PTSD

In a recent story on NPR a soldier that spoke to his command that he needed help for PTSD is going to be Court Martialed. The offences the soldier shows a man crying out for help from a growing problem. When he took action to get help his command made it difficult to get that help.

Before and during his service in Iraq he was called a stellar soldier now his command has turned its back on this man. What the Army does in this trial will send a message Army wide. If they punish him it will say to others that if you have PTSD we will not help you.

Our nation has always held in high regard our veterans that served in war. I saw a bumper sticker that said "If you read thank a teacher, you read English thank a veteran".

The military is not the military we knew when we served or even the same military of a few years ago. It was many years after Viet Nam did the government acknowledge that PTSD was a problem with those vets.

Again the military is creating the same problem and does not believe it exists. Why do they do this to the men and women that bravely served in its ranks?

There are those that say it is a sign of weakness. Others do not believe it is a real medical problem. Good people are having their lives destroyed by because the military will not own up to a problem it created. The soldier if found guilty will be stripped of all his VA and military benefits to seek help for PTSD. This has happened to other and depending on this trial will happen to a lot more who think of seeking help.

I know of several soldiers from Fort Hood that have been discharged for as their command called it "Personality disorders" not PTSD and gave them less than honorable discharges. As long as the soldier carries on with no complaints they praised but soon as they show a problem they are denied help and are characterized as a bad soldier.

Perry Monroe