Comments about ‘Horrors of active service plague many vets long after the return home’

I can't help but have a lot of sympathy for these soldiers and families. This is very typical of political wars where there is no defined or visible army. Vietnam was also a political war and the veterans of that war suffered the same PTSD and in both wars these soldiers were shunned by our government and military. The government and military leaders should take more time and care to put these returning soldiers through a training program to help them readjust to non combat living before sending them back home to their families. They are given training before going in to a combat zone where there is no army to fight, only civilians, then turn them loose cold turkey on their families. The government and military learned all this from the vietnam vets but are still maintaining deniability and irrsponsiblity. War is hell, and so is returning home with what soldiers suffer in a war. Returning soldiers should be held active for at least 30 days for readjustment to help them and their families. Some times it may be better to have the memories of a soldier killed in combat than have them become outcasts upon returning.

Huge sums of tax dollars are wasted on ridiculous government funded "projects." Helping ALL who return from service should be a top priority no matter how we feel about the wars and conflicts. That is tax money well spent. We also need to individually reach out to our veterans of all ages from all eras.

Should be a part of Law Enforcements Program.
This is not what these young Enforcement Officers are experiencing running out on serving the country in Armed Forces
The THOUSANDS of young men that are injured for life
with vicious rememberances of bllod and distruction
Me, I was 17 in Korea, a Medic
This is tough on a young mam to see all the blood shed and trying to save the lives of really BRAVE men.
At 70, My heart still aches, I still have depression
and tears to match
I am upset to read so many stupid post by SARCASTIC idiots
Iraq and Afganistan are being protected by the same young men while these SARCASTIC idiots sit here on the COMPUTER
Young Cops with a GUN
Shooting Citizens
Scared out of their pants and shoot first and ask questions after it is to late
I am really concerned about Elderly People being mistreated
They have all fought in the previous wars to protect this Country
Going on a Mission or Coledge does not surfice and excuse the weak

It has nothing to do with so-called political wars. There are hundreds and thousands who fought in WWII with these same PTSD problems. Only back then it was called "battle fatigue". I talked to an older gentleman last week named Jay who fought and was injured at Okinawa. He had an episode while attending the stadium of fire a few years back where he became disoriented after a jet fly over and some fireworks. After that experience he fell into a severe depression due to the embarrassment. HOW IS THAT POLITICAL? Please have some respect for those who have served you and all of us and stop trying to make everything about politics. This is about helping these soldiers...and you are not helping.

I don't understand why there is only a 10 minute briefing with the families before they are deployed as to what to expect when they come home. These brave soldiers learn the tactics of how to survive in combat and I think the first priority is to teach them and their families on how to survive when they come home. Cause you see on the news the happy reunions when they return home, what you don't see is the aftermath of the damage done cause of the war. PTSD is real, it's not curable but it is manageable. I have PTSD. Not from combat, but from traumatic abuse when I was growing up. So, I was in my own war-zone for many years. And like these soldiers I didn't realize I had a problem and things surfaced like these wives described about their husbands. I almost lost my marriage. But we went into counseling and now things are better. It took more then a decade to get it under control, but we made it. My best to all the war vets. HELP THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES!

I called the VA in Salt Lake and asked to speak with my conselor, she had retired they put me on with some other lady the next thing I knew the Tooele city police had their laser sights on my heart.
It's funny how a person is calling for help and you look down and see all them dots on your chest.
I'm really mad at our VA for seeking help and almost got the death sentence! I'm lost where can vet get real help????

I served, but there was "only" the Cold War going on while I was in. I am becoming increasingly grateful, as I get older, for the lifelong sacrifice made by combat veterans.
There are horror stories, and there are wonderful stories - real life is usually a mix of both, with less dramatic good and bad stuff thrown in to fill in the rest of our days. Those who think life is almost all one or the other need to become aware of both. There are combat vets who seem to be just fine - they have found a way to live that puts their combat experiences in a managable "box" and they may or may not let others have "access" to it. There are others who cannot get past the horrors they've seen and participated in, and their fears and tensions are unmanagable by themselves. Friends, though well-meaning, often don't know what to say to them or do for them.
Contact the VA - people who volunteer or work there usually do it for love. Keep up the efforts to find greater peace after your valiant service in our behalf. War is hell, but life is good.

I am angry, not at our brave servicemen just at our totally uncaring government and especially our tratiourus president.This man is evil and trying very hard to destroy our great nation. I hope you people see very soon before it is too late what he is trying to do. Now someone on this feed needs to reach out to John and get that man the help he so despirately needs. And obviously not from the police department. He may be very dangerous but he did not get that way without the help of our corrupt government. Remember what the politicans have currently done to our servicemen and our constitution. Stop the madness in november, vote all politicans out that have not represented us, and elect tom down the road who lost his job because wal-mart moved in because he actually knows what needs to be done and he cares what happens to us. We the people of the united states of america will not be run into financial ruin by crooked politicans.

It is hard for me to have a lot of sympathy for the people who voluntarily went to Iraq to fight in an unjust, unnecessary war contrived by greedy oil interests.

It's too bad that John McCain doesn't have as much compassion for Joe the Veteran as he has for Joe the plumber.

It seems to be a fact that in today's America, once the soldier has completed his military function we no longer have any need for him.

All us Veteran's hear war stories, and nightmares to, while sitting at the VA, trying to get help in one form or another, it's not so much as what went on oversea's and the horrors of active duty service that only plague many vets long after the return home, fighting for "THEIR COUNTRY" to make us all a Free Nation, a fine ezample of this when I was in the war. The Viet Nam war. Today WE (the U.S. military in Iraq) ARE IN IT TO WIN IT, and NOT "cut & run", as the Kennedy / Johnson liberal's did to us in Viet Nam. When we Veteran's came home, from Viet Nam, we never even got a "THANK YOU" or a HUGE Parade either, because of the anti-war hippie movement, all we got was spit in our faces and boo's. And President Nixon bashing. Same as today to. However Kennedy started that war. Not President Nixon. I am glad our GREAT President Bush, gace a 2008 / 2009 budget from $2,5 Billion up to $37.8 Billion, for us Veteran's, this year, so we all can get the help from the VA we need. God Bless "ALL" Veteran's.

to my brothers and sisters out there
there is nothing wrong with getting help when you need it. the help is there and can make a HUGE difference, but you have to admit you need it. it is important to you, and your family. it is "not just the world" it is what has happened to you and how you now fit into a different world then the one you were in before you left. its ok to be confused, angry, fearful, isolated when you come home and its ok to know you are and to seek help. its not ok to try and ignore it and tough it out.

Well, to make matters worse the Veterans Administration claims they don't have enough therapists to help counsel our returning Veterans, yet they continue to discriminate in hiring practices by not hiring Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC's), who are highly trained mental health therapists with at least a Masters Degree. In 2006 Congress ordered a job title created for Mental Health Counselors, yet the VA still posts jobs that only hire Licnesed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW's). Yet there are many LPC's like myself who would love to work for the VA provide therapy. I think that our veterans deserve a ton of respect and help for putting thier lives on the line.
Larry Anderson, MC, LPC

Well, Bob, if you can't have sympathy for the men and women who are making sure that nobody is trying to blow you up as you walk down the sidewalk with your children (Israel), can you have sympathy for my grandfather? He suffered his entire life from the after-effects of WWII.

It's hard for me to have sympathy for people who lead nice, soft lives, and show no gratitude for those who keep them safe from the very real dangers they would otherwise face.

Unless, of course, you think there are no terrorists out there who would attack you for not being the right religion, just like there were no Japanese looking to take over other countries.

I think one of the toughest things about the therapy (I have PTSD) is that no matter what you do, no matter how many sessions, what medications, what exercises, what mind games, it is never going to go away. Never. You can't prevent the relapses, you can't predict how severe or mild. I'm lucky, at my new job, most of the people there have been very sympathetic and cooperative with the accommodations I need.

I think the spouses need far more than a 10 minute exposure to what they might expect. It should be mandatory for every spouse to attend at least a day long seminar.

The Army and many LEO use Lt. Col David Grossman to warn about this condition. If you can't see him in person, read his book "On Combat". The first part is hard to get through but necessary to understand the whole picture of PTSD. I would recommend it to any one. Another is by Dr. Blum "Force Under Pressure". Both are excellent and very, very informative.

Ultra Bob: So greedy oil interests got us in a war. That does not excuse the fact we are in a war. These men are fighting a war on terrorism initially. I have seen the the effects of PTSD on a young vet. This is a serious condition and can ruin life's. Living right below this young vet was a Vietnam vet who has fought this condition since he returned. What does he get from Utah--- the words of compassion to his face, yet no committed support. He he is condemned for the smoking habit he picked up over there and the beer he drinks to calm his nerves.... So it's easy to not have sympathy to the problem and reasons not to address it?

My dad is a Korean War Vet and he still suffers from PTSD. I always wondered when I was little why the biggest strongest man I knew was afraid of the dark. My dad still sleeps with the lights. But now I know why.

In 1997, I went beserk. I verbally abused our grandson and his girl friend. I thought I had alienated my wife; however she told me that I needed psychiatric help. I did go to the VA, and, after spending almost 2 hours with a Psychologist(crying and telling him things, which I had never shared with anyone), I asked him what my problem was. He looked at me for several minutes, and then said "You were never reprogammed before you left the Service. Now, after 52 years, it is all coming back on you. You have PTSD". I can appreciate Warren's statement "I don't know if I have fully mourned the loss of 'me". In a group session, our Psychologist told the group to spend the next week trying to get in touch with our pre-war self. I was able to do this, and I realized that me at 17 was very disappointed in the me of 73. I was very ashamed of myself. I determined to help others. I've spent the past 11 years finding and helping over 200 veterans of any previous war by detailing to them how they can receive help. I love our present soldiers and veterans.

my heart goes out to all war vets and their families. In my eyes they are the true heros. The ones who come back and have to live with these nightmares and PTSD. Their family life will never be the same. My father was a veteran of the second world war and ended up committing suicide after living a life of hell upon his return. Our soldiers need the best of the best help they can get, for them and for their families. Not for just one day or one week or a month. For a long, long time.

We remember in KIRKUK, Iraq, Parents sit on the floor cradling sick infants in the jammed hallways of Kirkuk provinces only pediatric hospital. Half-disrobed patients are examined in front of open doors in rooms with no curtains, privacy a luxury reserved for expensive private hospitals. Some children must wait days for treatment, depending on the severity of their illness, one of the hospitals harried pediatricians explains to members of the Kirkuk Provincial Reconstruction Team. In another corner of town, while walking the hallways of a rehabilitation hospital for disabled Iraqis, hospital administrators tell the PRT members their doctors are swamped, seeing patients nonstop all day. They need more money and a near tripling of their staff. The rehabilitation rooms, however, are nearly vacant, as is the hospitals large cafeteria, and many pieces of equipment, which the administrators said were bought with U.S. aid money, are still in unopened plastic wrappers. Safety for medical workers in Kirkuk has been tenuous, causing many doctors to leave the province. Because of Iraqs decades of isolation, many of the countrys doctors have not had the chance to travel abroad to medical conferences and learn about new techniques.

McCain & Palin 2008

One more reason why we should never have gone to war in 2003 and why we should get out of the war now. The ones who died have it easy, don't they?