http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2008/07/26/opinion/doc488a24e13042b833358911.txtTo the Editor,
A disturbing trend has been building among veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Suicide and attemted suicide rates among active duty, National Guard and reservists have been doubling every year since our occupations began.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, one in five of the more than 1.6 million troops deployed are at risk for PTSD severe enough to warrant treatment. The Veteran’s Administration has a 65,000 patient backlog for review of disability.
Anecdotally, I have talked with many other mothers of OIF and OEF veterans. They all report the same thing — “he can’t hug us,” “he can’t sleep,” “he drinks too much,” “he’s always on guard” and “he can’t get/keep a job.”
Our current administration has been eerily quiet on this tragedy. Of the presidential candidates, only Barack Obama has addressed this. On June 30, he stated, “We are more than five years into this war and the Pentagon and VA are still unprepared to treat the unseen wounds of battle. We know that incidence of psychological injury increase with each additional tour of duty in Iraq, and that our troops are not getting the support they need.
“Too many are falling through the cracks because they need help but feel they can’t get it. When I am president, we’ll hire more mental health professionals, increase training to recognize the signs and to reject the stigma of seeking care, and enhance mental health screening and treatment from enlistment, to deployment, to reentry into civilian life. It’s time to serve our troops as well as they have served us.”
I couldn’t have put it better, senator.
Elizabeth Dawson,
Red Oak
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The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of thedailylight.com.
tomintib wrote on Jul 25, 2008 6:27 PM:
" This issue should be Klieg-lit, and brought to the attention of everyone.
It is a sin and a shame, the way these troops and their Loved Ones (as their Commander-in-Chief so fawningly refers to them) have been treated (or mistreated, as the case may be).
Tom Wright
Tiburon, California (and Native Texan) "
stillcool wrote on Jul 25, 2008 7:48 PM:
" Supporting our troops is more than a bumper sticker. The pain and suffering they go through upon returning home is shameful. "
PA_Dissenter wrote on Jul 25, 2008 9:41 PM:
" We have had several Iraq veterans die in high speed crashes while highly intoxicated here in rural NW PA.
My daughter says that the vets she is friends with all have strange rashes, seem to gain weight easily and are clearly suffering emotionally.
Most have terrible alcohol problems and are obviously self-medicating themselves into oblivion.
She has friends in the National Guard that are set to leave soon for their first tour in Iraq. Her heart, and mine, break daily knowing some of these kids will not come back and that many that do return will only come home physically.
Shame on this administration for creating veterans that they had no intention of caring for after they had done what they were asked to do. For our country... "
Jean Cary wrote on Jul 26, 2008 2:51 AM:
" This was also unrecognized after Viet Nam. So we now will have a new generation facing disconnection with families,any returning home reality and death. War maims and kills and after it is over it still maims and kills. "
unhappycamper wrote on Jul 26, 2008 6:08 AM:
" The Veterans Administration is hopelessly backlogged.
Thank you for speaking up. "
barbara wrote on Jul 26, 2008 7:05 AM:
" absolutely agreed. it is a travesty that so many of our returning soldiers can't leave the war over there. they bring it home and it degrades the quality of their lives and much too often leads to the premature ending of their lives. at least obama is addressing the issue. we need someone in the white house who looks to further the good and repair the wrong instead of committing more and more wrongs and calling them good. vote for obama. "
Julie wrote on Jul 26, 2008 8:21 AM:
" Where is the outrage?? Everyone in America should be demanding proper care for these fine men and women who bravely go where-ever we send them. It's like they come home and suddenly nobody cares anymore. Shame on America for treating our vets so shabbily. "
The more things change wrote on Jul 26, 2008 9:41 AM:
" The more they stay the same.
Which is another way of putting the old Santayana adage about repeating history due to ignorance and/or stupidity.
Rudyard Kipling was a man who knew something of war and how soldiers are treated, he wrote a brutally honest poem about it.
"Tommy" is Brit for GI Joe.
http://www.poetryloverspage.com/poets/kipling/tommy.htmlAnd, of course, this entire scenario of an endless quagmire was boringly predictable to anyone who actually knew something of the history and reality of the Middle East. In fact, Dick Cheney himself predicted the outcome of invading Iraq in 1994, he even used the "Q" word.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BEsZMvrq-ISo, the treatment of the troops was predictable by anyone who had read Kipling and knew a bit of military history. The end of WWII is so memorable because it so outside the norm.
And.....
The consequences of invading Iraq were known by the leadership well before the invasion.
Let's place the blame properly. Those who knowingly instigated the sequence of events leading up to the massive injuries of our troops. And ourselves for allowing this to happen. "
Vicki wrote on Jul 26, 2008 11:21 AM:
" Thank you for this letter. I am tired of warmongers who do not care about or for our troops. "
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