Trump Suggests That Soldiers Who Suffer From PTSD Aren’t “Strong”
Source: BuzzFeed
The GOP presidential candidate’s statement came during a Q&A at the Retired American Warriors Pac. Some of the questions were about the suicide epidemic in the military and criticism of the Veterans Administration (VA) for falling short on providing veterans with the mental health treatment they need.
After saying there are around 22 veteran suicides a day, Trump explained to the room of veterans what PTSD was.
“When people come back from war and combat and they see maybe what the people in this room have seen many times over, and you’re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it,” Trump said.
There was a silence in the room after his statement, and people on social media were quick to express anger toward his comments.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeed.com/emaoconnor/trump-ptsd?utm_term=.jpWYLpAV9#.jhm608Lvb
And those soldiers who get taken prisoner and sit around for the rest of the war? Lazy!
= new reply since forum marked as read
Sorry, that just made me spit out my water.
I took care of a lot of the 'Nam vets. Their war never ended, but then I think most wars never do for those who were in the thick of the battle. 
Throwing the election means he's deliberately saying crazy things, knowing they'll damage his chances. I do think he's been doing that about half the time. I don't think this is one of those times. Strong and weak are one of his running themes: "She wasn't strong," he said of the cop who shot that man. Now, yes, part of that was a dig at Hillary to say a woman shouldn't be doing this job. But he also quite clearly puts categorizes everyone by those terms. Strong or weak? (Women are always weak.)
To him, suicides are in the weak category. And he doesn't for a minute think he insulted anyone by saying that. Because he was raised in a time when that's what people said and believed about suicides. "He wasn't strong enough..." (to go on living). Trump thinks he complimented those other men (you're strong), and showed pity for those who tried their best, but didn't have what it takes. He probably thinks those men think the same thing. They're all strong men, right?
Like in the Apprentice. Only the strong survive. That's life. Of course, even if he had the right sentiments, he likely couldn't articulate them. This is why we kinda sorta like our presidents to be smart and well educated 
But I think he said exactly what he believed. Those who suicide are in the weak category. And it's shame, but what are you gonna do? 
...He gives speeches to white male who venerate wars and war games and guns, who say "That's how we think, Mr. Trump, and how you act is how we want to act!" Essentially his audience is his mirror image. Given this, why would he ever have any reason to think any audience that was white and male and action minded (guns, fighting, etc.) wouldn't think like him? Or understand exactly what he meant and agreed with it? Every group of faux military guys (like the Bundys) DO think like him.
He doesn't tend to censor himself, but if he did, he wouldn't with these guys because they look like the sort that usually are in agreement with his thinking. The sort that hand him purple hearts in affirmation that he's brave and heroic and strong. That he tells it like it is. They get that. Right?
Every now and then (and this is just me getting this "feeling" , in the way Trump looks and speaks, I sense this panic. It's the panic of a man who thinks "If I win..." And doesn't think, as he does most of the time, of how he'll live it up in the White House and everyone will kiss his ass, and a brass band will play when he walks in. These are the times when he realizes that president is a JOB, and it will compromise his lifestyle. Like he'll be forced to answer hard questions, or make decisions, or deal with diplomats for hours on end, or host boring dinners, or help hurricane victims, etc.
THAT isn't what he wants from winning this! He wants the plane and the brass band and the guard in their spiffy uniforms!
At such times, when it occurs to Trump that being president might require him to do actual WORK that he doesn't know how to do...I think he does try (consciously or not) to throw the election. Losing, after all, is a kind of winning because those who love him will believe he was rooked out of the presidency. So, he'll still be seen as a winner to them. And having all these new millions of fans, means a new revenue stream to give him the lifestyle he wants. Still, yes, MOST of the time he still wants to be president because it's a contest and he likes to win. Especially if winning includes cheating and intimidating and screwing people over. But I also think that once in a while, he realizes what winning will mean homework. Lots of homework on subjects he knows nothing about. And at those times, I think he wants to back out.
... things like this on a regular basis.
And the sad fact is that he might still win, somehow. He should be polling well below the 3rd party candidates for all of this, and yet...
...Trump is stuck pre-PTSD (50's-60's-70's). And back then most people, even many in the military, thought "combat fatigue" was just another way of saying cowardice OR, if it was real, could easily be cured if the man experiencing it wanted to be cured We were and still are a horribly ignorant nation when it comes to mental health issues.
But we have evolved some. Trump hasn't had to evolve, and that's why every time he opens his mouth you get this time warp back to the bad-old-days when those who came back from war displaying mental health issues were viewed as weak. Yep. America was sure "great" back then.
This time his statement is very personal to me.
(New York Military Academy -- 2nd from left)
the maggot knows all about the military, he was in military school, & his private Vietnam was avoiding STDs.
AND he knows more than the generals.
bloviating, buffoon, "bigly"
Very well said. 
Entitled, narcissistic prick. 
not good to put down vets, imply they are not strong...you not smart....
when he got called up from the Nat. Guard for active duty in the Pacific during WWII. One of his duties was to dig mass graves and bury Japanese soldiers. They called it shell shock then, and he had it in spades. Although he went on to be successful, he had episodes of depression and anger, which he treated with alcohol. Not only did he suffer from PTSD, all of us who loved him suffered, too, especially his wife and children.
As a Viet Nam Era Navy nurse, I took care of many Marines and sailors who suffered the tortures of the damned with PTSD. They were not weak. They were some of the strongest people I have ever known.
I can only hope Trump gets the life he so richly deserves. A nice case of ALS would be a great start.
The man has his own wing in the AssClown Hall Of Fame!
A number of family members, coworkers, students, and close friends have been, however. I know men and women who served during WWII, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf War, and most recently Afghanistan & Iraq.
After talking with them, and hearing the stories they are willing to share, I have great respect for all of them. Even those who weren't directly in combat had experiences I can't imagine. (Example: my Dad was in the USAF, based in Okinawa during the Vietnam War. Although he worked in communications, he certainly saw the results of air combat.)
Whether or not any of them suffered from PTSD (also known in previous wars as "combat fatigue" or "shell-shock" , they are stronger then Donald Trump and his fellow armchair generals will ever be.
