Troubled troops in no-win plight (kicked out for PTSD caused by war)

[TexasLawyer]

November 01, 2006

Troubled troops in no-win plight

By Gregg Zoroya
USA Today

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Chris Packley returned from Fallujah in 2004 a top marksman on a sniper team showcased in the Marine Corps Times for its 22 kills. "I was exceptionally proud of that Marine," says Gunnery Sgt. Scott Guise, his former team leader.

He also came home with flashbacks - memories of his friend, Lance Cpl. Michael Blake Wafford, 20, dying on the battlefield. Packley says he smoked marijuana to try to escape the images. He also left the base without permission. "I wanted out," Packley says. Last year he got his wish and was expelled from the Marine Corps. As a consequence, he lost access to the free counseling and medication he needed to treat the mental wounds left from combat, according to Packley, his former defense lawyer and documents from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Scores of combat veterans like Packley are being dismissed from the Marines without the medical benefits needed to treat combat stress, says Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, who supervises the legal defense of Marines in the western United States, including here at Camp Pendleton.

When classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) arise - including alcoholism and drug abuse - the veterans are punished for the behavior, Vokey says. Their less-than-honorable discharges can lead to a denial of VA benefits. Vokey calls it a Catch 22, referring to the no-win situation showcased in Joseph Heller’s satirical war novel “Catch 22.”

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http://www.navytimes.com/story.php?f=1-292925-2327183.php

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. Bush is creating Frankensteins every god damned day with this thing

It's a truly evil motherfucker, like Cambodia & the Nazis.

[TexasLawyer]

2. agreed

and just when you think you have a handle on all the different ways our military men and women are getting screwed over... you get a story like this.

[lapfog_1]

3. Frankensteins with skills...

remember the Washington D.C. sniper "terror"? expect more of this over the next 10 years or more.

[TexasLawyer]

4. self-kick

'cause I think this is important to know about.