22 May 2008
Patricia Smith - View my profile
This topic is another which has been researched on male veterans for decades now. While the end result can be also be seen in family dysfunction, erectile dysfunction research is included in research on diabetes, kidney and bladder diseases, prostate cancer, and heart disease etc... When their military service has ended, veterans keep on serving society with their involvement in research and study groups for the advancement of medical technology for everyone world-wide. Except in the area of prosthetics, most of the time veterans involvement in medical research does go unnoticed while drug companies become multi-billion-dollar industries with drugs like Viagra. Too many veterans have died as just another number in a research project.

I have mentioned this only a few times because it only results in denial and disdain; the -- wounds which go untreated because the topic is taboo and has gone unstudied – only results in denial and disdain. I remember as a teen meeting an all American new veteran who was still a teen himself at just nineteen. It was summer and he worked outside in construction, he always wore farmer jeans without a shirt in the heat. One day when they broke for a break, I took a snapshot of him and his very shy strawberry-blond haired girlfriend. That winter I found out the picture wasn’t perfect, to make a long story short; since his return home from war he was never able to have s#x with his ex-fiancé. His battlefield scar was self hatred, disgust and guilt from being involved in a r*pe of a non-American female. He was just a kid when this happened and was so drunk, but he did sober up much at the end, he could not get off and vomited all over the girl. Today would his feelings be considered a form of PTSD? With the women overseas now, wouldn’t the r#pe of an American military sister in arms demand even more quilt? Many months later when I did learn of his suicide, I gave the snapshot to his old fiancé and explained his situation. She thanked me for learning he never stopped loving her, but couldn’t understand why he never told her what happened. I’ll never know if giving back the snapshot was the right thing to do, but this young girl’s mom was only full of distain for me for opening up old wounds for her daughter. Will I once again get nasty comments back here in this comment section of this newspaper for mentioning something taboo which is a reality that must be dealt with? _____________________ A # number sign or an * is needed for an otherwise four letter word (truth) here--this web-site won't accept?

22 May 2008
Bill Corcorn - View my profile
Thanks for your thoughtful perspective on this topic.