Hidden casualites

[hardheadjarhead]

Layered within a saddening story, some frightening statistics.


http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/186127_warsuicide13.html



Regards,


Steve

 

[Feisty Mouse]

That is very sad. Another reason why we need to support our actually military personnel with support (financial and emotional) both during and after conflicts.

(Another reason I'm voting for Kerry)

 

[Baytor]

I haven't read it, but understand that the book "On Killing" deals with the psychological issues surrounding combat. It also talks about how a very small percentage of the population can really kill and remain uneffected by it.

This is where all the people with the "Support our Troops" signs need to actually do it.

 

[hardheadjarhead]

A picture can say it all.


Regards,

Steve

 

[Ceicei]

Emotionally draining.... You're right, a picture says it all.

- Ceicei

 

[Bob Hubbard]

 

[Mark Weiser]

Any Death of a Fellow Marine saddens me. May the Halls of Heaven be guarded by Marines.

Semper Fi Dude!

Lance Cpl Mark E. Weiser
USMC 1979-1983

 

[shesulsa]

There are no words to express the weight of this kind of tragedy - that a man who killed for his country could not find peace.

Everyone on this board who has ever served - even in peacetime - a million thank you's. Please know there are those who soberly consider your sacrifices for America and regard them as an exhorbitant price for valor.

God bless each of you.

:asian:

 

[shaolinchi]

Shesulsa said it brilliantly and perfectly! Couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you all...

btw, very sad story, and I agree with IamBaytor that there are many people that have those "Support Our Troops" signs, but unfortunately only a small percentage really support them. Many just jump on the band wagon unfortunately.

 

[michaeledward]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5835743/

By DAN McLEAN
The Union Leader
DURHAMN.H.USA - WEST SPRINGFIELD, MASS. - After killing himself one day after returning from active service in Iraq, a Merrimack airman was buried with full military honors yesterday in the town he grew up in.

Last Tuesday, Tech. Sgt. David Guindon, 48, returned from a six-month tour in Iraq to a jubilant celebration. He was one of five servicemen of the New Hampshire Air National Guard's 157th Air Refueling Wing returning from duty. The unit was stationed at Camp Anaconda near Balad, a city northeast of Baghdad.

 

[Makalakumu]

A man in my neighborhood came back from Iraq early this spring. Well, actually he came back from Germany. He lost both legs at the knees. I mow his lawn now and I have helped him take his kids fishing. He says that Iraq is the ultimate hell hole. You don't know who your enemy is and you hardly ever know who is actually shooting at you. He said that when he was in Iraq, he had to look four directions at once...for all the good it did him.

Now the Bush Administration wants to close the VA hospital in my city. He got a letter from the VA saying that should this occur, he needs to drive (a man with no legs) to the Twin Cities, for treatment. I think someone should start a thread that describes just how badly our veterans are getting shaft over there and over here.

My grandfather knew this. He was a WWII vet who stormed the beaches of Normandy. When I was 15 years old, I told him that I wanted to join the army. He packed me into his truck and took me to the VA hospital in St. Cloud, MN. I will never forget that lesson and I will never forget what I saw.

upnorthkyosa

 

[Taimishu]

There are no words to express the weight of this kind of tragedy - that a man who killed for his country could not find peace.

Everyone on this board who has ever served - even in peacetime - a million thank you's. Please know there are those who soberly consider your sacrifices for America and regard them as an exhorbitant price for valor.

God bless each of you.

:asian:

As above but also any service men or women in any armed forces in any country.
To them we may be the enemy and they also serve thier counrty.

David

 

[Feisty Mouse]

Two of my relatives who served in the Army relied on VA hospitals for years - and one at least still does (the other has gone MIA from the family - possibly related to PTSD expressing itself from tours of duty long gone past). I wish, I wish, I wish I could put funding towards improving the services for our veterans who so richly deserve to be well-cared-for.

 

[shesulsa]

I wish, I wish, I wish I could put funding towards improving the services for our veterans who so richly deserve to be well-cared-for.

Amen, sister.

 

[michaeledward]

I Found this on the "Center for American Progress" web site.

Mental Health and the Military

by Stephen L. Robinson
September 14, 2004
Download report in PDF

The alarming number of suicides earlier this year among U.S. troops serving in Iraq has raised a red flag about the mental strain on our service men and women as they face grueling battles and a conflict with no clear end in sight. These suicides are only the most visible manifestation of the rising mental health toll from the Iraq war and other U.S. combat operations abroad. Studies indicate that troops who served in Iraq are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and other problems brought on by their experiences on a scale not seen since Vietnam.

These figures have mental health professionals and veterans groups worried, and with good reason. At a time when our troops are working hard to answer the nation’s call, their own needs remain unmet. Barriers to mental health care persist both in the field and at home, leaving mental health problems to fester.

The personal burden on troops affected by mental trauma and on their families is enormous, and these mental health problems have consequences for communities and the nation as well. The full extent of this hidden cost of war will not be apparent for some years to come, but experts believe it may involve tens of thousands of service members. Preparing for the challenge at hand and extending the appropriate care and respect to our troops must be a top priority.

 

[Flatlander]

And these are troops who enlisted under their own free will. Imagine how these numbers would change if a large portion of them had been conscripted.....

 

[PeachMonkey]

And these are troops who enlisted under their own free will. Imagine how these numbers would change if a large portion of them had been conscripted.....

Flatlander, I've not seen any data that shows that conscripted soldiers have higher incidents of psychological casualties than professional soldiers; have you seen anything like this?

 

[Tgace]

http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/96summer/kirkland.htm

While not actually a comparison between conscripts and professional soldiers, the military did do a study between Active/Reserve and Line/Rear Area troops.

Experience in the Persian Gulf War confirmed previous findings in Israel and Vietnam that reservists and members of rear-area service units are more vulnerable to post-battle stress reactions than are Active Army and combat soldiers.[15] Many of the reserve units mobilized for the Persian Gulf received a large number of fillers just before deploying, which weakened unit cohesion.[16] Though members of reserve component units were at higher risk for PTSD, most reserve units were demobilized rapidly upon return to the United States. They were given no time to experience recognition as members of the unit, to celebrate as a group, or to work through their experiences in debriefings.[17]

 

[Flatlander]

Flatlander, I've not seen any data that shows that conscripted soldiers have higher incidents of psychological casualties than professional soldiers; have you seen anything like this?

Nope, but it seems to be a reasonable speculation.