Take a Veteran to Lunch~ and Therapy

The news is not good folks. The deserter rate is up to 1%, which may not sound like much but in an “all volunteer” Army that is quite a few folks who just walk away. A steady increase over the last four years, and a 42% jump since last year point to a stressed out population.4, 698 soldiers deserted this year~ with nearly 64% in the months of April through December. The reasons sound logical to me ~ stress, family problems….oh and that extra 15-month deployment. Toss in some death and destruction and one can see why a person might just walk off. Personally, I cannot imagine the thought process one would have to go through to do that, but it must be a very gut wrenching choice to make. Your spot on your team of brothers~ for make no mistake these people do bond deeply~ or the thing you call your real life exploding to bits back home. The Army wants to stop this bleed off of trained personnel, and hopefully as we take down the number of troops over there that will help.Sgt. Phil McDowell is one of those deserters. Now living in Canada, he had served one tour in Iraq and was getting out of the Army when Uncle Sam said “not so fast.”

“The reason I was being called back was to go to another tour in Iraq, and I didn’t agree with that,” McDowell told a reporter.

McDowell could eventually be deported from Canada and court-martialed, but for him that beats going back to Iraq.

“If I had been asked to go to Afghanistan I would have gone there,” he said. “But the Iraq War I didn’t want to have any part of that any more.”

Sgt. Brad Gaskins was arrested for leaving the Army more than a year ago. He left his base in New York after being diagnosed with PTSD and severe depression~ and not received effective treatment. He was arrested at a local café, while his lawyer was negotiating the terms of his surrender. A 8 year veteran ,he served a peacekeeping tour in Kosovo, and 2 tour in Iraq~ it was during the second tour his problems began .He was assigned to conduct road searches and locating IED’s.

Upon his return to Fort Drum, he began suffering flashbacks, nightmares, sleeplessness, headaches, weight loss and vicious mood swings that take him from depression to irrational rage.

Military doctors sent him to Samaritan Medical Center where he was diagnosed and sent back to Fort drum. At Fort Drum of staff of 12, treat 17,000 soldiers for mental health problems. He asked about returning to the Samaritan facility and was told that would delay any chance he had of a medical release. He asked for a two-week leave, went home and never went back.

He cannot find work because of PTSD, had divorced and has supervised visits with his two children.

Last month the V.A. said that more than 100,000 soldiers were being treated for mental health issues, more than half specifically for PTSD.

Now another alarming figure. In 2005 alone, sit down folks, 120~that is right one hundred and twenty~ veterans took their own lives a week. 120 a week. This figure is twice that of the population that did not serve. That is a National tragedy; something that speaks to it is going to take more than “thanks”, a Hummer full of personal care items and a few parades to fix. These numbers came after a CBS investigation of the V.A., which does not track these suicides.

Veterans’ rights advocate Paul Sullivan was a data analyst for the VA from 2000 to 2006.

“I don’t think they want to know. We call it the “don’t look, don’t find” policy,” he said. “The VA doesn’t collect data, and then they don’t have to do anything about it.”

And now, in addition to these reports criticizing the VA’s treatment and spending practices come two more blows: of nearly 90,000 Army vets who served in Iraq in 2005 and 2006, a study released yesterday found 28.3 percent experienced mental health problems, while the report - due out tomorrow - says while veterans are 11 percent of the general population, they now make up an estimated 25 percent of the homeless.

It is clear that from the physically wounded to the mentally wounded the V.A. is not prepared to handle the flood of soldiers coming back home. Back to us. Back to families, back to friends, back to work. We bang the drum, play the fife, wave that flag and send them off ….and then drop that ball. When you don the uniform, place your hand over your heart you have an expectation that the government will take care of you as promised. The government of the people and by the people~ you and me. We must do better.