Supporting the Troops
Aug 26th, 2005 at 10:47 am by Susie
It’s a good thing that they took that weapon from him, because he went looking for the guys who’d robbed him. Figured they’d be easy enough to find on that shiny red scooter. Fortunately he didn’t find them, and he went home. Stopped and got a pint of vodka first, to calm his nerves. Told his wife what had happened, and went downstairs. His wife called his mom, a second-shift nurse, and she came over on her way home. It appeared that K. was trying to assemble Molotov cocktails and get some of his old army buddies to come over and help him get these scumballs. Or something. Even K. isn’t sure what he was trying to do.
See, K.’s a Gulf War vet. His story is not unusual. He enlisted to get money for college and make his mama proud. Only he got shipped off to Desert Storm a few weeks before his time was up. He knew, of course, that that sort of thing could happen when you’re in the army. In his better moments, K’s grateful for the opportunity to serve his country, and grateful that he came back in one piece and that he was able to finish college and get a job. And he got married, and he’s absolutely crazy in love with his wife and adores his beautiful baby daughter. His mother should be proud of him.
But the thing is he didn’t come back in one piece. He has PTSD. Looking down the barrel of a gun the other night scared the shit out of him. The idea that he might do something that compromises his daughter’s and wife’s and mother’s safety scares the shit of him. The idea that he might do something stupid and end up in jail scares the shit of him.
“I know I need help,” he said to me. “I called the VA to make an appointment. I can see a shrink in like February or March.”
Surely we can do better than this.
[From Alphabitch.]
The VA is going back and looking at PTSD cases with an eye to disenrolling as many of them as they can because it is costing them a boat load of money.
If the military simply audited Halluburton’s invoices, they would save a hell of a lot more money.
What we do to them, we do to ourselves.
What will happen to us when they all come home?
I have set with guys all night long just listening .. to try and help get them through times like this … hoping that the next time they have it a little easier … and that I do not end up reading about them in the paper .. and yes the VA is trying to cut costs by cutting benefits and this administration has removed most of the appeal process that used to be in place to protect vets that had their benefits taken away …