Forgotten casualties
Mentally scarred by the horrors they've endured in Iraq, many returning U.S. soldiers say the military isn't giving them the help they deserve.- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Lynn Harris
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Eventually, a physician at Kentucky's Fort Knox, where he was on medical holdover until being allowed to go home for temporary convalescent leave last week, diagnosed him with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. The medical report cited, among other symptoms: insomnia, nightmares, flashbacks, disassociation, easy startling, quick temper, and keeping to his room for fear of hurting others, all of which were said to cause significant impairment in his "occupational and social functioning." He has been able to manage his symptoms somewhat with quite a bit of therapy and medication, but he still can't tolerate groups of people, or much food.
Just two weeks ago the soldier received word that his PTSD had received a 10 percent disability rating from the MEB/PEB. (He counters that his remaining symptoms and resulting disability, as described in a second medical report, match those described for a 30 percent rating.) He was also informed that both the PTSD and his slipped disks (rated at 20 percent) were considered chronic, not directly related to combat in Iraq -- where he wore and carried 75 pounds of equipment every day.
"I lived in Iraq, and before I left I was mentally and physically healthy," he says. "I come back and my back's broken and my mind's broken. They say it's not combat related. The processes that are supposed to be in place to help us aren't working. They're just not taking care of us."
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Now back at home and a civilian, Lemke is still doing his best, via word of mouth, to help soldiers who are confused or feeling mistreated by the system, or who are simply struggling with PTSD themselves. He even gets contacted by soldiers' wives who are desperate to find out "what's wrong" with their husbands. No matter what, he knows what his fellow soldiers have been through. "First I fought the war," Lemke says. "Then I had to fight a war for my treatment."
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2004/09/22/ptsd/index.html