Vets need help combating stress
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- March
- 4
My dad had nightmares for years after he came home from Vietnam, and used to act jumpy whenever a helicopter flew overhead. He would never talk about it or answer our questions about the war.
When I was in the Army in the late 1970s, a lot of the NCOs in my unit, most of them combat vets, would make off-color wise cracks about the war during the day. But when we were out on field training exercises, many of these same guys would have flashbacks in the middle of the night, scaring the you-know-what out of the rest of us. In the morning, they wouldn’t talk about their bad dreams either.
Over the years I’ve had dozens of World War II and Korean combat soldiers tell me that they too have nightmares about their war experiences.
Many combat vets never realize that they’re suffering from post traumatic stress. Few seek or receive help, and according to a federal lawsuit being heard in San Francisco, those who do are not really getting adequate treatment.
Just last week The Journal News and Lohud.com published the story of Marine Staff Sgt. Steven Vickerman, a Palisades native who served two tours in Iraq. He committed suicide last month. You can read that report here.
The suit, filed by Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, asks that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs be ordered to overhaul its health system, especially its mental health treatment, to meet growing demand from soldiers
returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Click here to get the details.
Whether it’s called shell shock, battle fatigue or post traumatic stress, the fact is that generations of combat vets have been affected by what they saw or did “over there.’’ It’s about time they all finally get the help they need and deserve.
Thank you so much for putting this online.
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