NWR: PLEASE READ- how are we supporting our troops?!

Hey Ladies and Gents,

I just read this INFURIATING report on NPR about how the Army is treating our soldiers who return with depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

This hits home for me, as I have family that has served and friends who have dealt with mental illness. The stigma around mental health is still really huge. For us to ask sacrifices of our sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers, friends, cousins, children, and THEN tell them 'we don't have time or resources to help you get well' is just unconscionable. Some of these soldiers are even being dishonorably discharged so the government doesn't have to pick up the bill.

here's the story. Please only read if you're ready to be angry about how the military and our government is treating the people bravely serving:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6575431

Key statistic? The Government Accountability Office 'found that about 80 percent of the soldiers who showed potential signs of PTSD were not referred for mental health follow-ups.' That's thousands of soldiers, and it could be someone we know.

Questions for our brave li-brides and grooms. Are you alright? Have you and your fellow soldiers received the care you need? Can we help? And if you've got specific stories about this, please FM me.

unbelievable.

--the stealth groom
(giving meat eating, sports watching, bourbon drinking men a voice on liweddings since 10/10/06)

I heard this yesterday...Really really awful

Perhaps the government can take back a couple of billion dollars budgeted for the Iraqian reconstruction(which never took place) and create some programs for our brave soliders.

(Where is all that money?)

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Posted by lucite

Perhaps the government can take back a couple of billion dollars budgeted for the Iraqian reconstruction(which never took place) and create some programs for our brave soliders.

(Where is all that money?)

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Don't even get me started on the 9 Billion Dollars that have been missing since the Coalition Authority days.

How can we ask people to put their lives on the line and not take care of them?

ama1771, you're so right. We don't take of the neediest, but we need to be.

Seems to me that congress and the senate found a budget for their pay increases..Wow money fell from heaven.

As for that 9 billion.. Haliburton, Bush, Cheney and a select few?

My FH is in the Army. I am a Psyc major concentrating on the affects of combat on soldiers and their marriages. I cannot tell you how long this has been going on....its not just THIS war...its EVERY war. Its hard for them to get the treatment they need after they come home from deployments and PTSD destroys their marriages far too often. Unfortunately, this will continue to be a problem for a long long time as the field of psychology doesnt seem to think its a pressing issue and they'd rather focus on other things that have been studied over and over again

Also, just wanted to say -- these men and women and their families are very well cared for my our government. I know it doesnt seem like it b/c of this article, but dont believe everything you read. First of all, we get housing, food, living expenses, dental and medical ALL paid for (and its NOT bare minimum -- its enough to live very comfortably). We also get family and marriage counseling services, support groups, career services, etc. Some of these things (like the counseling services) are relatively new, as in the past 5 to 10 years. So, dont think for one minute that our government is just sending these men and women out to war and not taking care of them. They do the best they can, and it happens to be a lot. Could they use more considering what they do? Yes, of course -- but its not all the fault of the goverment.

I dunno. I've heard that during this whole Iraq debacle, the congress actually made SIGNIFICANT BUDGET CUTS to the VA. Now, the poor vets who return are given the run-around on treatments. Classic example: the VA recently published medical research that refutes the existence of 'gulf war syndrome'. No one can tell me that the soldiers are not suffering from exposure from the tons of depleted uranium found in all the US bombs/shells. It's a heavy metal, and it's still radioactive! Note: if gulf war syndrome doesn't exist, then the VA doesn't have to pay for its treatment..... these poor men and women are left out in the cold..... Sleazy tactics once used only by insurance companies...

grrrrrrr...........