be THE FIRST thing on my list to fix (with so many in second position my head is spinning just thinking about it).

Nearby Firing Ranges Complicate Soldiers' Recovery From Stress

By Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post Staff Writer
FORT BENNING, Ga. -- Army Sgt. Jonathan Strickland sits in his room at noon with the blinds drawn, seeking the sleep that has eluded him since he was knocked out by the blast of a Baghdad car bomb.
Like many of the wounded soldiers living in the newly built "warrior transition" barracks here, the soft-spoken 25-year-old suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. But even as Strickland and his comrades struggle with nightmares, anxiety and flashbacks from their wartime experiences, the sounds of gunfire have followed them here, just outside their windows.
Across the street from their assigned housing, about 200 yards away, are some of the Army infantry's main firing ranges, and day and night, several days each week, barrages from rifles and machine guns echo around Strickland's building. The noise makes the wounded cringe, startle in their formations, and stay awake and on edge, according to several soldiers interviewed at the barracks last month. The gunfire recently sent one soldier to the emergency room with an anxiety attack, they said. ...........

on this memorial day

why did four veterans in ONE region die in their sleep? they were all prescribed drugs for their ptsd. if there are four here, are there more elsewhere?

are they throwaways? why isn't this on the front page of EVERY newspaper out there. why isn't king george demanding over the top medical care for our veterans? why?
West Virginia Paper: 4th Local Vet Taking 'PTSD Drugs' Dies
By Greg Mitchell
NEW YORK A report in the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette connects four recent deaths in the area to a combination of drugs taken to help the veterans suffering from post-traumatic shock disorder. This comes on top of what appears to be a surge in Iraq vet suicides around the country, often reported only in local newspapers.The article by Julie Robinson is at:http://wvgazette.com/News/200805230640It opens as follows.*A Putnam County veteran who was taking medication prescribed for post-traumatic stress disorder died in his sleep earlier this month, in circumstances similar to the deaths of three other area veterans earlier this year.Derek Johnson, 22, of Hurricane, served in the infantry in the Middle East in 2005, where he was wounded in combat and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder while hospitalized.Military doctors prescribed Paxil, Klonopin and Seroquel for Johnson, the same combination taken by veterans Andrew White, 23, of Cross Lanes; Eric Layne, 29, of Kanawha City; and Nicholas Endicott of Logan County. All were in apparently good physical health when they died in their sleep.Johnson was taking Klonopin and Seroquel, as prescribed, at the time of his death, said his grandmother, Georgeann Underwood of Hurricane. Both drugs are frequently used in combination to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. Klonopin causes excessive drowsiness in some patients.He also was taking a painkiller for a back injury he sustained in a car accident about a week before his death, but was no longer taking Paxil...............

they are treated like nothing more

than a steamin' pile o' shite. they are sent into harm's way without one wink of sleep lost. they are expected to fight an unjust, immoral and illegal war. they are expected to withstand snipers and bombs and seeing their friends get blown away. they are expected to see the inhabitants of iraq with little to no electricity, no jobs, little food. they don't know who is friend or who is foe.

and when they come home, they get this:
Doctor Urged Fewer Diagnoses of PTSD

By Christopher Lee Washington Post Staff Writer
The physician in charge of the post-traumatic stress disorder program at a medical facility for veterans in Texas told staff members to refrain from diagnosing PTSD because so many veterans were seeking government disability payments for the condition.
"Given that we are having more and more compensation seeking veterans, I'd like to suggest that you refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out," Norma Perez wrote in a March 20 e-mail to mental-health specialists and social workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Olin E. Teague Veterans' Center in Temple, Tex. Instead, she recommended that they "consider a diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder."
VA staff members "really don't . . . have time to do the extensive testing that should be done to determine PTSD," Perez wrote. ...........

these are startling figures

benefits taken away, money for schooling cut, no treatment or shoddy treatment. these men and women VOLUNTEERED to serve their country. the LEAST we can do is take care of them. THE LEAST
Soldier suicides could trump war tolls: US health official
Suicides and "psychological mortality" among US soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan could exceed battlefield deaths if their mental scars are left untreated, the head of the US Institute of Mental Health warned Monday.
Of the 1.6 million US soldiers who have been deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, 18-20 percent -- or around 300,000 -- show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression or both, said Thomas Insel, head of the National Institute of Mental Health.
An estimated 70 percent of those at-risk soldiers do not seek help from the Department of Defense or the Veterans Administration, he told a news conference launching the American Psychiatric Association's 161st annual meeting here.
If "one just does the math", then allowing PTSD or depression to go untreated in such numbers could result in "suicides and psychological mortality trumping combat deaths" in Iraq and Afghanistan, Insel warned.
More than 4,000 US soldiers have died in Iraq since the US invasion of 2003, and more than 400 in Afghanistan since the US led attacks there in 2001, of which some 290 were killed in action and the rest in on-combat deaths.....

this starts with ONE story

out of how many, we really can't even guess (unfortunately). it's the story of Marine Lance Cpl. James Jenkins. his very brief life, then his death. i blame king george and his court for lance corporal jenkins' death. they have committed crimes against humanity and they must be held accountable. it's a long article with ugly facts.
Denial in the Corps

Kathy Dobie
Marine Lance Cpl. James Jenkins is buried in the same New Jersey cemetery that he used to run through on his way to high school, stopping at the Eat Good Bakery to get two glazed doughnuts and an orange juice before heading off to class. When his mother, Cynthia Fleming, visits his grave, she looks over the low cemetery wall at not only the bakery but the used-car lot where James used to sell Christmas trees during the winter and the nursing home where he worked every summer and says, "Lord, son, you're on your own turf." James, who died at 23, is buried in Greenwood Cemetery; the owners told Cynthia they're proud to have him there. ......

how much more?

how many more times are we going to hear and read this? how many times are we going to ignore the health and well-being of our enlisted men and women and our veterans?
oh wait, we have something WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY more important to do. yes, that's right, INVESTIGATE STEROIDS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL (how many people does THAT encompass? a couple of thousand give or take) and now the rap industry??????????????? yup, mlb players and rap artists are FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN OUR SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN
Rate of Traumatic Stress Triples Among U.S. Troops
TUESDAY, Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) -- The incidence of new cases of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among combat-exposed U.S. soldiers has risen threefold since 2001, a new study finds.
PTSD is an anxiety disorder involving nightmares, flashbacks and panic attacks linked to event "triggers" that develop after exposure to combat or other extremely disturbing events.
Researchers at the Naval Health Research Center in San Diego analyzed data on more than 50,000 participants in the Millennium Cohort Study, which is tracking the health of U.S. military personnel over 22 years. The researchers compared data collected in July 2001 and June 2003 against data collected from June 2004 to February 2006.
The data included details about combat exposure, new onset PTSD symptoms, cigarette smoking and problem drinking...........

'when i came home'

"When I Came Home": The Best Film Yet About Iraq War Veterans
Through the story of Herold Noel, a homeless Iraq war veteran suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and living out of his car in Brooklyn, "When I Came Home" reveals a failing system and the veteran’s struggle to survive after returning from the war.
This post, written by Josh Bolotsky, originally appeared on Open Left
My situation is right now! Not five years from now, not two years from now, not next year, not next month, it's right now!
- Herold Noel, a homeless Iraq War veteran, roughly 5 minutes into When I Came Home
If No End In Sight is the best film yet to be produced on the effects of the Iraq War on the Iraqi people, then Dan Lohaus' When I Came Home is the best film yet to be produced on the US troops who fought that war. Not that there's much competition - the Iraq war is much like the Vietnam War, in that no matter how one views Hollywood's politics, it's hard to deny that there haven't been a lot of films about Iraq. Barring one or two documentaries, the films about the Middle East made in the last few years almost invariably limit themselves to other conflicts (e.g. the brilliant Syriana, the decidedly less brilliantThe Kingdom).........

ptsd

and the treatment or LACK THEREOF for some of our veterans (that is a crime. an out and out crime)

these men and women are heroes and should be treated as such. no excuses. NONE

VA studies: PTSD care inconsistent

By Chris Adams McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs, which touts its special programs to treat post-traumatic stress disorder in returning soldiers, spends little on those programs in some parts of the country, and some of its efforts fail to meet some of the VA's own goals, according to internal reports obtained by McClatchy Newspapers.
In fiscal year 2006, the reports show, some of the VA's specialized PTSD units spent a fraction of what the average unit did. Five medical centers — in California, Iowa, Louisiana, Tennessee and Wisconsin — spent about $100,000 on their PTSD clinical teams, less than one-fifth the national average.
The documents also show that while the VA's treatment for PTSD is generally effective, nearly a third of the agency's inpatient and other intensive PTSD units failed to meet at least one of the quality goals monitored by a VA health-research organization. The VA medical center in Lexington, Ky., failed to meet four of six quality goals, according to the internal reports..........

more on our injured veterans

they're coming back with injuries no one is prepared to treat.
why do young men and women keep on enlisting when they see the treatment given to those already serving? i don't get it. the bumbler in chief, king george, is directly responsible for the lives of every man and woman serving. we MUST demand they all get proper treatment

AP Reveals The Other 'Surge': Brain Injuries for GIs
NASHVILLE The war in Iraq is not over, but one legacy is already here in this city and others across America: an epidemic of brain-damaged soldiers.Thousands of troops have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, or TBI. These blast-caused head injuries are so different from the ones doctors are used to seeing from falls and car crashes that treating them is as much faith as it is science."I've been in the field for 20-plus years dealing with TBI. I have a very experienced staff. And they're saying to me, 'We're seeing things we've never seen before,'" said Sandy Schneider, director of Vanderbilt University's brain injury rehabilitation program.Doctors also are realizing that symptoms overlap with post-traumatic stress disorder, and that both must be treated. Odd as it may seem, brain injury can protect against PTSD by blurring awareness of what happened.But as memory improves, emotional problems can emerge: One of the first "graduates" of Vanderbilt's program committed suicide three weeks later."Of all the ones here, he would not have been the one we would have thought," Schneider said. "They called him the Michelangelo of Fort Campbell" — a guy who planned to go to art school.As more troops return from the war, brain injuries are a growing burden — for them, for the few programs to treat them, and for taxpayers who pay for their care and disability if they cannot hold jobs.Most TBIs are mild, and most of these patients recover within a year. But one-fifth of the troops with these mild injuries will have prolonged or lifelong symptoms and need continuing care, the military estimates. Nearly all of the moderate and severe ones will, too........

a day in the life...

this is NOTHING. wait until 5, 10, 15 years from now. those that actually survived are going to need a LOT of treatment (and it DAMN WELL better be forthcoming from the va). king george and his court will be long gone by the time the real shite hits the fan. and guess what? THEY DON'T CARE. they don't give a flying yoo hoo about our deployed troops NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY.

can you imagine the tens of thousands of cases of ptsd in the future?

Fatigue cripples US army in Iraq

Exhaustion and combat stress are besieging US troops in Iraq as they battle with a new type of warfare. Some even rely on Red Bull to get through the day. As desertions and absences increase, the military is struggling to cope with the crisis

Peter Beaumont in Sunday August 12, 2007 The Observer

Lieutenant Clay Hanna looks sick and white. Like his colleagues he does not seem to sleep. Hanna says he catches up by napping on a cot between operations in the command centre, amid the noise of radio. He is up at 6am and tries to go to sleep by 2am or 3am. But there are operations to go on, planning to be done and after-action reports that need to be written. And war interposes its own deadly agenda that requires his attention and wakes him up.


When he emerges from his naps there is something old and paper-thin about his skin, something sketchy about his movements as the days go by.
The Americans he commands, like the other men at Sullivan - a combat outpost in Zafraniya, south east Baghdad - hit their cots when they get in from operations. But even when they wake up there is something tired and groggy about them. They are on duty for five days at a time and off for two days. When they get back to the forward operating base, they do their laundry and sleep and count the days until they will get home. It is an exhaustion that accumulates over the patrols and the rotations, over the multiple deployments, until it all joins up, wiping out any memory of leave or time at home. Until life is nothing but Iraq..............

an interview with ilona meagher

who researched and wrote about our vets and ptsd

Ilona Meagher Is Taking a Stand for Our Vets


..........BuzzFlash: You've written a book, Moving a Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in America's Returning Troops. In terms of the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are returning home, how big of a problem is this?
Ilona Meagher: We won't have a clear idea, just as we didn't with the Vietnam War, until many, many years after. But we can say that, of troops that have returned and separated from service, about one-third have already come in for some form of counseling. That's not necessarily PTSD. But about 75,000 troops who have returned from combat have been given a psycho-social disorder diagnosis from the VA. Of those, about 50,000 have the PTSD diagnosis.
The thing to keep in mind about these figures, though, is the stigma. We know that many troops don't seek help, because they are worried that having something on their record about some sort of emotional problems might not allow them to get a police officer job, or a different type of job that they might want. If they're in the Special Forces, they might not get the mission. So a lot of people don't get the help that they need.
One final figure I'm going to throw out that will really show you the extent of the problem is that even of those troops who filled out the post-deployment health assessment form - PDHA - and checked off that they needed some help, only 22% got follow-up care. ...............

three stories

three out of how many? i'm guessing not too very many are pretty either.

Iraq Comes Home: Soldiers Share the Devastating Tales of War
By Emily DePrang, Texas Observer

...............Michael Goss:
I gave the Army seven years. It was supposed to be my career. I did two tours in Iraq, in 2003 and 2005. But during the last one, I started to get depressed. I lost faith in my chain of command. I became known as a rogue NCO. That's how I got my other-than-honorable discharge.
One night they said to me, "Sgt. Goss, gather your best guys." I say, "Where we going?" They say, "Don't worry about it, just come on." So we get in the car and go. We drive three blocks away, and there's six dead soldiers on the ground. They say, "You're casualty collecting tonight." I'm not prepared for that. I wasn't taught how to do that. But you're there. So you pick them up, and you put them in a body bag, pieces by pieces, and you go back to your unit, and you stand inside your room. And they're like, "You're going on a patrol, come on." You're like, "Hang on a minute. Let me think about what I just did here." I just put six American guys in damn body bags. ...........

severe and chronic

that is the condition of some of our returning (not even counting the ones still serving in the middle east). in need of IMMEDIATE treatment.

king george sent these men and women into harm's way. not only has he NOT attended ONE funeral, HE is NOT doing anything to help those returning home in pieces (physically as well as mentally). i read the other day (and i didn't post it because i didn't want to use someone's name - who had died in this evil, unjust, immoral and illegal war) he met with the parents and girlfriend (or wife, i've forgotten) of a solider killed in iraq. yeah, king george gave the family a few medals - and my favorite part COLORING BOOKS FOR THE KIDS. yeah, if i was a child and king george sent my father into iraq to be killed i know how i'd feel if he then turned around and gave ME coloring books........... at any rate, THE LEAST KING GEORGE AND HIS COURT CAN DO IS SHUT THE F**K UP ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE AND GET THESE MEN AND WOMEN THE TREATMENT AND HELP THEY NEED. AND DO IT NOW

The War Inside
Troops Are Returning From the Battlefield With Psychological Wounds, But the Mental-Health System That Serves Them Makes Healing Difficult

By Dana Priest and Anne Hull

Army Spec. Jeans Cruz helped capture Saddam Hussein. When he came home to the Bronx, important people called him a war hero and promised to help him start a new life. The mayor of New York, officials of his parents' home town in Puerto Rico, the borough president and other local dignitaries honored him with plaques and silk parade sashes. They handed him their business cards and urged him to phone.
But a "black shadow" had followed Cruz home from Iraq, he confided to an Army counselor. He was hounded by recurring images of how war really was for him: not the triumphant scene of Hussein in handcuffs, but visions of dead Iraqi children.........

............At a low point, he went to the local Department of Veterans Affairs medical center for help. One VA psychologist diagnosed Cruz with post-traumatic stress disorder. His condition was labeled "severe and chronic." In a letter supporting his request for PTSD-related disability pay, the psychologist wrote that Cruz was "in need of major help" and that he had provided "more than enough evidence" to back up his PTSD claim. His combat experiences, the letter said, "have been well documented."
None of that seemed to matter when his case reached VA disability evaluators. They turned him down flat, ruling that he deserved no compensation because his psychological problems existed before he joined the Army..............

the other day i was listening to npr in my car (lil' pi is her name)

my car's name that is

anyway, i don't know if it was a local show or national. a man was taking phone calls from people about memorial day. a woman called in and was greatful to all those who had served prior and were serving now. she mentioned her husband had served in iraq. she kept on talking and the more she talked, the more broken up she became. she was crying but continued to talk. finally, the host asked if her husband was killed. she said, no, he wasn't killed but the man who came back was SO different, he really wasn't her husband. my heart, hearing the pain in her voice, was ripping apart

The casualties continue to mount after they come home ...

Posted by Guest Blogger

Penny Coleman: It is only recently that I have come to think of myself as a war widow.


A rose for their graves ...
David Fickel, a 25-year-old Minnesotan honorably discharged from the Marine Corps after serving in Iraq, used a shotgun to take his own life on Memorial Day, 2006
Linda Michel, a 33-year-old Navy medic from Albany, who served at a U.S.-run prison near Baghdad, returned to her husband and three children last October and, two weeks later, shot and killed herself
Jonathan Schulze, a 25-year-old from New Prague, MN, asked to be admitted to a VA hospital on January 11 because he was thinking of killing himself. Told he was No. 26 on the waiting list, he hung himself at his parents' farm, leaving behind his pregnant wife and a young daughter
Michael Bramer, a 23-year-old from Boston who had served with the Army's 82d Airborne Division, turned up the surround sound on his television on January 17 and took his own life
Jessica Rich, a 24-year-old Army Reservist and mother of a 7-year-old son, despaired of leaving behind her nightmares and flashbacks of Iraq. On February 8, she drove her car into oncoming traffic on I-25 outside of Denver and died
Chris Dana, a 23-year-old Iraq war veteran from Helena who friends said wore his uniform and boots for weeks at a time, even to sleep, shut himself in his bedroom in March, put a blanket over his head, and shot himself
It is only recently that I have come to think of myself as a war widow. When my husband Daniel came home from Vietnam in 1970, the relationship between combat-related stress and suicide was officially unrecognized. When Daniel took his own life, it never occurred to me to blame the war. I thought that if only I had been kinder, more patient, more vigilant, I might have prevented his death. The shame and guilt on top of my grief were a terrible burden. It was decades before I could find some compassion and forgiveness for that young woman who had no idea what she was up against. .................