For the longest time, every time I saw a veteran protesting the war, I became angry. How could they violate and dis honor their brothers by openly showing their great dissatisfation with the war. I have had a lot of time to think about it, and my conclusion is; they have more right to protest that the average person on the street that has never seen the other side. They haven't seen their buddies blown up, or opened fire on a vehicle at a check point just to discover that the people they kill were an innocent family.
People can argue all they want, that when it come to killing in war, it is an accepted thing, morally, leagally and psycologically. I can show many soldiers who have had to pull that trigger on others and kill a fellow human being, even though they be a enemey and I'll also show you many cases of PTSD because of it.
This war is something that needs to stop. The mjority of soldiers over there are there for their second plus tours. We are tearing our soldiers down from the inside out.
What is the answer for this? Already the military health system is overwhelmed. Soldiers are being referred off the instillation for help or they are not getting help on their own. Soldiers and family members are suffering from many different things. When thety are gone the family has separation anxiety; when I came back my son would not let me out of his sight for fear I wouldn't come back. When the soldier does come back the family doesn't know how to deal with them. I Have been back for almost two years now, and still I hit my wife in the middle of the night while I am sleeping, I have very agressive tendencies at times and I have spent thousands of hours in therapy and whatever else can be offered.
One of the most important thing I have found is writing about it, and dealing with feeelings of guilt, anger and fear, just to name a few of the emotions that we go through over there. The thing to remember is that it doesn't go way over night, but hopefully it does get better.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Fearless Speech
Fearless speech is not without consequences. I watched a video on youtube today that reminds me of a police state. Freedom of speech and freedom of press may soon come to an end. Do we not speek up and allow the powers that be know we have a voice and should listen or do we hide in the corner.
Some of these images I found on line today, show all of the great thing that we are ding in Iraq.
When will it end? And what is truly being accomplished?
Monday, September 15, 2008
MALTREATMENT
Since the onset of what the Army is calling Warrior Transition Units (WTU), this is allowing for some soldiers to get ready and transition from the military. The program was designed with this idea. What is happening in a lot of units is that soldiers are still being treated as second class citizens.
Our soldiers went to war and the come back to be treated like the are slave labor. Having these soldiers out picking up trash or mopping and cleaning does not give them a sense of purpose.
The suicide rate in the Army is up. Soldiers are killing themselves for many reasons, but when you get right down to it, does the soldier have a reason, or a purpose in life. When basic motivations are taken away from a soldier or person in general, it leaves the soldier feeling as though there are few options left to them.
When i was in Iraq, I became addicted to opiates. The chain of command treated me as though I was a criminal. They put me in a room where I went through detox on my own without medical supervision. Suicide crossed my mind on numerous occasions. As far as I knew my career and family were done. Luckily I survived my detox, and did not take the alternate route out.
What commanders and others need to remember is that drug and alcohol abuse is symptom of something else going on. Do you subordinates a favor and talk to them, and in turn listen. If more time is taken to really understand what the soldier today is going through, I believe there will be fewer cases of suicide and other self-destructive behavior.
Our soldiers went to war and the come back to be treated like the are slave labor. Having these soldiers out picking up trash or mopping and cleaning does not give them a sense of purpose.
The suicide rate in the Army is up. Soldiers are killing themselves for many reasons, but when you get right down to it, does the soldier have a reason, or a purpose in life. When basic motivations are taken away from a soldier or person in general, it leaves the soldier feeling as though there are few options left to them.
When i was in Iraq, I became addicted to opiates. The chain of command treated me as though I was a criminal. They put me in a room where I went through detox on my own without medical supervision. Suicide crossed my mind on numerous occasions. As far as I knew my career and family were done. Luckily I survived my detox, and did not take the alternate route out.
What commanders and others need to remember is that drug and alcohol abuse is symptom of something else going on. Do you subordinates a favor and talk to them, and in turn listen. If more time is taken to really understand what the soldier today is going through, I believe there will be fewer cases of suicide and other self-destructive behavior.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
PTSD
I recently retired medically from the Army. The Army Diagnosed me with PTSD, TBI and other medical problems. I have been through major operations and other medical treatment. What I have learned, is that the Army Medical Program was not ready for this war or what is coming out of this war.
When I first came back from Iraq I was addicted to Opiates, I had a Psychiatric provider who was trying to diagnose me with a personality disorder and started pumping medications into me I probably did not need. It wasn't until I had been here in the "system" for at least six months that I was finally treated for PTSD.
The Army has spent a lot of time educating the chain of command on what PTSD is snd what to look for, but what I have seen, is that as soon as a soldier starts to exhibit these signs, the first thing a commander wants to do is kick that soldier out. There has been studies done that show that one in five soldiers have PTSD. What are they doing when the soldier comes back and starts to drink and use drugs? They are processed for chapter from the army according to regulations.
The first thing the Army needs to do is change the Army regulations to represent what we have learned and what we know today. One of the major signs and symptoms of PTSD is increased drug and alcohol use. There are a lot of agencies doing the research to better understand PTSD, such as the VA. The information is out there, if the Army would use it.
One of the biggest complaints from the soldier today, is once they are labled with PTSD or any other injury that does not permit them to ddeploy with thier unit, they are labled a piece of crap.
The medical and psychiatric services of the military are over taxed, this is a reality. The Army needs to wake up and smell the coffee and give the soldiers what they deserve. Dignity and respect goes a long way to making these soldiers feel the have a purpose in life.
It is not beneficial to place these soldiers in demeaning jobs or make them stand out because they may not be able to do the job they were trained for
When I first came back from Iraq I was addicted to Opiates, I had a Psychiatric provider who was trying to diagnose me with a personality disorder and started pumping medications into me I probably did not need. It wasn't until I had been here in the "system" for at least six months that I was finally treated for PTSD.
The Army has spent a lot of time educating the chain of command on what PTSD is snd what to look for, but what I have seen, is that as soon as a soldier starts to exhibit these signs, the first thing a commander wants to do is kick that soldier out. There has been studies done that show that one in five soldiers have PTSD. What are they doing when the soldier comes back and starts to drink and use drugs? They are processed for chapter from the army according to regulations.
The first thing the Army needs to do is change the Army regulations to represent what we have learned and what we know today. One of the major signs and symptoms of PTSD is increased drug and alcohol use. There are a lot of agencies doing the research to better understand PTSD, such as the VA. The information is out there, if the Army would use it.
One of the biggest complaints from the soldier today, is once they are labled with PTSD or any other injury that does not permit them to ddeploy with thier unit, they are labled a piece of crap.
The medical and psychiatric services of the military are over taxed, this is a reality. The Army needs to wake up and smell the coffee and give the soldiers what they deserve. Dignity and respect goes a long way to making these soldiers feel the have a purpose in life.
It is not beneficial to place these soldiers in demeaning jobs or make them stand out because they may not be able to do the job they were trained for
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