Posted on Sep 27, 2015
Do you agree that War Is Hell, and the Hell Rubs Off?
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Do you agree that War Is Hell, and the Hell Rubs Off?
PTSD contributes to violence. Pretending it doesn’t is no way to support the troops.
In the picture above a soldier gets emotional during President Obama's remarks at a memorial service at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, on April 9, 2014. Earlier this month Army Spc. Ivan A. Lopez killed three and injured 16 others at Fort Hood before taking his own life.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/04/ptsd_and_violence_by_veterans_increased_murder_rates_related_to_war_experience.html
In September 2007, at the height of the Iraq surge, I spent two weeks with the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry in Dora, one of the deadliest neighborhoods in Baghdad. By that point in the war, I had embedded with a dozen-odd infantry units, and 2-12, the “Lethal Warriors” from Fort Carson in Colorado, was one of the best I’d seen. Cocky, aggressive, and competent in all the right ways, they exuded an indifference toward death that was hard not to admire. The dangers they lived with for months are impossible to describe with any justice, but one image stays with me, the thing I saw the first time I walked into 2-12’s command post. On the wall in front of me were 16 framed photographs, one for each soldier killed in-country.
At the end of their 15-month tour in Iraq, the Lethal Warriors returned to Fort Carson with an impressive battlefield record, having cleared one of the worst parts of Baghdad, in some cases digging up IEDs with little more than screwdrivers and tire irons. Unfortunately, the Lethal Warriors achieved a kind of notoriety that was less for their battlefield exploits than for the battalion’s connection to a string of murders. In December 2007 two soldiers from the unit, Robert James and Kevin Shields, were killed, and three fellow soldiers were charged with murder. The killings were part of a larger pattern of violence extending back to 2005, including 11 murders, in what was the largest killing spree involving a single army base in modern U.S. history.
PTSD contributes to violence. Pretending it doesn’t is no way to support the troops.
In the picture above a soldier gets emotional during President Obama's remarks at a memorial service at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, on April 9, 2014. Earlier this month Army Spc. Ivan A. Lopez killed three and injured 16 others at Fort Hood before taking his own life.
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/04/ptsd_and_violence_by_veterans_increased_murder_rates_related_to_war_experience.html
In September 2007, at the height of the Iraq surge, I spent two weeks with the Army’s 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry in Dora, one of the deadliest neighborhoods in Baghdad. By that point in the war, I had embedded with a dozen-odd infantry units, and 2-12, the “Lethal Warriors” from Fort Carson in Colorado, was one of the best I’d seen. Cocky, aggressive, and competent in all the right ways, they exuded an indifference toward death that was hard not to admire. The dangers they lived with for months are impossible to describe with any justice, but one image stays with me, the thing I saw the first time I walked into 2-12’s command post. On the wall in front of me were 16 framed photographs, one for each soldier killed in-country.
At the end of their 15-month tour in Iraq, the Lethal Warriors returned to Fort Carson with an impressive battlefield record, having cleared one of the worst parts of Baghdad, in some cases digging up IEDs with little more than screwdrivers and tire irons. Unfortunately, the Lethal Warriors achieved a kind of notoriety that was less for their battlefield exploits than for the battalion’s connection to a string of murders. In December 2007 two soldiers from the unit, Robert James and Kevin Shields, were killed, and three fellow soldiers were charged with murder. The killings were part of a larger pattern of violence extending back to 2005, including 11 murders, in what was the largest killing spree involving a single army base in modern U.S. history.
PTSD
Violence
Domestic Violence
Support
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 28
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It is what it is! Medical Providers need to identify which service members are troubled and address it before it becomes lethal. The military didn't trained you to play Patty Cake! God Bless All of our Service Members and There Love Ones.....
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs
Of course PTSD contributes to violence and whatnot. This article while informative does not really state anything we veterans don't already know: both about the connection between violence and PTSD, and how those who do suffer from PTSD are treated by society, the VA, and by the military itself.
In a perfect world, I would have it so that someone who displays early warning signs of PTSD are immediately put in a non-deployable status and given treatment and are in no way being punished (nor should they feel like they are being punished). If treatment isn't successful don't necessarily end their service but keep them around in a position where they don't deploy if it is determined they can still contribute to the military's mission in other ways.
If treatment is successful, and the member wishes it, return them to deployable status and have them do the job they were trained for.
Regardless of either choice, when their time is up offer the member continued support (which would require a complete overhaul of the VA system) and make sure they're set up for success. Yes the military and government claims to already do this, but we've all read about veterans who cannot reintegrate into society successfully.
Of course PTSD contributes to violence and whatnot. This article while informative does not really state anything we veterans don't already know: both about the connection between violence and PTSD, and how those who do suffer from PTSD are treated by society, the VA, and by the military itself.
In a perfect world, I would have it so that someone who displays early warning signs of PTSD are immediately put in a non-deployable status and given treatment and are in no way being punished (nor should they feel like they are being punished). If treatment isn't successful don't necessarily end their service but keep them around in a position where they don't deploy if it is determined they can still contribute to the military's mission in other ways.
If treatment is successful, and the member wishes it, return them to deployable status and have them do the job they were trained for.
Regardless of either choice, when their time is up offer the member continued support (which would require a complete overhaul of the VA system) and make sure they're set up for success. Yes the military and government claims to already do this, but we've all read about veterans who cannot reintegrate into society successfully.
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PO1 John Miller
CPT L S
Whether they like to admit it or not, Marines DO fall under the Department of the Navy! ;)
Whether they like to admit it or not, Marines DO fall under the Department of the Navy! ;)
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Capt Walter Miller
PO1 John Miller - "Whether they like to admit it or not, Marines DO fall under the Department of the Navy! ;)"
Lord above. :) Well. That is true.
Walt
Lord above. :) Well. That is true.
Walt
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War accelerates death, injury, death, regret, guilt, shame, a loss of spirit and humanity.
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SPC Margaret Higgins
I HATE that war does all of this to combat military. I am literally CRYING; after reading what you have typed.
War is just insane.
GOD said there will always be wars.
But if this is what war does to you guys, I'd rather GOD be wrong.
With My Love in Him, Major- Margaret
War is just insane.
GOD said there will always be wars.
But if this is what war does to you guys, I'd rather GOD be wrong.
With My Love in Him, Major- Margaret
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MAJ Ken Landgren
SPC Margaret Higgins - There are some good that comes out of wars like a brotherhood that meets annually, so they share their ghosts and love for each other. The German or Japanese fighter pilots who refuse the honor of killing Americans in the sky. The millions of veterans who harbor the undeniable desire to help each other. Sometimes you see the worst in mankind, sometimes the best in mankind.
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PO3 (Join to see)
Humanity is very weird, sometime, we only able to see the best of humanity during the worse of humanity. Like those that die trying to save Jews during the darkest hours in WW2.
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COL Mikel Burroughs, What a sobering example that story about the 2/12 Infantry makes. I wish our Nation's people would take time to focus on such disasters as a reminder of the consequences of war.
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Hawkeye: War isn't Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse.
Father Mulcahy: How do you figure, Hawkeye?
Hawkeye: Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell?
Father Mulcahy: Sinners, I believe.
Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. War is chalk full of them - little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander
Father Mulcahy: How do you figure, Hawkeye?
Hawkeye: Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell?
Father Mulcahy: Sinners, I believe.
Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. War is chalk full of them - little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander
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SSG Jesus Sijalbo
I don't know anyone who went to Hell and came back but I sure know alot of people that went to War. They return Home but Never got back!!
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Life will give you PTSD...combat is just a bullet train to get you there faster.
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs, I decidedly agree; though I have never seen combat. I've seen the movies. I've talked to the Soldiers at the VA who have just come back from war. I have talked to/lunched with Soldiers with PTSD.
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SPC Margaret Higgins
SSG Gene Carroll SR., The good Lord is with you always. The following scripture is taken directly from the Bible. "I live, move and exist in God."
May you have a lovely and peaceful day; Staff Sergeant.
With My Love in Him, SPC Margaret Higgins
May you have a lovely and peaceful day; Staff Sergeant.
With My Love in Him, SPC Margaret Higgins
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COL Mikel J. Burroughs, PTSD is an unfortunate cost of defending our great Nation and the only thing that I can do in my foxhole is to be aware of the cuases and symptoms, continue to be supportive of people that suffer from PTSD and always be look to help when possible.
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