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WASHINGTON -- Centuries before Iraq and Afghanistan, George Washington created the Purple Heart to honor troops wounded in combat. But with an increasing number of troops being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, the modern military is debating an idea Gen. Washington never considered -- awarding one of the nation's top military citations to veterans with psychological wounds, not just physical ones. Defense Secretary Robert Gates offered cautious support...

WASHINGTON, May 5, 2008 – With growing recognition of the toll post-traumatic stress disorder has taken on U.S. forces, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said the Defense Department may consider awarding Purple Heart medals to combat veterans afflicted with it. “It’s an interesting idea,” Gates said when asked about the concept during a May 2 media availability at Red River Army Depot, Texas. “I think it is clearly something that needs to be looked at.” Gates’ comment followed his visit the previous day to Fort Bliss, Texas, where he toured the post’s Recovery and Resilience Center, which is using...

Roughly one in every five U.S. troops who have survived the bombs and other dangers of Iraq and Afghanistan now suffers from major depression or post-traumatic stress, an independent study said Thursday. It estimated the toll at 300,000 or more. As many or more report possible brain injuries from explosions or other head wounds, said the study, the first major survey from outside the government. Only about half of those with mental health problems have sought treatment. Even fewer of those with head injuries have seen doctors. Army Surgeon General Eric Schoomaker said the report, from the Rand Corp., was...

'One in five US servicemen has brain injury' By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 3:26am BST 18/04/2008 The psychological toll of America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has touched one in five servicemen and its consequences will be long-lasting, a study suggested yesterday. The Rand Corporation, a leading research operation, said that 320,000 soldiers suffered brain injuries on the battlefield, while more than 300,000 suffered mental disorders on returning home. The report said that US veterans are incurring "invisible wounds" of war, most notably traumatic brain injury. A survey of 1,926 soldiers represented a statistically significant sample of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About 300,000 U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, but about half receive no care, an independent study said on Thursday. The study by the RAND Corp. also estimated that another 320,000 troops have sustained a possible traumatic brain injury during deployment. But researchers could not say how many of those cases were serious or required treatment. Billed as the first large-scale nongovernmental survey of its kind, the study found that stress disorder and depression afflict 18.5 percent of the more than 1.5 million U.S. forces who have deployed...

I t was two weeks ago that I received a phone call from my son. He is a college student so when the telephone rings and I see his number there are always two immediate feelings. First, I hope that everything is all right as he attends college in Baltimore, a hotbed of crime and violence, or, second, how much money does he need. Once I hear his voice and know that he is OK, I can most certainly guarantee that the call is for money. That's when I give the telephone to his father. This call two weeks ago...

Not everyone is vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)--the extreme anxiety, depression, and nightmares that can follow a harrowing event. Although some people develop symptoms after seemingly minor traumas, others can handle wars, hurricanes, or various forms of physical abuse without losing their emotional balance. Now, researchers have shown that mutations in a stress-related gene may help determine whether someone who suffered from abuse as a child is susceptible to PTSD later in life. Teasing out the genetics of PTSD has been difficult. Children who are abused are more susceptible to PTSD as adults, and researchers estimate that up to...

Alpha Company, a National Guard unit based in Northeast Philadelphia, drew its roster from across the region. Six members were killed during the nearly 11 months that Alpha spent in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. The 131 survivors are police officers and college students, construction workers and drug store clerks. More than two years after coming home, many are still struggling to get their lives back in order and to sort out the meaning of their sacrifice. Nearly half have been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet many say they‘d go back to Iraq if asked. They‘d do it...

GRAHAM, Texas – For Ian Anderson, a few seconds on the back of a startled cow on Wednesday summed up three days of a special gathering for U.S. veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. "We'd never ridden a cow before," said the fresh-faced 27-year-old from Spokane, Wash., who was shot five times in combat in Iraq. "So I rode a cow. And it was fun." And that was one of the key points of Project Odyssey, a fledgling program organized by the Wounded Warrior Project in association with the Department of Veterans Affairs and other veterans organizations. Twenty-one vets from...

Jo Hanna Schaffer's dog is more than a best friend. The 67-year-old Vietnam veteran, a former Army medic, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and three years ago, she decided to get a service dog, a Chihuahua named Cody. Cody barks if someone is approaching from behind and cuddles with her when she is depressed. -snip- Schaffer is one of a growing number of veterans with PTSD who are turning to an alternative therapy: psychiatric service dogs. Like guide dogs for the blind, psychiatric service dogs aid people with mental illnesses, from anxiety disorder to bipolar disorder to PTSD. The...

AP Medical Writer Traumatic brain injury, described as the signature wound of the Iraq war, may be less to blame for soldiers' symptoms than doctors once thought, contends a provocative military study that suggests post-traumatic stress and depression often play a role. That would be good news because there are successful treatments for those conditions, said several nonmilitary doctors who praised the research. Thousands of soldiers returning from Iraq have struggled with memory loss, irritability, trouble sleeping and other problems. Many have suffered mild blast-related concussions, but there is no easy way to separate which symptoms are due to physical...

IN A PAGE-ONE STORY published Sunday, January 13, 2008, "Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles," the New York Times reported on homicides by veterans of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Seven Times reporters contributed to the lengthy story, which was co-authored by Deborah Sontag and Lizette Alvarez. The Times "found 121 cases in which veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan committed a killing in this country, or were charged with one, after their return from war." All but one case involved male veterans. They speculated that their research "most likely uncovered only the minimum number of such cases,...

Crazed Veterans Spark Nationwide Crime Wave That's the theme of a front page article in today's New York Times: "Across America, Deadly Echoes of Foreign Battles." The article reports on what must have been a major effort by the Times to comb through news reports from across the country, identifying and tabulating instances where servicemen who returned from Iraq or Afghanistan were charged with some form of homicide. The Times summarizes the results of its research: Town by town across the country, headlines have been telling similar stories. Lakewood, Wash.: “Family Blames Iraq After Son Kills Wife.” Pierre, S.D.: “Soldier...

Congress has given gun owners in America a Christmas gift: a blade in the back, according to officials with Gun Owners of America. The organization said the plan supported by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and others, and known as the Veterans Disarmament Act by opponents, is being forwarded now to President Bush. While other gun groups have endorsed H.R. 2640, a comprehensive plan to expand the powers of the Brady Bill gun restriction plan, Gun Owners of America has opposed it vigorously, and described its provisions for banning individuals, especially veterans, from owning guns as unreasonable. "The core of the...

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Are Idaho police academy graduates trying to cause Posttraumatic Stress Disorder? That's the message on the latest class's graduation programs, and it's got leaders of the Idaho Police Officer Standards and Training Academy doing damage control. The program read, "Don't suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it." Jeff Black, who heads up the academy in Meridian, Idaho, where the latest class graduated December 14th, says, "That's not something we encourage or condone. We were mortified it was in there." Apparently, each academy class chooses its own slogan. This is the one that the latest class...

Associated Press A state police academy leader has disavowed the slogan of the most recent graduating class urging one another to "go out and cause" post-traumatic stress disorder. Each class at the Idaho Police Officer Standards and Training Academy is allowed to choose a slogan that is printed on its graduation programs, and the class of 43 graduates came up with "Don't suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it." According to the Veterans Association, tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers suffer from PTSD, which causes nightmares, flashbacks and physical symptoms that make sufferers feel as if they are reliving...

Sgt. Evan Vela, of the 501st Infantry Regiment, sits tonight in a military prison in Kuwait. Confined since July 1, Vela is one of three Army snipers charged with murder for an incident near Iskandariyah, Iraq. Two squadmates involved in the incident, Sgt. Hensley and Spc. Sandoval, were exonerated of murder charges in courts martial this past fall. As a soldier, Sgt. Vela was pushed beyond the limits of human endurance, going days without sleep in pursuit of our enemy in Iraq. While in confinement, Vela was diagnosed with moderate to severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Despite this diagnosis by...

<p>The young Marine lighted a cigarette and let it dangle. White smoke wafted around his helmet. His face was smeared with war paint. Blood trickled from his right ear and the bridge of his nose.</p> <p>Momentarily deafened by cannon blasts, he didn't know the shooting had stopped. He stared at the sunrise. His expression caught my eye. To me, it said: terrified, exhausted and glad just to be alive. I recognized that look because that's I how felt too.</p>

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A soldier who served two combat tours in Iraq was arrested Wednesday for leaving the Army without permission more than a year ago to seek treatment for post traumatic stress disorder. At a news conference hours before his arrest, Sgt. Brad Gaskins said he left the base in August 2006 because the Army wasn't providing effective treatment after he was diagnosed with PTSD and severe depression. "They just don't have the resources to handle it, but that's not my fault," Gaskins said. Tod Ensign, an attorney with Citizen Soldier, a GI rights group that is representing Gaskins,...

PLYMOUTH, N.H. - Presidential contender John Edwards is introducing a plan today to help veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, including those recently returned from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Under Edwards' plan, veterans could seek counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder outside the veterans health administration system; the number of counselors would increase; and family members would be employed to identify cases of PTSD. Edwards, a North Carolina Democrat, was scheduled to introduce the five-point plan during a speech at New Hampshire's Plymouth State University. "I strongly believe we must restore the sacred contract we have with our veterans and their...