[crazyhorse691]

This just really ticked me off when I saw this. Typical antiwar sleaze full of generalities and illogic wrapped in a tight hug of emotion.

[SteveMcKing]

For many vets, the mental scars of battlefield horrors stick around long after other wounds have healed. Already in Clackamas County, social workers are seeing the first wave of soldiers returning with symptoms of post-traumatic stress.

Those poor, pathetic people. What can we do to help these social workers get better?

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

One thing that all of these subtle lefty hit-pieces have in common......the Vets and GI's they are written around are always presented as victims or perpetrators.....then of course there comes the "PTSD" crap to put the general public on edge, which enhances the perp/victim stuff.

SOS, been there, done that....BOHICA! Hell of a way to "support the troops" and "thank them for their service", ain't it?

[T Lady]

To the Left, every war is Vietnam, and all Republican administrations cause homelessness and poverty...just connect the dots.

*Barf*

-Regards, T.

[alpha-8-25-02]

I SHOULD NOT OF READ THIS!

GODBLESS OUR VETERANS!

[Gritty]

...we're just beginning to see the trickle of returning vets who find themselves dangling somewhere between the fates of Simpson and Hansen. They're the ones who made it back alive, but found no jobs, no home, no reason to hope.

So the long, lonely walk on the fringe begins, their struggles tangled in fear, depression or mental illness often fueled by drug and alcohol abuse that somehow provides the excuse many Americans need to simply look the other way.

Here in Clackamas County... there are dozens and dozens if not hundreds of homeless veterans...

Nationwide, as many as half a million vets struggle with homelessness every year, half of them wrestling with substance abuse, well over a third suffering from mental illness...

[End Times Sentinel]

So the long, lonely walk on the fringe begins, their struggles tangled in fear, depression or mental illness often fueled by drug and alcohol abuse that somehow provides the excuse many Americans [read: democrats] need to simply look the other way.

 

I can't wait for the Dan Rather "The Wall Within, Iraq War" special!  Our vets are little more than ticking time bombs and what better day to smear 'em on than Memorial Day!

Owl_Eagle

(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,

 it was probably sarcasm)

[CasearianDaoist]

This is the second one of these attempts to dredge back up the "violent, unstable Combat Vet SYndrome," that I have seen this weekend. There is another one somewhere on FR from a SanSiego paper.

And on Memorial Day too. These people have no shame whatsoever.

Utterly comtemplable. I cannot express my disgust with this pack of back stabbing traitors.

[blu]

Here in Clackamas County, where we enjoy the lowest level of poverty in the state, there are dozens and dozens if not hundredsof homeless veterans, a recent survey suggests

In other words, "I don't really know how many vets we have, but I'm pretty sure there's at least 24."

Were the survey questions so ambiguous that the answers could be spun any way the writer chooses?

The writer has a great example of a returning vet, and then tries to paint him as a borderline homeless using faulty assumptions. What a crock!

[LoudRepublicangirl]

Well, since this leftist liberal rag cares so much for our returning veterans then they should make a hefty donation of their profits to the DAV. But, they won't. They like to use these veterans as posterboys for their anti-American spew that they have been serving since Vietnam. Shame on this journalist for exploiting and using the veterans for this purpose.

[ProudVet77]

As long as they don't have to come back home to people like John Kerry and Jane Fonda, these guys will be ok. It was the atmosphere that created the emotional stresses to stay suppresed which later caused problems for some vets.

[MrBambaLaMamba]

If Andy Parker is so concerned about the plight of local veterans, instead of being a whiny beyatch he should help out and give them a hand

[roamincadillac]

The only similarities between Iraq and Viet Nam are the anti-American protestors.

[kas2591]

I went to see some friends at Camp Pendleton, California last week and attended a memorial service for the 462 killed while serving with 1st Marine Division during their last tour. It was a very moving ceremony.

My brother came down to visit as well. He's a retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant (Desert Storm, Somalia, Panama) who is now a police officer in Southern California. During our catching up that night he mentioned that they are starting to see Iraq Vets that are having some adjustment problems and that PTSD is a concern (at least in his department) from a tactical standpoint.

As for me I've played in the gun club a while my self so I'm not entirely unfamiliar with the sound of incoming.

It seems to me that there is some validity to the concern about PTSD. Apparently the Army, the Marine Corps, and the VA feel it's true since they have begun to ramp up their efforts to aid people (how effective they are I can't gauge).

I think you're correct in the view that the media portrayal of vets as 'ticking time bombs' actually contributes to the problem by isolating the ignorant from their veterans
( I say 'their' because a vet is a symbol of our nation's/society's willingness to sacrifice as well as the individual's).

Someone made a comment that the only similarity between Vietnam and Iraq is the antiwar crowd; there's another one: the Russian Roulette type of operations where you're waiting for the IED with your name on it.