Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: General Clark Takes Up the Cause

[Sparkly]

We learned about it from WWII, understood it from Vietnam, and it's happening again right now -- and it's not being addressed by this administration.

Here is the tragic story of a 22-year-old veteran who returned from Iraq, and killed himself in front of his mother. Both of his parents now counsel other veterans struggling with PTSD, and were with Congressman Leonard Boswell and General Clark today who spoke in Iowa about the importance of services for veterans. (Warning: get out your tissues before you click this link.)

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060512/NEWS08/605120397/1001/NEWS

And here is a later AP article about General Clark's warnings, not mentioning the Omvig family (I wish it had), but relating some of what he shared about his own personal experiences:

Clark urges more spending on stress disorder counseling

DES MOINES, Iowa Former Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark is warning that soldiers returning from the Middle East should get more help in coping with delayed stress symptoms.

The retired Army general and NATO commander was at the Statehouse today, joining veterans and Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell in promoting the dangers of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Clark and Boswell want more money spent on treating the disorder, which affects nearly 20 percent of troops returning from Iraq.

Clark related his own story of delayed stress surfacing years after he was wounded in the Vietnam War in 1970. It took nine years before he could purge himself of repressed feelings -- a revelation that came as he was shaving one morning. He says all of a sudden he felt anger and guilt that the enemy had shot him and he didn't shoot him back.

Clark says the war in Iraq has been particularly difficult because there aren't clear battle lines, and troops who are doing traditional support duty often find themselves in violent situations.

http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=4898415&nav=1sW7

[robbedvoter]

1. VA workers report encountered none of those cases. Which begs

the question: where are they?
Getting this from a friend who works at VA

[Sparkly]

2. Really???

That is impossible on its face. :shrug:

[robbedvoter]

3. Yup. That comes from the NYC VA - and that the worker wondered

also - as they get plenty of physical injuries.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. here's a clue...

"A Government Accountability Office report issued Thursday states that of returning troops found to be at risk for PTSD, 88 percent were not referred by government health care providers for further help."

from the article.


These guys are told that seeking help is a weakness, when in fact, it's exactly the opposite. It takes strength to ask for help.

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. I've probably read things as sad before, but never anything sadder

God I hate this Administration so much. Yes they were evil to start this war the way they did and to throw away the lives that they have, but then they go and continue to cut back spending on services for the Vets who only tried to do their duty for their nation.

I really appreciate that General Clark is willing to share his own personal story in public like this, when there are so many who are now suffering the stress that caused Randy Omvig to take his own life, who are ashamed to admit their own feelings to others. We have to be there for these people now. They have to know that it isn't them being weak, it is just them being human.

[Sparkly]

6. Yup -- this administration has NO IDEA.

Combat? That's what they send little green plastic soldiers to do, feeling all brave and mighty about it.

Compassion? That's a campaign slogan.

Coffins? Crises? Counseling? Doesn't fit with their CAMPAIGN....

To think of the Omvigs, and General Clark talking about feeling guilt that he 'didn't shoot back' -- while he was wounded and still taking charge of his troops! -- and to think of the strength they've built from that, and how they're using it now... These are things BushCo can't even come close to understanding, let alone appreciating.

What another level of courage for General Clark to come out and tell his experiences this way. I'm trying not to sound like a "partisan Clarkie," but the longer I watch him, the more I admire him, even when I think I couldn't admire him any more than I already do.

He is just something else. Truly -- something else.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. This is a pattern of long standing ..... and sadly, it transcends parties

How else does one explain the Viet Nam vets who are, to this day, still suffering?

Walk in areas where the homeless gather. Look at the older ones ... if you can still find any ... they'll be in their late 50s and early 60s now ... two lifetimes when one lives on the streets.

Some of them ... not all, but some .... probably had chests full of ribbons .... or even just two .... these:




But now all they have is a push cart and a garbage bag to keep them dry.

I guess if one doesn't see them, they don't exist.

[Sparkly]

8. Homeless Veterans

Clinton and Gore were on that,you know...

THESE assclowns are creating another generation of wounds, and the silent legacy it leaves within families for more and more generations.

"What problem? There's no problem!" It's the GOP who loves to cut the funding that assists the homeless and mentally ill, MANY of whom are veterans.

(Apologies to any clowns present for the use of the term "assclowns," but the sentiment stands, as you well know.)

[w8liftinglady]

9. On my son's unit-5 discharged with PTSD...and 1/2 are in therapy

....including him.If the kids in my son's unit-all mechanics-were affected like this,I can only imagine how the soldiers on patrol are affected.

[Adelante]

12. A 50% burn rate right there

That's an amazing statistic for a non-combat unit, I would imagine.

That we know about.

Thank you to you and your son for your service :patriot:

[democrank]

10. I`m grateful to Clark for speaking out since

the clueless chickenhawks responsible for this war won`t. The soldiers returning deserve all the support we can give them, no matter the cost.

[Totally Committed]

11. Bless this good man for highlighting this terrible problem...

It is one that lasts a lifetime, and has rendered so many veterans unable to live life. Everyone should be aware of this syndrome and support the vigorous (even aggressive) therapy it takes to help most survive it.

TC

[Crunchy Frog]

13. PTSD seems to be severely underreported and undertreated

in this war. It doesn't fit into the image of this glorious war that the regime wants to promote, so they try to brush it under the carpet and pretend that it doesn't exist.

I wonder how many new Timothy McVeigh's and John Mohammad's are being created right now, with people doing long, multiple tours, and the psychological repercussions being largely ignored.

Does anybody remember the soldier who got charged with cowardice and threatened with a court-martial because he tried to get help for combat stress? http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1030-12.htm What kind of message does that send to other soldiers about admitting they have a problem or asking for help?

I appreciate Wes's willingness to open up about such a personal experience. Thanks for posting.

[Donna Zen]

15. Reported not treated

From what I read in NYT, they are conducting interviews but letting 88% go untreated. Besides negating their claims of their glorious war, I think they are more concerned about the money. Keep them tax-cuts for the rich rolling...rolling...rolling.

[starroute]

14. It didn't start with World War II

Shell shock. Battle fatigue. They seem to keep inventing new names for it with every war, to make it easier to forget the lessons that should have been learned from the war before.

It's what made the Wild West wild -- legions of tramatized Civil War veterans drifting out to the frontier and shooting up anything that moved. (In those days, they called it "soldier's heart.")

Though I haven't ever seen it documented, I don't doubt that most of the legendary periods of lawlessness -- from the pirates of the 17th century to the bandits of the 14th and beyond -- were sparked by traumatized war vets.

Our own society has been stable enough that the Vietnam and now Iraq vets have mostly just dropped out, or turned it on themselves. But if we really are heading back into something like the Great Depression, things could get very violent very quickly.

[Jai4WKC08]

18. No, it didn't start there

But I think WWII probably the first war when military doctors started to diagnose and treat it. Not nearly as much as they probably needed to, but it was a start.

One of the reasons PTSD in Vietnam was more of a problem in Vietnam than WWII or before was because the military sent people "over there" individually, and they came back the same way, were handed a discharge, and returned to society where they had little or no connection to other vets who had endured what they had. Didn't help that the vets organizations were dominated by WWII vets who didn't exactly welcome the Vietnam returnees, and by and large didn't honor their service.

And fwiw, I'm convinced that ONE of the reasons that Vietnam vets (not just PTSD victims) have so much bitterness about how they were greeted upon their return is because of the way the entertainment industry portrayed those vets who couldn't handle their distress. For a while it seemed like so many movies and TV dramas had some Vietnam vet going nuts and killing, raping, or perpetrating some other criminal activity. Or just being total losers. And a lot of that was because of the lack of understanding of PTSD and and how the victims were getting no care or support.

From what I heard from a lot of friends in the Army back then, the GOP used all that quite effectively to kill two birds with one stone: to show how "librul" Hollywood and the media is, and how all "libruls" hate the military.

[TacticalPeek]

16. K & R

"I've been to war. I've raised twins. If I had a choice, I'd rather go to war."
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=I've_been_to_war.

[FrenchieCat]

17. Kick!

This Ailment will not be taken seriously until it starts to affect not just those stricken with it, but those in their communities around it.

We will again be late and two dollars short......

I do thank the General.....but like Darfur, most others won't come around on doing anything about this until 2-4 years from now, once it is too late and most of the damage has been done.

I guess that Preventative action is only good for wars! :(