 |
|
| The Horrors of PTSD & Brain Injuries |
| These Unseen Wounds Cut Deep A mental health crisis is emerging, with one in six returning soldiers afflicted, experts say. By Esther Schrader |
| Two Iraq War Veterans Commit Suicide Near Fort Hood Associated Press |
| A Journey That Ended in Anguish Col. Ted Westhusing, a military ethicist who volunteered to go to Iraq, was upset by what he saw. His apparent suicide raises questions. By T. Christian Miller |
| More Troops Developing Latent Mental Disorders Symptoms appear several months after returning from Iraq, military says. The Associated Press |
| 'Over my dead body' Sgt. Curtis Greene loved the military; the structure, the stability. But eight months in Iraq changed him. And the thought of returning led him to a stark proclamation. By MARY SPICUZZA |
| Have you read: (1) "Study: False Statements preceded war." There were 935 lies in a two year period. President Bush lied 259 times. Secretary of State Colin Powell lied 254 times. National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice lied 56 times. How many times have Senators Lugar, Bayh,III., Clinton, McCain, Lieberman, Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Rep. "AIPAC Mike" Pence lied? (2) "Truth was first U.S. casualty in Iraq war: Study" Updated July 11, 2008 I am updating this web page with recent events of suicides,police assisted suicides, etc. I don't know how much more I need to document to show the effects of ptsd and how it is incurable, Please note how many of our fine young troops suffer from ptsd and the severe consequences of this disease. Every American should be outraged. The recent scandal that 17 veterans a month commit suicide while under the care of the Veterans Affairs Department should shake "Christian America" to its core, but it hasn't! No one cares that "about 1,000 suicide attempts per month among veterans in our medical facilities." These cruel statistics are stressed in an article by Kelly Kennedy, 17 vets a month commit suicide under VA care. These sad statistics follow a recent report by the Rand Corporation that there are nearly 300 thousand soldiers suffering from PTSD and depression and 320 thousand soldiers suffering from brain injuries and head wounds. Tragically only half of these war victims have been treated. In this veteran's opinion, the care of these troops is nothing less than criminal. There have been at least 135 "in-country" suicides of American troops in Iraq and Kuwait! I suspect the number of active duty and Iraqi-Afghanistan veterans' suicides are perhaps as many as 1,000. The treatment of PTSD is a national disgrace and shame! About 1/6 to 1/3 of the returning Iraq and Afghan veterans are suffering from some degree of this INCURABLE disease entity! Those warmongering cowards responsible for this criminal, fascist, barbaric war and continued suffering, i.e., Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gates, Reid, Levin, Lugar, Bayh,III., Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, Pelosi, Hoyer, Waxman, Pence, Burton, Boehner, etc., will never ever have to suffer from this type of grievous war wound! A quick way to end these wars and occupations is to send these 'super patriots' and their children and grandchildren to do the fighting, dieing, suffering and killing! Why should those Americans with the least to lose; the children of the poor, the minorities and the blue collar families suffer and die? There is no Noble Cause when one suffers and dies for "Blood Money;" that is lies, deceit and greed; "Empire building", (oil imperialism -petrol fascism) and the interests of Israel! (PNAC) Shame, Shame On America! Our government is showing its "support the troops" by claiming PTSD is a "personality disorder" and downplaying the extreme seriousness of PTSD! Legitimate claims by my brothers and sisters are being challenged and denied. Some veterans are being discharged with 5/13 discharges and then being denied disability and benefits! "Veterans need to know in this country that the government thinks all their benefits are mere gratuities" states Attorney Gordon Erspamer, in Veterans Not Entitled to Mental Health Care, U.S. Lawyers Argue. Affected soldiers are being ridiculed! American troops suffering from PTSD are being sent back to Iraq for additional tours of duty! This is criminal, barbaric and fascist! I am starting off the reference section with four very recent articles. (1) "The War Within: Post-traumatic stress disorder." by Mike Fitzgerald, Belleville News Democrat includes personal interviews on recent ptsd veterans, but also provides statistics from the Rand Corporation on the incidence of depression and ptsd but also on brain and head injuries. An excellent article! 2)"Survey: Troops have lingering health concerns after return from combat" (3) "A Lease on Her Life." by Maya Schenwar. Both of these papers point out that health problems; especially ptsd, can surface months after a soldier has been evaluated after returning from a combat area. (4 ) Another article, Psychiatrist: Job lost over soldier's death. "Cassidy had been dead for hours before he was found and might have been unconscious for days before that." My purpose here is not to point fingers at anyone, but rather to show what I term "criminal neglect" in this soldier's care. This tragic death is another indictment of Bush and Congress's care for these kids with PTSD! In these sections on ptsd, please note the common theme of indifference that many military commanders show. Please note the "behavioral" changes in these veterans. PTSD can't be faked! Its alive and real and destroying our troops. Also, please note the real concerns that many health care officials have about ptsd treatment. Jennifer Pacanowski found, as have many other veterans, that recruiters will lie to you. In my case, because of a recruiter's lies, I joined the Air Force, instead of the Marines or Army Airborne in July of 1951. I believe I would have been sent to Korea. As it was, I spent three years in Europe as part of NATO, so the recruiter's lies may have saved my life. Unfortunately, Jennifer Pacanowski paid a horrible price for trusting a recruiter's statements. Jeffrey Lehner was not the first PTSD suicide from the Iraq-Afghan wars and he will not be the last! Soldier Suicides at record rate. and Denial In The Corps provide documentation, again, as to how Bush and Congress really support our troops. Also, I want to commend The McClatchy Newspapers and Joseph L. Galloway for Their commentary, "The disgraceful treatment of our veterans". In this veteran's opinion, A more appropriate title might be, The criminal treatment of our veterans. I would kindly suggest that you read again and again these three articles. Print them, carry copies with you and when you encounter someone who believes this criminal carnage called war is a "just cause," show them what really happens to our young people. Each suicide, each death, is a shameful reminder of a "Christian" nation that follows a false prophet, President George Bush and not Jesus,The Prince of Peace. Suicides, (even police assisted), drug usage, increased alcoholism, divorces and domestic violence are some of the "trickle down" effects of Bush and Congress' criminal carnage; the Afghanistan & Iraq wars and occupations. Shame, Shame On "Christian (?) America"! I have included "When Strains on Military Families Turn Deadly." from the New York Times, 02-15-2008. Domestic violence, spousal and child battering are common enough in our civilian society. I believe this article is very pertinant because it shows the failures of the military system which should have protected these innocents. This is a "Noble Cause"? This "Noble Cause" is based upon Bush and Congress' "Blood Money;" that is lies, deceit, and greed and the interests of Israel! As General Smedley Butler, (2 Congressional Medals of Honor) said so bluntly, "WAR IS A RACKET" "TO HELL WITH WAR" I am not a pacifist, but "An American Veteran Against War" and proud of it! Our American flag is supposed to represent our great country, not a government of corrupt, warmongering, fear peddling, political whores, (The War Party) who have "SOLD OUT" America to The Neocons, PNAC, The Israel Lobby and the special interests who have profited from the Afghanistan & Iraq wars /occupations and their criminal carnage. This is needless dieing and suffering for a lie!! This war is unconstitutional and criminal. Our great Constitution allows only Congress to declare war, not a psychopathic George W. Bush! In order to protest the "gutting" of our Constitution, to protest the war and Bush's jokes about "Where are those weapons of mass destruction," to bring our troops home, thus saving their lives; I will no longer mouth the pledge of allegiance to the flag! In this veteran's opinion, Bush, Pence and Congress, because of the war and occupation, have made a mockery of our flag and pledge and all these stand for. Bush, Pence and Congress mock the words,"With liberty and justice for all." How is it "liberty and justice" to send our troops repeatedly into combat to die for a lie? How is it liberty and justice when our troops are denied their discharges at the end of their recruitment periods and held indefinitely in service because of "STOP-LOSS!" God doesn't bless this blasphemous war. This nation of warmongers blasphemy God with "one nation under God" in the oath to our great flag and what it should represent. As a Christian and veteran, I will not be a part of this blasphemy and hypocrisy! From CNN 02-03-08 Five soldiers attempt suicide every day. -2100 soldiers attempted suicide in 2007, up from 350 in 2002, (Before Iraq War) If elected to Congress, I will sponsor legislation to (1) insure that any soldier or veteran, diagnosed with or believed suffering from PTSD be hospitalized until the patient himself believes he ready to be discharged from the hospital. The patient then must be assigned to outpatient services and followed at documented intervals. (2) I will sponsor legislation to award the Purple Heart Medal to all veterans, even the suicides and others posthumously, who were or have been diagnosed with PTSD. In my opinion, this grievous wound is as severe as the physical combat wound. I will also sponsor legislation, with input from veterans suffering from PTSD, that insures swift, safe, effective, non-placebo treatment and counseling; with veterans being awarded up to 100 % disability. Our country should do no less! |
| Articles |
| For one Marine, Torture Came Home ABOUT A YEAR and a half ago, a 40-year-old former Marine sergeant named Jeffrey Lehner, recently returned from Afghanistan, phoned and asked to meet with me. By Ann Louise Bardach |
| Can We Come Home Now My friend Doug Barber died on Martin Luther King Day. I hadn't known him long, but we had a lot in common. We both lived in the south, were both veterans of the Iraq War, both felt betrayed by our government for sending us to a war without purpose. Both of our marriages had been destroyed in the aftermath of the war, and finally, we were both struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder By Charlie Anderson |
| Female GIs hard hit by war syndrome KIRSTEN SCHARNBERG NEW YORK - (KRT) - On a mission just south of Baghdad over the winter, a young soldier jumped into the gunner's turret of an armored Humvee and took control of the menacing .50-caliber machine gun. She was 19 years old, weighed barely 100 pounds and had a blond ponytail hanging out from under her Kevlar helmet. |
| Iraq leads to army suicides News24.com Four Japanese soldiers have killed themselves since returning from Iraq due to trauma, said a report on Friday. A number of Japanese troops were emotionally scarred by their experience in Iraq - Tokyo's first mission since World War II to a country, where fighting was under way. |
| For some, war never ends Kevin Maurer David Rice lives under constant threat of attack. Wounded by shrapnel from a North Vietnamese mortar and crippled by post traumatic stress disorder, he still smells jungle rot, ducks imaginary snipers when he is outside and huddles in the corner of his living room at night for fear of mortars. “I know it is all in my head. This is no way for a 56-year-old man to act,” said Rice, clutching a cigarette in his brown fingers. |
| George Holland For Congress - 2008 Putting American Families, Jobs, and Seniors First; Not War Profits, Oil Profits, Israel or AIPAC! P.O. Box 751 Rushville, IN 46173 georgehollandforcongress@yahoo.com |
| Survey: Troops have lingering health concerns after return from combat "Half of all troops returning from combat zones report a lingering health concern six months later, according to data released from Defense officials this week." By Leo Shane III, Stars & Stripes, Feb. 2, 2008 A Lease On Her Life "Jennifer Pacanowski joined the army to climb out of debt. She ended up in the hole." By Maya Schenwar, truthout.org Jan.25, 2008 |
| Denial In The Corps According to civilian and military defense lawyers, mental health professionals and veterans' advocates, the trajectory of James Jenkins's post deployment life, with untreated PTSD leading to misconduct and then punishment, is all too common in the Marine Corps. By Kathy Dobie- The Nation- 02-18-08 Soldier suicides at record rate The Army was unprepared for the high number of suicides and cases of post-traumatic stress disorder among its troops as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have continued far longer than anticipated. By Dana Priest Washingtonpost.com 01-31-2008 |
| Dade soldier is a deserter, Army says. MiamiHerald.com |
| Disgusted Army wife speaks out on Army's response to soldier suicide surge. By Debbie Boen Reproduced from Clarksville Online, Clarksville, Tennessee |
| Wounded vet missing in Florida By Ben Zion Herschberg Louisville Courier-Journal From Fighting In Iraq to homeless in San Diego KFBM Stations, Channel 8, San Diego Why does Johnny come marching homeless? 01-20-2008 By Erin McClam Associated Press Returning Home Homeless "It was like being labeled a shit bag in the military. If you went to the psychiatric ward, people said, 'oh, wow....why didn't I think of that? That would have gotten me out of work, too.' It was viewed as a cop out." By Matt Renner truthout\.Report , 21 February 2008 Homeless vets wait years for aid. In December, he was diagnosed with severe combat related post-traumatic stress disorder-32 years after returning from Vietnam- Feb. 06, 2005 Chicago Sun-Times By Cheryl L. Reed Police Kill Veteran Stabbing His Stepfather NBC 10.com Philadelphia |
| Report Faults Mental Care for Iraq Veterans at Upstate base 02-13-08 By Lisa W. Foderaro New York Times Suicides by Guard, Reserve troops studied Feb. 12, 2008 By Kimberly Hefling Associated Press |
| Soldier, After Bipolar Treatment and Suicide Attempts, Sent Back to War Zone Associated Press Monday, Fe.b. 11, 2008 |
| Long Island veteran urges Congress to end Iraq war "Kristofer Goldsmith feels so strongly that the war must end that the former Army sergeant from Bellmore went to Washington last week to urge members of Congress to act." "Goldsmith told members of Congress he suffered such severe depression that he mixed pills with alcohol in an attempt at suicide, which he said led to his discharge and being stripped of his GI Bill educational benefits." May 17, 2008 By Martin C. Evans martin.evans@newsday.com "Marine who died after cross-state chase wrote of war stress". "Twiggs had been through four tours in Iraq, one in Afghanistan and months of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder in which he said he was on up to 12 different medications." " 'All this violent behavior, him killing his brother, that was not my husband. If the PTSD would have been handled in a correct manner, none of this would have happened,' she, (Twiggs' wife) said in a telephone interview from Stafford , VA." By Arthur H. Rotstein, Associated Press , May 17, 2008 "The Spoils of War: How a Sarasota Soldier Got Rich and Lost It All." By Billy Cox The Sarasota Herald-Tribune "Lawyer: Jury Should have heard about soldier's PTSD." "The jury that convicted an Iraq war veteran of murder in the stabbing death of a fellow infantryman, whose charred body was later found in the woods, should have learned that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in combat, his lawyer told the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday." "An Atlanta psychologist and PTSD specialist interviewed Martinez and found that PTSD explained the violent attack, which seemed to lack any real motive. West said. The psychologist said certain triggers-- such as fighting between the soldiers can trigger PTSD. The person then feels he must defend himself adainst a threat, even if there is none." By Shannon McCaffrey May 21, 2008 Associated Press |
| Americans proudly proclaim throughout the year, "GOD BLESS AMERICA." The American Legion's motto is "FOR GOD AND COUNTRY". :Would God bless any nation that lets its officials send our children to fight, suffer and die in a war based on at least 935 lies! Today, President Bush still believes that he is "God's Messenger." Where is the outrage from the Christian pulpits? I believe Jesus is "God's messenger" and I respect muslims who believe Mohammed is "God's messenger". What is important is the fact that three major religions, Jews, Christians and Moslems, all God's children, worshipping the same God, are warring upon one another. Apparently, millions of Americans still believe George Bush is "God's Messenger" in spite of all the criminal carnage of war. I have made some strong statements against President Bush, Congress and "Christian America" concerning these wars. I have documented that every member of Congress, especially Senator Evans B. Bayh, III, a war criminal, an attorney and co-sponsor of the Iraq War Resolution and the current psychopathic sponsor of S.R. 580, The Iran War Resolution, knew these wars were based on lies, deceit and greed. I term these wars fascist, criminal and barbaric. I term all who voted for these wars, "War Criminals!" Inane slogans like the two above are blasphemy of the worst sort! As a Christian, and veteran, I flinch with shame when the warmongers and the war profiteers proudlly proclaim , "God Bless America." even in the churches. My purpose in each page of this web site is to document, inform and educate about the horrors of war, the human suffering of wars; wars that politicians and the rich never fight, only the children of the poor, the working class and minorities. These two wars, soon to be three, were deliberately planned; as I believe was 9/11. Why should "God Bless America",when America does the Dick Cheney, Nancy Pelosi, Robert Reid, John Boehner, John McCain, Barack Obama, Evans B. Bayh, III, " fascist goose steps" folowing a "messianic psychopath" George Bush, instead of walking in Christ's shoes proclaiming; "Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall be called the children of God!" I challenge you to read these reports of those who suffer from PTSD, keeping in mind, these wars were pre planned. This is all needless suffering; caused by the "war criminals" in Congress, who knowingly sent our children into a war based on lies, deceit and greed. A war that none of these psychopathic war criminals have renounced, but follow Indiana's own Senator Bayh, III, beating the drums for another war and more and more human suffering and more and more innocents who will suffer forever from ptsd until they find peace in suicide! God Bless America? Don't blasphemy my God! ' I want you to e-mail me and tell me why should "God Bless America.?" " 'Stop Loss Leads To Yet Another Soldier Suicide" "I'm not going back to Iraq," Army Sgt. Benjamin Miller, 24, told friends back in Minnesota. Huffington Post, June 26, 2008 By Greg Mitchell |