Monday, June 18, 2007

They Called It "Malingering" In The Last Couple Of Wars

When soldiers fresh from the battlefield exhibit signs of extreme psychological distress, the brass ALWAYS suspects 'malingering,' first. So the first instinct is to ignore the soldier's complaints. Cuz the battlefield is SUCH a crappy, horrible, horrible place, the brass knew/know that any sane person would do ANYTHING to get out of having to go back there... If this is unclear, there's a whole book about it: Catch-22. Still as relevant today as when it was first published 46 years ago. I read it on the transport plane taking me overseas, in '65.

Walter Reed Patients Say Mental Care Falls Short
(Another piece of what should be Pulitzer-winning reportage by the WaPo's two best: Anne Hull and Dana Priest; via Truth-Out.Org)
Every month, 20 to 40 soldiers are evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan because of mental problems, according to the Army.
Most are sent to Walter Reed along with other war-wounded.
For amputees, the nation's top Army hospital offers state-of-the-art prosthetics and physical rehabilitation programs, and soon, a new $10 million amputee center with a rappelling wall and virtual reality center. Nothing so state-of-the-art exists for soldiers with diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder, who in the Army alone outnumber all of the war's amputees by 43 to one.
Because of it's associations with 'shirking' or 'malingering', the military bureaucrats are often loathe to allocate many resources to the repair of what they are almost always SURE is dishonesty.

Of course, most of the pencil-jockeys have never stained their shorts in a fire-fight, either.
Fuck the RAMFs!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

T'was REMF when I was in the service. Is yours an Air Farce thing :) ?

Your point, most unfortunately, is too true. And I say that as a certified REMF me own self.

-left rev.

Woody (Tokin Librul/Rogue Scholar/ Helluvafella!) said...

RAMF: rear area motherfucker vs REMF: rear echelon motherfucker?

yeah, i think it was a service thing, me bein USAF and a bonafide titless waf...RAMF all the way!!!!

Anonymous said...

*high five for Woody*

Anonymous said...

Concerning the article on PTSD, I just wanted to write that it may benefit active duty & veteran family’s / friends of veterans to read a recently released book titled, “Still the Monkey: What Happens to Warriors After War?” "Author Alivia C. Tagliaferri became inspired to write Still the Monkey: What Happens to Warriors After War after she visited the Walter Reed Medical Center in the summer of 2003, and saw first hand the casualties of the War on Terror. Her later interview with a former Marine and Vietnam Veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder helped cement her determination to express the devastating toll of war. Still the Monkey is a historical fiction novel about a Vietnam veteran plagued with pain and sickness, and his fateful meeting with an Iraq veteran who lost both his legs. For ten days inside the walls of Walter Reed's Monologue House, the two of them begin a painful yet ultimately cathartic progression toward healing and learning to live again, one day at a time. A poignant and powerful novel, written out of the deepest respect and admiration for the men and women who put their lives on the line for the sake of their nation.” - Midwest Book Review.

At http://www.ironcuttermedia.com/ you can learn more about this book, which is reality-based work of historical fiction that depicts the problems caused by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among returning veterans. I hope this post helps educate people out there that need assistance. Take care and God bless.