Was it wise for Obama to make it so easy for our troops to get benifits for PTSD ?

U.S. troops should get all the benefits and help they need. It was a disgrace what our Vietnam Vets came home to, and the majority of these men were drafted. Many were left in dirty hospitals with lousy care. Many killed themselves; their mental health in so many cases needed attention they never were given.

It can hit anyone anytime, and the most normal looking people have episodes when they are alone that no one can understand...usually in their sleep...My stepdad was in Vietnam, and saw his best friend (who was driving a jeep) get his head blowwn off, and with brains and blood all over him, my stepdad had to jump on top of the guy, to get his foot on the brake to stop the vehicle. He wakes up with atrociously violent dreams, suffers bad from PTSD, but talking to him, you'd never know it....

(..and where did you get that dancing Obama GIF???HYSTERICAL!!).

and even teh Purple heart is now meaningless.

My friend was offered the purple heart because he got hurt while cleaning a helicopter while on duty. He was not in a warzone now was he over seas at the time.

My grandpa was offered cause he was wounded during the D-Day invasion of WW2. My Grandpa was in charge of strategy between the US troops and US mobs and the Mobs in Europe.

While the US invaded, the Mobsters attacked from within to spread teh Germans out and win better. If the Mobs did not attack the D-Day invasion would've failed. It was My grandpas and his organization which aided in the US attacks against their common enemy.

I know we need to make it easier for combat troops to get counseling immediately upon their return. As for soldiers who have not seen combat, I just don't know.

War IS stressful!!!!!! Killing someone is not easy and it is not supposed to be. Living in a constant state of terror for extended periods of time, like when you are at WAR and being shot at daily!!!! Too many generations of veterans could not get help for their issues because it was not understood.

It was once called Exhaustion in the early 1800's; then Soldier's Heart and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the 1900's; Shell Shock in WWI; and Combat Fatigue in WWII. It was not well understood until the 1980's and even then it was still seen as a cope out. Now people that are suffering can get the help they need to assimilate back into society at large smooth as possible.

The Vets deserved everything that they need and should get after being involved in a war, even his/her children.

I dont know, there was a time when our soldiers would rather suffer then admit to PTSD and in many of those cases not only them but their families suffered but now it does seem a little easy to say you have it, but i guess the way i look at it is id rather make it easier for them to get it so the ones that really need it can get it then make it harder and someone suffering from it go without help.

Bush should have done so much sooner but there really is NO compassion from the conservative right that only looks out for itself !

The real and hidden damage of the Iraq war is the huge number of brain injuries, in the range of 30 - 40 thousand, many that are non-specific and under-diagnosed. And seriously under-reported and marginalized. It will become a much bigger story as time goes on.

And Griz, what's with the offensive animation? What are you trying to say?

I believe it is the same as ADHD nowadays you just have to mention it and you have it :P

I'm willing to give the benefit of any doubt to a vet. They deserve no less!

All I can say is it's about time. My x husband volunteered for Vietnam and he had a hard time of it with flash backs and all but at the time their was no help for these guys and many threatened their careers if they did get help. The hundreds of thousands of Vietnam vets living on the streets and using alcohol and drugs to alleviate their mental paid should be enough for us all to applauder the president and the leaders in the military that finally saw fit to do the right thing.

Unless you have walked in those shoes, I do not believe you have a clue. Griz, this one almost made me use bad words!

I don't know but anyone who claims it's strictly a way to shirk duty needs to sign up for service in the Middle East and test their theory. Better yet, reinstate the draft so everyone gets a chance to serve their country regardless of how much money they have.
It's easy to sit back in a computer chair and complain. Do the walk before doing the talk.

It's turned into a scam. It takes a while for a person to be diagnosed with an MI in the best conditions. Why would this be any different?

I have ptsd from something that happened to me last November and I think that if you can prove it then you should get the care.

Unless you have ever been in their shoes, or anyone else who has lived through something horrific you can't speak. They are OK to put their asses on the line for us, it's the least we can do for them.

I'm refering to the slacklers that will use it as an excuse to go home.

I really don't believe that if you have had to go over at all, there aren't many slackers. Who doesn't want to come home? But I'm sorry I believe in these military folks as honorable. They didn't have to go. Like when there was a draft.

Well, I was in the service and know there's many slackers...just like on any job.

Maybe so, but I would say more that aren't. And again, since you were lucky (and I'm glad) enough to escape those terrible effects of trauma, doesn't mean everyone is as lucky. I wasn't in the military, but have been diagnosed with PTSD from childhood sexual abuse. I don't wish that horror on anyone.

Spoken by a person who wouldn't get out of his chair to volunteer themselves. A real arm chair Patriot. Gosh we need more of them who can fight the war with their big mouths and ignorant ideas of what the military is all about.

Huh ? You talkin bout Obama ?

Not unless your name is Obama.

Great comment. In fact our troops have a very high suicide rate because of the fact that because we do not have enough volunteers many solders are being sent on numerous deployments over and over into a combat zone. Not many people can survive that mentally. i say that the people who don't like our troops getting help join the military themselves so our troops don't have to make repeated deployments to combat zones.

Thank you. And I agree.

Thanks

You are quite welcome.

To receive the benefits, it should be made known that regular snap private investigation will be carried out. The benefits should only be paid to those on USA shores or the fakers will slip abroad to third world countries where they can not be observed. Many receiving benefits already do that already and really are freeloaders.

Global Research Editorial Note

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has become an epidemic amongst soldiers/sailors serving and veterans who have returned from the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. The reasons are being depicted as purely psychological, but this seems to be very misleading.

The general public in the United States, Britain, and the rest of the world, including much of the Arab World, are unaware of one of the greatest war crimes and criminal acts against humanity that has been unfolding since the Gulf War from the Balkans to the Middle East and Afghanistan. Depleted uranium has been used for military use from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia to the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

The use of depleted uranium (D.U.)—more properly nuclear waste—and other substances in Iraq and Afghanistan cannot be ruled out as a cause of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) reported by U.S., Coalition, and NATO veterans. Veterans who have served in Anglo-American occupied Iraq and NATO-garrisoned Afghanistan are coming back in sizeable numbers with medical, stress, and psychological problems, but there are undoubtedly more factors involved than just the theatre of military service or the war zone.
http://www.gulfwarvets.com/du...

There is research to support the probability that ptsd and other personality changes are due to mild repeated brain injuries. Not just soldiers but football players and others subject to this kind of injury.

PTSD is very real, and those afflicted deserve societys help.... Sadly, its also real easy to fake. Obamaism makes it very profitable to be unproductive.

It's a shame you (and those like you) have sooo little faith in your fellow Americans. FYI, I know MORE conservatives taking advantage of unemployment AND Aid, than I do Liberals. I'm sure that's not true in all cases, but I think you'll find the average is pretty close. I wish this idiological (brainwashed) CRAP would just stop and we could work together as Americans to get out of this mess....like we have for many, many years (before the Hatriot movement!

After three, four, five deployments, it's about time SOMETHING came easy for these guys (or gals)! Often some innocent person (or persons) is hurt or killed before the need for therapy is realized, and the soldiers life is totally ruined. If we can put billions of dollars a MONTH into this war that was ignored when it should have been finished, we can put a few million a year into the people it has hurt. OUR people.

Well said. The reason we have so many military returning with PTSD is the repeated deployments into combat zones because we do not have enough volunteer military to do the job so to much is put on the solders we do have. i wish they would reinstate the draft.

Not only wise, but ethical as well.

Thats the whole problem. Heaven forbid some people advocate morality or ethics!