The latest evidence that they’re not getting the care they need came in an e-mail released last week. It was written by Norma J. Perez, the PTSD coordinator at a VA facility in Texas.
Because the facility is seeing more of what Ms. Perez described as “compensation-seeking veterans,” she urged mental health professionals there to “refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) straight out.”

Is the Post editorial board more qualified on PTSD than Norma Perez? We absolutely must help every veteran with a real case of PTSD, but not everyone who comes in the door.

A worthwhile reading on this subject is “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder And The Non-Combat Veteran” by David Barker, © AMVETS Department of Ohio 2002. This is available on the Internet.

“That callous disregard of veterans’ rights is of a piece with the administration’s entire approach to war. It sent troops into combat with inadequate body and vehicle armor,”

How come we never hear from the PD that congress — and plenty of democrats in congress — voted to send the troop to combat also? It seems that if the presidency was/is at fault, congress share equal blame for this. And surely the initial lack of proper equipment has nothing to do with cutbaks in the military made during the Clinton years. Although I will say that not outfitting our troops with proper gear is horrible and should never happen regardless of the reason.

Regarding PTSD….a short poem I wrote.

If nightmares and dreams could be bottled like wine,

I’d send you a crate, vintage Tet 68,

So you could share some of mine.

Without meaning to fault their brave efforts, is there a documented input as to the percentage of today’s veterans who actually experience close combat? Many in our Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, and support personnel never do (Yes, we have Coast Guard people in the Middle East).

As to adequacy of body armor, it is well known that early body armor was not as good as today’s, and some unused armor deteriorated due to age. Even today’s armor is hot and heavy, so some of our people don’t wear full armor. Years ago, we lost people in Somalia because they only wore the front half of their heavy armor and got shot in the back (David Hackworth - “Hazardous Duty”). Even modern ceramic armor can’t stop a straight-on hit from the low-powered AK-47 cartridge.

If the feds can’t competently manage legitimate, critical obligations such as veteran care, why do the government worshipers such as the PD editorial board push to expand federal powers into ever-expanding areas in violation of the Tenth Amendment? The waste, corruption, and incompetence of the federal government are already completely out of control and beyond our comprehension. What could possibly justify more usurpation of powers and resources by the bureaucracy?

Old Sarge,

I liked your poem (and not just because my father was an Old Sarge — he retired from the Air Force as a Chief Master Sgt. in 1970).

A few years ago (2005), I interviewed a guy who had flown in the same bomb group as my father during World War II. His war had ended 60 years earlier. But he still had vivid enough nightmares that his wife knew if he began thrashing about in bed, she should stay well clear.
He had been a rear gunner on a B-17. He wouldn’t tell me directly what he dreamed about. My guess is that he was struggling to make his way forward to the escape hatch so he could put on his parachute and bail out. His wife said he was still plenty strong enough to kick out that rear hatch — she had the bruises to prove it.

There you go Bb. Put Republicans in office who do nothing but use the state as an apparatus to help their friends and business interests, and then when its all over start crying about how we need to lower taxes because of “government inefficiency.”

This is indeed a problem. But the shortage of mental health professionals isn’t unique to the VA. Try finding a pediatric psychiatrist that is taking new patients.

Adam… you are evidently not familar with my other postings. The Republican Party is just as guilty as the Democrat Party of selling out to the special interest groups. The partisan bickering serves both well as a diversion from their atrocious behavior. Parasites and perverts on the left, preachers and plutocrats on the right. Neither side really cares about you as long as they stay on the gravy train.

I looked at the e-mail and the Veterans for Common Sense report (I’ll read the Rand report over the week-end).

I have friends who served in VietNam, one of whom is a nurse who got hit with mortar fragments and just this past year (30 years later) finally got someone at the VA who said that her neck had been fractured. When it happened she was told it wan’t serious and went back to work shortly afterward.

The VA was okay for providing long-term care, but it was not set up to deal with the types of injuries and PTSD cases coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I doubt that there are too many facilities that are. The expectation is that military hospitals and facilities should be the places service personnel and veterans can expect to receive treatment.

I have been a war protestor and advocate of non-violence my whole adult life. I abhor war and the perceived need to go to war. I also think that those who actively and willingly serve in the armed forces should be taken care of by the country that asked them to fight. This is not an occasion for “bottom-line” thinking.