These are all the Blogs posted today: Saturday, 10, 2008.
WILL CHICAGO PUSHBACK AGAINST IRAN WARMONGERING?
US BOMBARDS SADR CITY DESPITE CEASEFIRE
So just what the hell are you so damned afraid of?
115 recommendation(s).
+Recommend this blog Just what the hell are you so damn afraid of?
_ Two fears prompt this narrative. _ One concerns the now clearly evident strain of racial and ethnic bigotry that is running virulent through a country that ought to, by this late date in our history, be difficult to detect. However I’m going to try to illustrate how inapposite such irrational presumptions are, other than rail against it, I can’t do much to diminish it. _ The other fear, and the raison d’être behind what I see as an urgent need to calm the first, is the ultimate disaster a John McCain presidency would visit upon the United States of America and the world. _ Understand please, under no circumstances will I engage loose broad-brush catcall assaults upon Senator McCain’s character. He is a proud man. He is an honorable man. And he is a patriotic American. But he’s also completely wrong in every way, when we need as president someone who is not. _ Over the following days and weeks I’m going to devote my energies to a research of Senator McCain’s lifelong dispositions and policy positions, research backed by attributed links to his Senate votes and verbal statements. Evidence is what counts. My goal would be widespread dissemination of the damning evidence. I want to make it possible for those who gain receipt of the evidence to be able to present it to those who hold erroneous views of the type of person the presumptive Republican candidate is. I don’t want to tell anyone that McCain is not a moderate. I don’t want to tell anyone that McCain is not the “maverick” so many mistakenly take him for. I want to gather, then collate summaries with, as I said, direct Internet links to the unassailable evidence of exactly who John McCain is, which is way "right" of "moderate." _ _ _But first, to the first challenge noted above: the bigotry in America that, unchecked, unmitigated, could lead to the election of John McCain. _ You’ve heard it. I have too: the stream of fluid excreta concerning Senator Barack Obama. Everyone in the entire US knows he is not a Muslim. Not that it should matter to anyone what a candidate’s religious orientations are, everyone knows he is a Christian. Everyone also knows that the flap over Reverend Wright never was anything, and remains nothing, other than smoke to cover the tragic ignorance of seething racial animosity. It’s just that everyone also knows that today it’s not politically correct to openly verbalize one’s bigoted regards. To all who might contend otherwise, I beg of you to dredge up the guts to be honest; at least for a moment, be honest with yourselves. Honest with yourselves, because you ain't foolin' me the least. _ _ _After moving back to Michigan in 1968, for the year it took to regain resident status and the right to lower tuition rates, I worked in the Ann Arbor branch of Household Finance, then the country’s largest consumer small loan lender. One of the orientation films featured a segment how the company expected — not hoped, but “expected” — its employees would attend church — not mosque or synagogue or none-of-the-above, but a “Christian” church (intended to be interpreted as preferably one of the Protestant denominations) — regularly. The film showed a white father of a white family, everyone smiling and smartly dressed in their Sunday-best suits and dresses, leaving the church services, stopping to chat briefly with the white pastor, as the entire flock of white parishioners also departed the building. By the way, at the time, this Chicago-based company, had branch offices that encircled Detroit, but no black employees; though it most assuredly did make very high interest loans to the black residents in the area. _ _However I was born in a Detroit hospital, my parents took me home to their apartment in all-white Dearborn. From the age of three until I joined the Army in 1964, I grew up in Allen Park, one of the 100% ivory-white suburbs that surrounded, like a bleached white noose, the Motor City. It was the United States in the 50s, and WASP conformity was the hard-chased standard. Individuality was a socially aberrant affectation. Suffice it to say I have my entire life, especially as a teenager, bucked any and all rules. (“You had better have a damned legitimate reason, or I’m crossing your line.” The secretaries at Lapham Elementary, Allen Park Junior High and Allen Park High School knew my name well; I spent as much time in the principal’s office as I did in class. “I’ve got your ‘don’t-do-this-and-don’t-do-that rules’ right here.”) _ _The Army was culture shock, but from a highly positive perspective. Prior to June 22, 1964 I’d never even shaken the hand of what was known then as a Negro. But all of a sudden I was being told what to do by Negro sergeants and officers, by Hispanic sergeants and officers. Basic infantry and advanced-infantry training were equal-opportunity insult the ‘cruits’ parentage verbal assault fests. (Oh, the sexual depravities my mother had engaged, and with the lowest of beasts and dogs, according to the drill sergeants.) Through the three years of my enlistment I shared an entire host of experiences with young men from every walk and race and ethnicity, but not economic background; eg Dick Cheney, George Bush, et al. We sweated together. We walked the line together. We bunked in the same barracks. We played poker together. We drank together. We whored together. _ _And a far-too-many-some bled and died together. Although I never detected its manifestation, statistical reality requires acceptance as a fact that there were soldiers who believed that Charlie’s or Joe-Chink’s rounds and mines and booby-traps discriminatingly selected targets according to race and ethnicity. But those presuppositions were the real aberrations. Mostly, way mostly, it was how the hell can I get the GD hell out of this place and this organization alive, if not 100% in one piece. And, "I don't give a s**t what color you are, or whether you'd rather be speakin' Spanish; just cover my back, okay." _ _The return to the stultifying corporate culture of Household Finance and the out-of-step social culture of Southeast Michigan ultimately proved more than I could bear. May 6, 1972, for the first time since passing under it on a troop ship headed across the Pacific, my eyes caught sight of the magnificent beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge. _ _Following graduation from Cal State-Hayward, I moved to Santa Clara. _ _Literally and figuratively, permit me to tell you where I’m coming from. San Jose, California’s third most populous city and, geographically, its largest, is located at the very south end of San Francisco Bay. “Silicon Valley,” from east to west, consists of the following communities: Milpitas, San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and, as it is the home of Oracle, Redwood City in San Mateo County. Cupertino, the home of Apple, is adjacent of and due south of Sunnyvale. Among the high-tech companies composing the silicon part of Silicon Valley are NASA-Ames Research labs, Advanced Micro Devices, Intel, McAfee, Netflix, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, Yahoo, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Apple, Adobe, Cisco, and perhaps a couple dozen others whose names escape me presently but which are consequent cogs that now run the world. _ _At the time, I owned a real estate appraisal company; E. Tubbs & Associates. My very first appraiser employee was Dayo English, an African-American fellow. My second and fourth appraiser employees were African-American women. So-called minorities eventually comprised half my employees. All I gave a damn about was whether an employee could effectively articulate a complete report as good or better than any other appraiser or appraisal organization in the country; city or region or state were too limiting for my high standards. That was all that mattered to me: whether to quickness of service, whether to the arms-length professional regard to the property owner, whether to a thorough and accurate representation of the circumstances extant, was the professionalism of the appraiser equal to or superior to that of anyone else in the US, and was the report, for every imaginable index standard, equal to or better than what anyone else in the United States could submit? If it wasn’t, I didn’t want you on my staff. _One day, while appraising a new home for one of the area’s largest and most prestigious builders, I stopped into the Milpitas sales office to review blueprints. On one of the tables were lined sheets of paper with the 250 or so names of all who had put their names there, waiting for a chance to buy one of the new homes. The subdivision would take more than two years to build out. I asked the agent why “they” did it? (The “they” being perhaps 90% Vietnamese.) “Two hundred fifty hopes divided amongst the 30 or 40 homes going up, what chance did they think they had?” _ _“With little to nothing in their pockets, these are folks who crammed aboard rickety old, leaking boats, and shoved off. Hundreds, maybe thousands drowned before some fishing boat or a US Navy vessel could rescue them. They had no specific destination other than America. All they had was hope and a willingness to work hard. The 'chance' they'd get a home was at least as good as the one they started with in Vietnam.” _ _The city of Milpitas is today heavily populated by Vietnamese. Ethnically, San Jose’s population is about 25% Caucasian, 25% Vietnamese, 25% Hispanic, 10% African-American, and a smorgasbord of everything else. With more than 100 mother-tongues non-English, English is a second language to most of those in Silicon Valley. (It’s also been my anecdotal experience, by the way, that, sadly, English is also a foreign language to an extraordinarily large proportion of all the Americans who were born in this country, if speaking it correctly is any kind of test. For example, “is” goes with singular nouns and pronouns, “are” attaches to plural nouns and pronouns, and “don’t” never gets anywhere near “got” or “none.”) _ _I lived in that rather highly educated, very upscale area for three decades, and loved it. Without editing, the following was the ethnic composition of my immediate neighborhood. Next-door west were the Arroyo’s, a Puerto Rican family. After a few years, they sold their home to the Nguyen’s, who were Vietnamese. Across from the Nguyen’s were Filipinos. Immediately east of them was a single Hispanic (Mexican) mother. Next to her was Avery and his wife and daughter, a black family. An Egyptian family lived in the house next to Avery. Across from them lived an Arabic family. To my right, directly east of me, was Jayne Hoyt. My family and Jayne were the only Caucasians in our immediate “neighborhood.” _Side note: I was especially overjoyed at the prospect of the growing Asian influence through the region. More than anything else, they raised the bar in the school systems that Caucasians had deliberately lowered so as to enable their unworthy offsping to not feel the emotional sting of not cutting it. As Yogi said, "You can look it up." At almost every high school, year after year, the valedictorians are Vietnamese. Foolishly, year after year, white parents are proud their kid got into a game and a junior college. "Don't aim too high son." And, oh yeah, "Nuthin' wrong with gittin' a 'C'." _ _For 31 years I was a minority, and I loved it. It is both naïve and inaccurate to suggest that prejudice/bigotry is absent from the San Jose area, or that there does not exist a serious crime problem. But that's not what characterizes the region. (And lest some prefer to think of crime as a racial or ethnic affectation, for a long time, and perhaps it’s still so, the most dominant drug-related axis was out of Los Gatos High. Los Gatos, for those who do not know, and few likely do, is one of the most well-to-do communities in an overall high-priced region. LG home prices begin well above $1 mil. It is not unusual to find Beemers, Mercedes, Vettes and other luxury vehicles disproportionately populating the STUDENT parking lot.) That detour taken, back to the commentary on the theme. Both prejudice/bigotry and crime are present. But the overriding social attitude, and the point I’m trying to stress, is, including all San Francisco Bay, the wide embrace, indeed, celebration, of all the erstwhile irrelevant demographic differences. _ _Really! Very few care what your ethnic or racial background may be, or what your religious (if any at all) or gender orientation is, or whether you speak English as a first or second language. In a region that depends absolutely for its very survival on honest use of a deft intellect, on the ability to adopt to and advance in a high-tech environment, what counts more than anything else is whether someone actually can do the job. And I’ve gotta tell ya: that is so damn liberating! Regardless that San Jose is not heaven on earth, compared to everywhere else I’ve lived, for a take-your-phony-regimentation-and-shove-it curmudgeon like me, it is as close to heaven on earth as I can imagine. There really is nothing whatsoever to fear, being a Caucasian minority . . . so long as you're smart enough to compete. _ _So, just what the hell are so many in America so damned frightened of? The only answer I can concoct is, it’s a tragic ignorance and an absence of skills necessary for competing in today’s world. The only answer I can summon is, they looked in the mirror and found that, vis-à-vis today’s economic requirements, they do not have what it takes; they’re inferior to the task at hand, and putting down others based on race, ethnicity or whatever is the only means available to them, to not feel the inferior that they truly are. The terrible irony is, of course, that while they so busy themselves with impertinent diversions, the more inferior they actually become. _ — Ed Tubbs Palm Springs, CA Read more | 0 comments
"EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER", written by Hazel Davis
305 recommendation(s).
+Recommend this blog
" EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER "
From the Moment of Conception.....to All the Years of Life ......."EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". This Love, Which Comes, From an Inner--Flow, brought Forth Life, so that......"EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". Unity, is the Greatest Word, Which Binds, All Who Are borne, from a Mother, so there'd be...."EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". During the Infant Years, a Child is Held, near the Heart of a Mother, so that...."EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". This Child, is Loved so Much, as the Spirit Moves, by Law Devine....to bring forth these words...."EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". Most Children, Dream of What They Wanna Be When They Grow-Up....& They Show Respect...When it's a Fact...that "EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". When the Child, Becomes of Age, and Joins the Military Service, to Protect the Freedom's of ..the Mother...they have proven, that "EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". Even Upon the Battlefield of War, a Mother's Love is there ....to Carry the Soldier, thru...cause This is One Reason, that, "EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". Each Time the Soldier, Displays Honor & Bravery & Becomes a Hero, of Each Moment, it's because, "EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". For All the Years, the Past to the Present, Military Soldiers, have "Gone to War" & has, Within...the Memory of..."EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". While the Soldier, is On-the-Battlefront, so Brave & Strong, the Spirit of the Mother...is on Stand By, to Strengthen...to give...Love, When It is Needed....for "EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". A Mother, Remains on the Homefront, Waiting, Watching...for the Return of That Daughter or that Son, for... "Every Soldier Has a Mother". A Mother's Love, WILL FOREVER BE THE POWER, Behind the Mind of a Child, Who Grows Up, to Become a Military Soldier....so that there'd be...."EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". BLESSED IS THE MOTHER, Who Trains That Child, in the Proper Way, Along the Path of Life, so that...the Little Child, will have WILLINGNESS TO SERVE, cause...."EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". Returning Home, from the War Front, the Soldier's Heart, Holds the Joy & Warmth, When a Great Lady...is Waiting, Watching for the Soldier...cause ..."Every Soldier Has A Mother". Some of the Soldiers, are referred to, as The Fallen Soldier, when they come back to the Loved Ones...With, Still the Mother's Love, deep within...the Soul...from the Flow, of the Spirit...connected to the Heart of Others, Who Also Know...that..."EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER". During All of Life, throughout the Days, Between a Soldier and A Mom, the Message is Loud and Clear...that "EVERY SOLDIER HAS A MOTHER" (Hazel Davis, bojacks1@yahoo.com Read more | 3 comments
our vets and troops need support in their healing process
79 recommendation(s).
+Recommend this blog I personally do not believe that anyone who comes back from war is unscathed or doesn't have some dificulty with PTSD or other issues, you might have those in denial but human beings just aren't built to withstand that kind of thing. My father was a Vietnam vet who was affected but was afraid to get help for the same reason many are, he was afraid he'd lose his career and he also had a family to support, he suffered in silence and also drank alot. He later told my brother before he died he knew he needed help but because of these pressures he wouldn't dare to because he was a military career officer and that is all he'd ever known.It was a stigma back in those days. My uncle was the same way, he never talked about his experiences in Korea. Why it is so important for our troops to get help is because this impacts their families as well. We often don't understand what is going on with them. Often we have to learn years later about the whole situation. I cannot understand why people look down on those who ask for help and support. Why should it be a stigma, if anything there needs to be a drastic change in policy at the military and government levels.Like my last posting stated , a woman commented that needing help is not a stigma it is a strength, people are dealing with issues they have never had to deal with before,they are human beings going through a crisis .Would we stigmatize victims of hurricanes or people who had cancer,or lost loved ones, or would we want to make sure they got the help they needed. Bush's compassionate conservatism hasn't worked. He has never had to deal with a loved one who has been in combat and has been affected by it. The Republicans primarily keep pushing this war, but how many of them truthfully have seen loved ones who are on the battlefield, some yes, , but too many want to prolong this war and heighten the conflict with Iran.BY supporting our troops it also benefits their families and society as well.These men might be able to return to a normal life, and be able to pick up the pieces of their lives and go on. America needs to get serious about this and s do more to ensure these men and women get the help they need. If we don't support them now, then when? There needs to be a major change of attitude in the military..sending these men back into the battlefield when they are dealing with issues like PTSD and other mental health problems are not going to be better soldiers, they will more than likely not be able to function well , how can they ,when they are at the breaking point. When people suffer, ignoring it and acting like it isn't a issue isn't going to help the problem or make it go away ,it is just going to ensure that more of our troops will not get help.More will end up on the street, or something else. We need to face the hard facts and not sweep them under the rug and act as if they don't exist. Treat our soldier like anyone else going through difficulties, not as pariahs and ostrasize them. Treat them with dignity and respect. Read more | 0 comments
CHENEY TELLS RIGHT WING RADIO HOST IN MISSISSIPPI IRAQ IS GOING
Journalist comments on lack of compassion for troops needing help
86 recommendation(s).
+Recommend this blog http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6593000 Listen to the audio . Comments made on the site about the audio report: Our Flawed, Warrior-Making Culture Thank you so much for doing this story. I was immobilized as I listened to the heartfelt stories of these soldiers. I was also ashamed of our treatment of them. I believe that a warrior making culture like ours has to try to create an environment that denies humanness ("be a man") in order for individuals to be able to do and witness heinous acts committed against other humans. I feel most sorry for the soldiers who don't admit the mental effects of being in war — their loss of humanity makes living among them a scary thought. — Kathy Castania, Rochester, N.Y. It's Hard to Believe Mr. Zwerdling put together an amazing piece. I sat in my driveway with the car running for 20 minutes because I had to hear the end of the story. This piece will surely get the military's attention and maybe the attention of soldiers who need to admit they are having PTSD symptoms. It's hard to believe that, after Vietnam, our soldiers are still fighting with themselves and their superiors for help with PTSD. Mr. Z also did a great job trying to tell both sides of the story: the Army is a large organization and changing a culture of belief takes a lot of time and perseverance. This piece is a step in the right direction. What a talented journalist! A big pat on the back to him. Obviously he is one of NPR's best. — Shannon Cothran, Pensacola, Fla. Time for Real Change PTSD is a normal human response to witnessing or experiencing violence and feeling intense fear, horror, and helplessness. War is condoned violence. If everyone condoned peace, we could rid this world of war. These soldiers need support from their government, not denial and punishment. It's time for real change. — Mary Ann Reynolds, Austin, Texas My Own Driveway Moment Daniel Zwerdling and producer Anne Hawke deserve an award for this broadcast. What else can I say? I had a driveway moment. I am glad that NPR's market share has about doubled so that twice as many Moms and Dads heard this story. — Thomas Pirko, Kirtland, Ohio The Shame I was profoundly moved by this story and the betrayal these soldiers faced by the system and their former comrades. It seems so shameful that this country engages young men so brutally through combat, and ignores the impact on their emotional lives. This story should be receiving top coverage if it weren't for the deep level of denial the government and military are in regarding Iraq. — Rori Reber, San Francisco, Calif. Call to Arms I haven't been so distressed by an NPR report in a very long time. I plan to go to my three congress members and demand that they initiate an investigation on the military's treatment of the mental health problems of our Iraq vets, both at Fort Carson and at other bases. And I will be telling ALL of my friends and relatives to listen to the story on the NPR Web site, and then tell their representatives to do the same. At the same time, we must realize that our military has no monopoly on PTSD. Think of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis with PTSD, most of whom will never have any chance to receive treatment. — Betty Goebel, Thornton, Colo. Better Soldiers Thank you for your story. I'm often struck at the youth of our armed forces and I can only imagine how this war affects them. If the purpose of this conflict was to free the people of Iraq from a mindless, unemotional killer, why would the military expect our soldiers to be mindless and unemotional? Of course the horrors of war will affect the troops. I believe that the fact that our troops do care and are challenged by reconciling their purpose with the damage of war makes them better soldiers — soldiers capable of the emotional capacity to believe in freeing other humans from tyranny. — Laura Dixon, Leland, N.C. An Obvious Reluctance Is it any wonder that young people are reluctant to join the armed forces when they see that they will be abandoned if their minds are in any way affected by the horrific events they witness or effect? I believe the American people have pledged never again to blame soldiers for doing their job, whether they agree or disagree with the cause, but now to have their own brothers in arms condemning them for their mental injuries and forcing them into a "no mans land" of inadequate resources and isolation is unforgivable. We average civilians must not let this happen and must come to soldiers in need with support if their system won't do it. — Barbara Stechert, North Wales, Pa. Barrier to Service It is my opinion that the stigma of mental illness is still a main barrier to service. I have spent many years trying to live down and succeed in this society after Vietnam and receiving mental health services. I agree that a whole host of services should be provided to the veterans but if you get labeled with a mental health diagnosis you will be denied many of the rights afforded to others. — Dennis Moss, Temperance, Mich. Relearning Lessons from Vietnam It is often said that we always fight the last war when our troops are sent into battle. That is true when the commanding officers retain the lessons learned from previous conflicts. However, prior to this war the officers that had fought in Vietnam and implemented the changes that improved the U.S. military post Vietnam had either retired or were pushed aside by this administration. This resulted in a loss of the institutional memory of the U.S. military and now we are forced to relearn the lessons of Vietnam. I am surprised at the response, or lack there of, by senior staff to this very real problem of PTSD. It would be nice if we could implement a "no soldier left behind" policy. Soldiers who come back from Iraq with PTSD have left a part of themselves on the battlefield. As a nation we owe them the treatment and therapy that it takes to make them whole again. I am personally saddened by the poor response of the command staff at Fort Carson. It seems to me that they are attempting to show a battle readiness by emphasizing training without acknowledging the reality of going to war with troops who are suffering from PTSD or depression automatically reduces their battle readiness before the battle has begun. People who are suffering from depression will not be able to function at the peak level that is required to be successful on the battle field. The Pentagon's response that the US military is doing more for the troops in regard to PTSD than any other Army in the history of the world rings hollow to me. Just because we are doing more does not mean that we doing enough. — Rick Piller, San Francisco, Calif. Shame on the Military I am a civilian employee with the Department of the Interior (Field Biologist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and we have a program called the "employees assistance program" where we are allowed no less than six sessions with a counselor per year concerning any issue that may be effecting our lives free of charge. Now there are times when my job can be very hazardous, but at least I am not seeing people blown to bits or being shot at. I am amazed that returning soldiers who have risked their lives are ridiculed, called cowards, and denied treatment when they are diagnosed with PTSD! Shame on the military for being so backward! You think they would have learned their lesson from Vietnam. — Daniel Lantz, Bremerton, Wash. Perceived Weakness, Really a Strength I was saddened and surprised to hear the hard line taken by the non commissioned officers. I thought the army had evolved from that "suck it up and drive on" attitude and finally recognized that war has a psychological affect on everyone it touches, especially the front line soldier. What the non-coms perceive as weakness — recognizing the need for, and asking for, help — is actually a strength... the coldness of their comments, the assumption that soldiers suffering from PTSD are just goldbricking, the lack of compassion, and the enjoyment of combat that at least one sergeant took pride in, are evidence of the negative impact the war has had on these men...or were they this cold, hard, and dispassionate before they joined the army and went into leadership positions? In the future, after they leave the service, will one of them be a person we hear about on the news, whose friends and neighbors can't understand why such a quiet unassuming man "went postal" at work or the local mall? It's bad enough that we send men and women into the hell of combat and its aftermath, and worse when we expect them not to be changed by it. If the army were smart, treatment for PTSD would not be an option, but a requirement for all returning soldiers, with no stigma attached. After all, who can truly say that killing, seeing your friends killed, seeing the bodies of men, women, and children killed by suicide bombers, etc., is not traumatic and stressful? — George Chuckrow, Seattle, Wash. Always Faithful I'm a combat veteran from Korea '51-'52. 55 missions in fairly low level stuff in a B-26 from a steel mat runway in a place designated as K-9. I also know what mortar rounds sound like, guerilla pot shots zing like, as well as an 88 slamming a bunker. In our day, PTSD was unknown. However, 'Pissed To Severe Degrees' would work. To those of us lucky enough to come back without a George Washington or two, we had a saying, "Shot at and missed. S—- at and hit." Every service person was promised, no matter what, that the government would take care of those who served. Unfortunately today's kids are finding out what too many of us know for a fact: The government lies! Notice photo-ops and TV coverage tout the QRC in getting the wounded out quickly. And, of course, the great advances in prostheses. All commendable. Yet the mind set of the military against the mental damage done is swept aside and classified as a weakness in manhood or "conduct unbecoming a warrior." The system has failed miserably to administer to the mind. We haven't shown the snake pit of those out-of-sight-out-of-mind, lives ruined by the guilt and destruction of individuals and families due to the remembrance of things seen and done a promise made at signing on with the military, yet broken. A greater embarrassment is that Idaho's Senator Larry Craig has been Chair of the Veteran's Affairs Committee. Better known as head of the administration's veteran's budget slash. I read the check list they give to returnees at Fort Lewis, Wash. In a word, well, I can't use the word, but "unnerving" will have to do. First: A returnee wants to get the hell out of there and back home. Anything that remotely hints of the possibility of further detainment is immediately suspect and rejected. Second: Anything that smacks of any intimation of the still rampant stigma of mental illness will be dismissed. Third: Indications of problems are not always readily apparent, as those who came up with that check list should know. I further submit that whoever devised that thing had never experienced a mortar round at close range, had never seen a buddy's guts spilled out of his body, had never killed someone up close and personal or other etceteras involved in the "glories of war." Remember the soldier slapping incident attributed to General Patton? The Fort Carson situation is a slap in the face to every one who gave, in effect, "their last full measure of devotion," has become mentally maimed for that service, yet is classified as unfit and therefore denied the necessary benefits to heal their wounds because it's too expensive?! Wounds, incidentally, primarily caused by an agenda driven administration secondarily by military action. To borrow and alter from the Marines, "Semper Fie!" — J.G. (Jim) Weiser, Boise, Idaho Time to Walk the Walk I was infuriated at the way the Army, and by extension the government has treated these brave, dedicated, patriotic young men. Every member of Congress and the White House should be required to hear this program. Your reporter was excellent, the stories heart-breaking and the need for help crystal clear. The country should be allowed to see, not just hear this story by getting it before both the relevant House and Senate Committees with the soldiers in question permission. They could testify publicly. You should send a copy to Chris Matthews and Hardball or Anderson Cooper 360. I wanted this aired. Hell, I am even more livid since this government depicts itself as so pro-military. Well, here's a chance to prove it... — Jerry Schnoll, Milwaukee, Wis. What Can We Do? My father was a Captain in the Army and served in Vietnam in the 60s, receiving a Purple Heart. After his return, he suffered from nightmares and didn't really enjoy things in life that he had enjoyed before. He was a warm and caring man before he went to Vietnam. When he returned he was mostly cold and sad. Thirty years later, he was diagnosed with PTSD. In therapy he revealed that had it not been for his wife and two kids he would have committed suicide. He was angry that he had lived thirty years without knowing that he could be suffering from something as a result of what happened to him in Vietnam. After beginning on the road to recovery from PTSD in the 90s, my father was diagnosed with kidney cancer (he was exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam) and died in 2002. The military did not take care of its veterans after Vietnam and it is happening again to the veterans of the war in Iraq. What can we do to help our veterans get the treatment they need? — Chip Begley, London, Ky. Powerful and Inspiring I thought this was an extraordinary piece. It was necessarily in-depth, in addition to being well-constructed and, of course, extremely poignant. I was listening to the piece while driving in my car and just couldn't stop the tears as I listened to these young men tell their stories. Furthermore, despite the fact that I arrived at my destination about halfway through the piece, I remained in the parking lot to listen to this story in its entirety. I was simply too captivated to get on with the rest of my day. Mr. Zwerdling's piece is a paragon of investigative journalism. I am often skeptical of investigations that involve "testing on the dependent variable" — first arriving at certain assumptions and then carrying out research and asking questions. However, I feel Mr. Zwerdling did a wonderful job of counteracting this problem by using a large sample size and by asking questions at both high and low levels. As a fledgling journalist myself, I found this story to be somewhat inspiring from a journalistic perspective, and very powerful from a personal perspective. — Suemedha Sood, Arlington, Va. Uncertain Future My brother went to Iraq, return in the future. He has shown me pictures of dead people and told me about the things he did there. He has gone for help with his anger issues because my mom told him he needed, but he doesn't see the problem. He doesn't know how to talk to doctors about emotional issue because he was never talked about his feelings. He thinks feeling pain is weak. Who knows how that will work out? — Maria Card, Boise, Idaho Treatment Delayed I have a family member who returned from Iraq. He had PTSD, everyone could tell. He was depressed and started drinking more. He had nightmares and would thrash around in the bed at night. He had asked about seeing someone about this issue, but wasn't seen. He was not offered to be seen until three to six months after he got out of the armed services. — Angel Hawkins, Deep Run, N.C. Comprehending the consequences This was one of the most disturbing and painful stories I have heard in years of ATC listening. I find it sadly ironic that it was followed by a news report that President Bush was reportedly outraged by the Senates refusal to confirm John Bolton. The churlish Mr. Bush should be made to listen to this report to help him comprehend the most awful consequences of his disastrous Iraq policy and feel the pain of what is truly outrageous. — Paul Sheren, Montague, Mass. Victims of a Throw-Away Society I believe that these soldiers are victims of our throw-away society. When they became such that the Army could no longer use them, they simply threw them away rather than to recycle them back into society. It should be noted that most of these soldiers are very young and could possibly not have learned the life skills necessary to cope with the trauma of war. I believe that if the Army expects these soldiers to risk their lives, then the soldiers are within their rights to expect the Army to protect them both physically and emotionally. — Helen Charbonneau, Marietta. S.C. Read more | 0 comments
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