Reggie,
“To assess a malingering charge to a military person takes a good deal of evidence by Commanders.”

I wasn’t talking about malingering charges, I was mentioning what appears to be the search for (or invention of) some supposed psychological problem prior to the soldier’s enlistment in order for the military to discharge a service member with PTSD and deny VA benefits because the PTSD was supposedly caused by “a pre-existing psychological condition” rather than the battlefield trauma the military would be responsible for. I learned about this dodge from most of a friend’s VFW post over Memorial day. These men are feeling pretty screwed over by the services. If these guys are a representative sample in any sense, the treatment of our casualties in this war is a scandal that could damage our military for generations to come.
Also, I’ll bet that you were never told that a major recruiting source for military physicians are doctors joining the military to avoid multiple civilian malpractice suits. Recruiters go after them and sign them up on the basis that they can’t be sued while in the military, and the statute of limitation will have run out by the time their hitch is up. This isn’t always the case; I’ve known several damned good reconstructive plastic surgery residents who joined because there would be plenty of difficult cases to challenge them. But there are more and more incompetents being recruited to fill the necessary slots, and I hate to see our children in the hands of quacks!
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Try and concentrate on the issue. Can’t switch from one bogus claim to another and expect to make a point.

The death of this soldier is tragic. However, I’m betting he knew he had a substance abuse problem and like most with this problem rationalized his usage and mental problems.

Using mind and psyche altering drugs is not a way to deal with reality nor is it in one’s best interest if they have psychological problems as the drug user will delay or run from any help he might have received.

Not everyone who has been in combat meets the criteria of post traumatic disorder. There are military personnel who adjust quite well to the circumstances and only need to have time outs to alleviate the stress of being under constant stress.

If one suspects they have PTSD, then they should take every opportunity to deal with it and their Commanders and other leadership should be trained to recognize it.

Rescue workers in general, which includes combat medics often having post traumatic disorders, because they have no way of extracting a pound of flesh for the tragedies they see. The combat soldier gets some alleviation from ‘taking out’ someone.

I bet if there was a close examination of the records and the actions taken by the young man, one would find a tragic collection of failures, including those of responsibility by the young medic. He knew what to do and didn’t do it. The old expression that Doctors make the worst patients is often true and this applies to medics.

Seeing death and horrifying injuries without resolution is hard to deal with.

The best advocate for oneself is often the person with the problem, you.

Of course not, Bush doesn’t want the CNN watching American public to see all the good, positive acts of American soldiers. He along with McCain both want nothing more than to sell the war to a country not buying into his BS anymore in hopes of justifying us being over there another 4 …6…50…100 years. Joseph Dwyer deserves more than just a medal!. The death of Joseph Dwyer should be a wake up call and a cause for more funds being used to help more men and women like him struggling everyday with PTSD.

I wasn’t talking about malingering charges, I was mentioning what appears to be the search for (or invention of) some supposed psychological problem prior to the soldier’s enlistment in order for the military to discharge a service member with PTSD and deny VA benefits because the PTSD was supposedly caused by “a pre-existing psychological condition” rather than the battlefield trauma the military would be responsible for. I learned about this dodge from most of a friend’s VFW post over Memorial day. These men are feeling pretty screwed over by the services. If these guys are a representative sample in any sense, the treatment of our casualties in this war is a scandal that could damage our military for generations to come.
Also, I’ll bet that you were never told that a major recruiting source for military physicians are doctors joining the military to avoid multiple civilian malpractice suits. Recruiters go after them and sign them up on the basis that they can’t be sued while in the military, and the statute of limitation will have run out by the time their hitch is up. This isn’t always the case; I’ve known several damned good reconstructive plastic surgery residents who joined because there would be plenty of difficult cases to challenge them. But there are more and more incompetents being recruited to fill the necessary slots, and I hate to see our children in the hands of quacks!

On the contrary. The Swiss take advantage of two things to make themselves invasion proof.

1) Their terrain is not remotely conducive to any sort of invasion, something they take advantage of. Tough to march armies, or drive tanks, through the Alps.
2) Their population is armed – literally. The nation is in fact a militia as envisioned by the founders. Full automatics, in homes. It is, as Yamamoto once described the US, “a rifle behind every blade of grass.” Not an attractive target for attack.

In addition, they have made themselves indespensible by being Europe’s banker, where the wealthy (of every nation) can hide their riches.

The Swiss do not overcome human nature; on the contrary, they understand it well, and work to take advantage of it (in their banking laws – taking advantage of greed), and even given that they take action to defend themselves.

You’ll have to come up with a much better example than that, my friend.

That being said, as much as you would like to deny it, the military does have a “men must be strong” mentality. And that mentality does not lend itself to talking to someone about your problems, especially therpists. There is an idea of needing to handle it on your own.

This is simple speculation, but I would place money on the fact that a good portion of the reason why this soldier was “in and out” of treatment is due to the fact that he probably felt guilty for seeking treatment in the first place – because a “true” soldier wouldn’t need it. There are THOUSANDS of soldiers out there from all wars who think this same way. You see a greater number of PTSD diagnoses from this war, simply because it is now a recognized medical issue, where before it was not. But ask one of the many Vietnam vets who drink themselves to sleep at night why they don’t see someone for their issues and I bet you would get the same response you get from an Iraqi war vet – “real” soldiers don’t need help dealing with their problems. It’s a mentality that our military perpetuates. THAT’S why a majority of these vets are not getting the help they need.

I love how this man DIED because he simply couldn’t get past the war, as no doubt many others have and will in the coming years, and all your answers to it are “It must be his fault!”. What if it isn’t his fault at all? What if the military, or this country, failed him, even the slightest little bit? You cannot deny the possibility that this is true. And yet here you are, ready to lambast him for his failure to deal with his problems, instead of questioning why he had the problems in the first place. THAT is what we should be doing. Did the man have a drug problem before he left for Iraq? Likely not, given he was an active duty soldier (not say it isn’t possible, just that it is highly unlikely). So what would lead him to use drugs? Why isn’t someone looking at that, instead of blaming this young man?

What “gain” do I get? Do I give a sh.it about political gain? I’m speaking my peace, regardless of whether or not I get any kick backs from a special interest group by speaking it. No this is a moral issue. And you people get on here all the time speaking of the benefits of these folks going over there, ie; political benefits.

I’m saying you all are full of crap. You’ll find anyway you can to take the heat off of yourselves, so you can sleep at night. You’ll not admit that maybe this war did cause this one man horrible side effects of it. When I speak my mind, you call me a “vulture” like I’m going to benefit from saying anything. And end it there. I’m a nobody, exercising my 1st Amendment while I still can. As this war has nothing to do with protecting my Constitution.

Oops, spoke it again.

Great posts here. Very well said.

The topic of this post, however, is a tragedy, and just one of untold others, all over the world. It is part of the cost of war: any war, at any time, for any cause, however just or unjust.

War, for any soldier, at any time, in any place, is hell. Combat leaves scars. And vultures like pleefer use those scars, those tragedies for their own gain.

And that makes this tragedy doubly sad. The family of this young man will have their son’s broken body and mind paraded and bandied about and used for political purposes. The Eagle itself is doing so with this posting.

Some people have no shame.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25696176/

Hopefully this is a sign of people listening to the Robert Gates types of the nation.

See for yourselves.

Maybe so, but those of knew better in 2002 would like to think mass insanity can ocassionally be checked. I noticed we haven’t invaded Iran (yet).

Seems we haven’t learned that lesson in the past 50 years.

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Rage, I don’t think human beings will ever learn that lesson. We are human beings. As a species, we are inherently greedy, inherently flawed, inherently violent. It’s no more changable than the moon can be removed from the sky.

Pall, Reggie,
The soldiers I’ve talked to say that the CO’s takes a very dim view of personnel seeking help for PTSD, does everything it can to discourage seeking treatment and often finds excuses to discharge them for”pre-existing medical reasons” so the VA doesn’t have to treat them. Did you maybe consider that a reason for “In and out of treatment…. He didn’t stick with it” might be because the military wouldn’t honor its obligations and Pall wouldn’t sell him health insuranc
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B.S.

To assess a malingering charge to a military person takes a good deal of evidence by Commanders.

Only time I’ve personally known the military to refuse treatment for someone is when some older pilots had gotten Lasix surgery for their myopia, which is against military policy to do. As a result of their lasix surgery, the pilots had scarring and ’starburst’ effects in their night vision which rendered them ineligible for flying status.

There is nothing a military commander can do if a soldier wants to see a Psychiatrist or a Psychologist or just a medical doctor. If it’s a non-emergency, Commanders can strongly suggest it be done later at more convenient time of them mission.

Want to get fired as a Commander? Then get in the way of a military person seeking medical care. You’ll find your briefcase and a plane ticket at the front gate.

And the nonsense about Suicides being higher etc is all crap. In fact suicide is lower in the military groups due to training.

But the media has a certain “narrative” they follow especially when its a Republican administration. You notice there was no blowback on Clinton for the Kosovo war etc. Media sucked it up hook and line. They even parade out General Wesley Clark as some hero Democratic General…until you mention he was FIRED while in the field.

Pathetic.

And I care not about where drug abuse is higher. I care that this was yet another vet…(hero) who fell between the cracks even after he was a useful propaganda tool. He should have felt confident that all of us who love our hero’s would make sure he was taken care of. But alas, church goers who like to feel good and pray for our troops and dummies waving their plastic flag magnets weren’t there either. Politicians are sacrificing these soldiers (and I mean that literally).

So, to make rash claims is to unjustly misuse these cases for political gain.