A personal thought from me to you:

[babylonsister]

I have a younger sister who has been married to a man for 7 years. I haven't seen her since she got married. She is doing well and he is not so well. He suffers from PTSD as a result of VN. They are both reformed drinkers, druggies, etc., and haven't touched anything in years, but the PTSD has screwed up this man forever.
What's to become of the new bunch of people afflicted with this? If my b-i-l hasn't been 'cured' after so many years, how does anyone get cured?

[FreedomAngel82]

1. That's what I worry about

with these soliders who will come back. How will they get back to regular society? Will there be people who can help them cope with mental and emotional issues? I remember last December reading an article online how military members would return home and have fights with families and hard times. One couple was interviewed and the husband would just burst out and yell for no reason. The second couple who was interviewed the wife said how her husband would be laying next to her at night and out of nowhere would be shaking and he'd be dreaming about a bomb going off near him. Of course Bush and his rightwing neocons cut Veteran spending for hospitals. I also worry about those who come back and are maimed and hurt and how they will deal with being back to society and their emotional status. It's just so horrible and I hope God can take care of them and He has a nice place in hell for George Bush and his croonies. Oh and don't forget a lot of members are coming home to poverty as well. They had to give up their jobs to go fight and when they come back their job is more then likely gone. I read this article online too. If you google "military members come home to poverty" or something like that I'm sure you'll find it. It's so heartbreaking. :cry: I've written to my Congressman about this and pissed off but he's a high pro-filed republican so I don't expect him to give a shit.

[Erika]

5. I am acutely aware of what happened to our boys in Nam

and the stress they undertook. Many of them made it but with scarring. Many more did not.

The men AND women coming back from Bush's war will have it even worse. Bush has cut VA funding and cut funding to the states for social needs. Much more than even after the Vietnam war.

These kids, male and female, who are severely maimed might be on a high now with all the support, but they don't realize the support will not continue. They may be a Max Cleland who sticks it out only to be replaced by someone like Chambliss.

[Eloriel]

2. That was ONE of my 20 or so main reasons to be against

this war.

Here's a link with some self-help (or you can find a practitioner) that can be pretty amazing, even if it may not seem like it til you try it -- useful for a range of issues, including PTSD (use the search function for some case stories):

Emotional Freedom Technique
http://www.emofree.com/newcomer.htm

Case Studies http://www.emofree.com/default.htm#EFT%20at%20work

Download free manual (so you don't have to sign up for the newsletter, even tho it's interesting and only comes 1x a week or so): http://www.emofree.com/eftmanl.pdf

[lonestarnot]

3. Never cured, just controlled.

[Selatius]

4. Well, your brother-in-law had it worse than vets of today

During the Vietnam War, PTSD was not a recognized ailment by the military. As a result, there was no such treatment for them. The only treatments offered were those to try to mend shattered bodies, not shattered minds. Those with only PTSD fell through the cracks entirely.

At least with returning vets from Iraq--and there are tens of thousands of those now--there is at least an option to treat PTSD. I can only hope they are getting help, but I'm not sure all of them are.

If the historical evidence is any indication, you will probably see higher rates of alcoholism, drug use, incarceration, and suicide. (Do you remember that Marine a few months back who pulled a "suicide by cop" when he gunned down a police officer and seriously wounded another before he himself was killed because he didn't want to go back for a second tour?) That's an example right there.

Of course, we're not yet even addressing the issue around depleted uranium being used in combat. If Gulf War Syndrome was the result of depleted uranium, many vets are doomed to a life of sickness and malformed children if they have any.

For some soldiers, even though the bullets have stopped flying and the bombs have stopped falling, the war rages on.

[babylonsister]

6. No, or I don't know.

This man was a teacher for 20 years after VN and fought his demons; he was a viable contribution to the community. It's only been in the past few years that he has been flipping out to a certain extent, proof that perhaps you never get over it if you're of that mentality.
I also know another Vet who did three tours in VN, about to celebrate his 50th wedding anniversary, and has NEVER talked to his spouse (my dear friend) about his experiences. He does, however, drink like a fish.
I guess people deal with their experiences differently. I just worry about the next bunch of soldiers who might be damaged forevermore.

[housewolf]

7. That's what my biggest opposition to the Iraq war was...

we turn our young people into killer and injure so many of them physically or mentally ... so many of them will have problems coming back home. Sending our kids to war is a act of utter self-destruction.

[lonestarnot]

8. There is a note of comfort that can be said for PTSD and that is the

further in time away from the event, the less effect is seems to have.

[shraby]

9. Hell, it's a problem yet for the

WWII veterans. My Dad would have been a different man if he hadn't served.

[babylonsister]

11. Not for my b-i-l.

See post #6. Part of his problem is his being medicated and the VA not coming up with a combo of drugs that help. He can go from non-communicative to hyper to suicidal, and this is a VN vet, all these years later. :cry:

[flordehinojos]

10. if POPPY BUSH was SHOT DOWN over the Pacific after being in serious combat

like he claims ... if his crew was killed in WWII, like he claims, and not abandoned like one of the men in the plane behind his, claims... why isn't POPPY suffering from PTSD--and why does he GLORIFY WAR so much?


OR, IS POPPY'S STORY A FAKE AS IT HAS BEEN CLAIMED BY THOSE WHO WERE IN THAT BATTLE?