I meant to link to this last week
posted by The Vidiot @ 8:02 AM Permalink But got busy and then lost my internet. It's a very good blog entry by Arizona Chuck on the state of mental health care, and other programs, for our veterans. Read the whole thing, but this is just a wee snippit:About 300,000 soldiers and veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan currently suffer from depression or PTSD or both. Only about 60,000 vets have been seen, let alone effectively treated. Partially because VA is overloaded with current treatment needs for about a quarter-million vets who still suffer from PTSD as a result of their tours in Vietnam.
Tours that ended well over 30 years ago. An ominous indicator of the troubles Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers, and by extension all American citizens, will eventually be forced to face.
Labels: veteran health care
1 Comments:
This is going to blow the country's budget right through the roof and we'll be paying monster sums of money to disabled vet to come for a very, very long time, many of whom never saw combat.
Military service itself is inherently dangerous, but it has always struck me that the greatest dangers soldiers face are those of our military's own creation: Take a look around for the toxic 'super-sites,' a hugh number of which are military bases. Hell, we start killing our soldiers with exposure to toxic chemicals before they ever fire their first bullet in basic training.
Look at me, for example: I breezed through my time in the military, advanced to Staff Sergeant in just slightly over three years, worked the most hazardous duties I could find to volunteer for and was one of those guys that just never got hit by bullets, shrapnel, and the other many dangers military personnel face and I never lost a fight brought about by pursuing my duty, but I never had any idea that exposure to Agent Orange would come to try and kill me over twenty years later with not one, but two cancers, the treatments for which alone almost cost me my life and did cost me my mental health.
Yes, sir! It was the military life for me and although looking back I would probably do the same things, at least I'd have had a chance to educate myself about the chemicals present on our bases and maybe, just maybe, have been able to avoid such grief. Maybe not.
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