Iraq War casualties of an all too familiar kind. . .

[whistle]

. . .the returning veteran with major emotional and mental problems. This NYT article exposes a much wider and more frequent casualty of war that has been so often covered up, hidden and forgotten in the past with most dire consequences to the moral and stability of our country.

<snip>
A Flood of Troubled Soldiers Is in the Offing, Experts Predict
By SCOTT SHANE

Published: December 16, 2004

To detect signs of trouble, the Department of Defense gives soldiers pre-deployment and post-deployment health questionnaires. Seven of 17 questions to soldiers leaving Iraq seek signs of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

But some reports suggest that such well-intentioned policies falter in the field. During his time as a platoon leader in Iraq, Mr. Rieckhoff said, he never saw a combat stress control unit. "I never heard of them until I came back," he said.

And the health screens have run up against an old enemy of military medicine: soldiers who cover up their symptoms. In July 2003, as Jeffrey Lucey, a Marine reservist from Belchertown, Mass., prepared to leave Iraq after six months as a truck driver, he at first intended to report traumatic memories of seeing corpses, his parents, Kevin and Joyce Lucey, said. But when a supervisor suggested that such candor might delay his return home, Mr. Lucey played down his problems.

At home, he spiraled downhill, haunted by what he had seen and began to have delusions about having killed unarmed Iraqis. In June, at 23, he hanged himself with a hose in the basement of the family home.

"Other marines have verified to us that it is a subtle understanding which exists that if you want to go home you do not report any problems," Mr. Lucey's parents wrote in an e-mail message. "Jeff's perception, which is shared by others, is that to seek help is to admit that you are weak."

Dr. Kilpatrick, of the Pentagon, acknowledges the problem, saying that National Guardsmen and Reservists in particular have shown an "abysmal" level of candor in the screenings. "We still have a long ways to go," he said. "The warrior ethos is that there are no imperfections."

<more at link> http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/16/national/16stress.html?oref=login&th

[bryant69]

1. That's pretty scary

But not surprising. Our society has a huge bias against admitting psychological illnesses--it's not surprising that would be reflected in our military.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Disturbed]

2. Tough!!!

If a Military person is horified by what they have seen, what others have done or what they have done and cannot shake it off they are considered weak. Amerika will reap what it has sown.

[katmondoo]

3. Timothy McVeigh (the Oklahoma City bomber)

He came back from the Gulf war, became disillusioned, unemployed and decided to get even with the US government. He was probably mentally ill to begin with and became more so by the war. I read he was into the killing thing, and did well while on duty. Military life suited him. How many more Timothy's will this war produce? They come home then to some it is a let down.