Posted on 05/13/2007 3:02:35 AM PDT by Clive
Stressed-out soldier involved in standoff
Wife says more must be done to help war-weary soldiers
By CARY CASTAGNA, SUN MEDIA
The wife of an Edmonton-based soldier in a two-hour standoff with police Friday night said the military needs to do more to tackle post-traumatic stress disorder.
Megan, who didn't want her last name published, said her husband has been suffering with the disorder since he returned last August from a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.
"My husband is so severely mentally disturbed from PTSD," Megan told Sun Media. "Our lives are completely affected by PTSD. It's so sad that this is what my husband has to go through. He just wants to live a normal life."
Officers were called about 9:30 p.m. Friday to an apartment complex at 16221 95 St.
Megan said her husband wouldn't let her leave with the couple's baby, so she called 911 to report the domestic dispute.
The man's wife and baby were eventually able to leave the suite, and police negotiated with the soldier with help from a military padre.
ENDS PEACEFULLY
The standoff ended peacefully around 11:30 p.m., when the soldier was escorted into an ambulance and taken to hospital.
No charges are expected to be laid, police said yesterday.
Megan said her husband, who also went to Bosnia, has been experiencing constant flashbacks and has been unable to make the adjustment back to life in Edmonton.
"My husband can barely walk into a grocery store. He can't pay bills and he can't look after our child," she explained. "It's a scary realization. He's very proud of what he does, but it messed him up so bad.
"He's seen a lot. He's been exposed to quite a bit."
Megan said the military is doing all it can right now, but that isn't enough.
"Families are being severely destroyed and torn apart because of the condition these guys are brought home in," she said.
"I don't think the military has enough support on base to deal with everything." Vancouver-based psychiatrist Dr. Greg Passey, a PTSD specialist who retired from the Canadian Forces in 2000 after 22 years of service, said the military has refused to study the effects of the disorder for over a decade.
"I've been suggesting they do so since 1993. The military has been running blind on this for nearly 15 years. No Canadian study has been undertaken to look at the true number of soldiers coming back from service with PTSD," Passey told Sun Media.
PSYCHOLOGICALLY CRIPPLED
He said the only scientific research on the disorder is coming out of the U.S. and estimates that at least 6% of soldiers are psychologically crippled by the disorder.
"Depending on which study you look at, the numbers are even higher. Front-line infantry in combat outside the wire are far more likely to develop PTSD," he said.
Statistics from Second World War soldiers suggest up to 24% were afflicted with PTSD, he said.
"We know that PTSD is causing a significant number of psychological casualties among soldiers," said Passey.
"Add to that the fact our military members do multiple tours in short periods - take Bosnia or Kosovo for example - and the effects should be obvious.
"Unfortunately no one is looking to quantify them from a scientific perspective. I don't know why (the government) isn't, but it should be."
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War is hell. These guys knew what they signed up for. That being said, it’s sad that they do come back in this condition. It is a reflection on our military and I hate to say it, but the size and inexperience of our current force. I have many friends that are in the Forces, one will be coming to Germany for 2 weeks this summer to train with (what I expect is) and American unit. He will be deployed (he’s a field medic) to Afghanistan in February. Another friend of mine was over there as a Chaplain. They see a LOT of nasty things over there...I can’t begin to imagine.
In the town where I am in Germany, the majority of the Americans stationed here are in Iraq and Afghanistan right now. A watering hole that they frequent (it’s an Irish pub, and I’m partial to the atmosphere) is pretty well empty until they get back. I was talking to the owner and he has said that the first time these guys came back, he had never seen so many drunken stumbling soldiers that were calm and sedate and just enjoying life. He never has a problem with them when the come back from deployments because they’re just happy to be back with their lives.
This war is taking a toll on the soldiers, and it doesn’t help that the media and the left are undermining the war. Success in Iraq is mandatory, and should be a pre-requisite for bringing those troops home. That being said, the tactics in this war need to change. The soldiers need to be able to do their jobs without fear of reprisal when they get home (ref Abu Garib et. al.). We’re fighting a guerrilla war like it is a conventional one. The enemy wears civilian clothes, and blends in with the populace, that is THE definition of a guerrilla war.
Okay, I seem to be doing this a lot lately, but rant off, flame suit on.
The guy that comes back from a war zone and is having problems 'adjusting' might not be the best one to make a decision about his own condition.
Are wives, and parents being counciled to spot 'a condition' and be the the ones to notify authorities?
Additionally, maybe the answer to PTSD might be to send him back, albeit in a 'safe' zone ... to be 'weaned' from combat.
I have a friend that is a 6'6" or 7" Marine and he is now in a HQ compant out of combat ... near it, but out of it, for a lot of logistical reasons ... the two I've heard from his mother is he is too tall to easily move around vehicles (enter and exit, making him more vulnerable) and he sticks out like a sore thumb in any kind of formation (same vulnerability)
He's newly married with baby, so the Marines decided to not put him in an active combat position.
If the Marines can do that, they can put a guy that might want to be in a killing zone, but can't say it for a lot of reasons' in a position that 'might' help him to more slowly adjust.
I have no stats, but I'd venture the guess that the % of guys coming back screwed up is very small ... comparatively.
Just a thought.
These troops are in and out all the time. Many have been gone more than three times to combat zones. The neighbors on either side of me have been gone twice.
The military are all over the Cumberland county area every day.
Guess what? For the vast majority of them, they are pretty much average (I’d say way above average) people going about their business. A lot more normal than others wandering around here.
If they had never been in this kind of combat before, how would they really know what they signed up for?
I have to whole heartedly agree. I've seen the same here in the Tampa area.
We have McDill, and I've talked to many guys that have been between tours, and they're
pretty family oriented, and normal. That doesn't mean I know what goes on behind closed doors
All in all its my observation that while some of the young lads/lasses do suffer from stress pressure,
it is not the majority as the media would like one to believe.
The thing is some people can handle combat, others can’t. I have two friends, one was in the Navy (Mobile Riverine Force brown water Navy) he had a lot of problems when he came back from Viet-Nam drugs, booze, “anger management”, the other a Recon Marine , came home and got on with his life,
30 yrs later vet gets Purple Heart
Miscellaneous Announcement
Source: Mendota Review
Published: 3/4/01 Author: Carlin Larson
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3ab4096c26fa.htm
Posted on 03/17/2001 17:03:40 PST by Valin
Over 30years ago thomas Mohs was asked if he wanted a Purple Heart. He was wounded in 1969 while serving in a reconnaissance unit during the Vietnam war. Mohs chose not to accept the award, saying others were more deserving.
Humility stayed with Mohs (52) and three decades later, he still shuns occasions where his efforts are praised. However his family is determined not to let is heroic efforts and those of other veterans go unrecognized.
Mohs grew up in south mpls and was the third child of a family of 13 children. After graduating from south high school, he joined the US Marines Corps and served with the 3rd Recon Marines in Vietnam. Althought he was wounded, he fulfilled his tour awyway.
After returning home, Thomas had a couple of jobs before marrying his wife Lynda. they have been married 22 years
Two years ago, Lynda looked into securing the medal for her husband. The Purple Heart was important to Mohs older brother Joseph who passed away in 1988 and who served in Vietnam and always wanted his younger brother to receive the honor. “I did it on behalf of Joseph,” said Lynda.
(snip)
______________________________
Like the vast majority of guys who served.
Point is the military needs to do a better job of identifing those that have problems after being in combat and getting them the help they need.
no flame
I agree 100%. I have a lot of battle-tested armed forces members in my neighborhood :) and they seem to be more squared away than a lot of people I meet elsewhere.
Please send me a FReepmail to get on or off this Canada ping list.
LLS
Thank you for reminding us:
” The enemy wears civilian clothes, and blends in with the populace, that is THE definition of a guerrilla war.”
That’s what’s going on with this piece. Regardless of how few the number, war brings terribly mental anguish to a measurable percentage of those who went. Each of those deserve our grattitude and our aid and comfort upon their return.
Journalistic exploitation of returning service people and their families is the enemy’s work.
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