4,237 Americans have been killed during George W. Bush's war in Iraq. As shocking and shameful as that number is, it is only the tip of the iceberg. That total does not include the other victims of Bush's arrogance and incompetence: Soldiers who couldn't take the stress of four and five tours under the pressure of combat.
TWENTY-FOUR American soldiers committed suicide last month. SIXTEEN died in combat.
A Pentagon document written by Al Pessin states the following:
...The army says it has confirmed that 115 active-duty soldiers committed suicide last year, with two more investigations still pending. That is a rate of nearly 19 per 100,000 soldiers. The rate was just under 10 per 100,000 in 2002, before the Iraq invasion, and has been rising steadily, except for one year, ever since. The rates for the last two years are the highest since record keeping began in 1980...
If January's statistic holds as an average for 2009, there will be nearly 300 soldier suicides this year!
Anyone who has followed my series of articles about PTSD over the past few years here on TPMCafe and DailyKos know that I believe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder will be one of the worst after effects of the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld et.al. years.
I'm afraid there's going to be a large price to pay not only in dollars and lives but to the psychological well-being of our nation and her people. There have already been atrocities committed by returning veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. PTSD is not an excuse for such events but the damage done to these veterans by the policies of the Bush administration should be taken into account when deciding their punishment. Not only that, there needs to be additional funding and manpower devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of these people.
As a Vietnam veteran Navy Corpsman, I know a little about the toll PTSD has taken on my generation.
Please call or write your representatives in Congress to get this matter on the agenda of our government. "We The People" are powerful if WE unite against this tragedy.
For all who have served and paid with their psychological well-being, I salute you. If you're a veteran of Afghanistan or Iraq and you are having difficulty adjusting to life back here in "The World" as we used to call it in Vietnam, look for a Vet Center in your community. There is help available in almost every city. Changes have been instituted in the VA because of the actions of some of us who served in Vietnam and have taken on this cause.
Don't do what I did and let your psychological issues cause you to withdraw into yourself for 35 or 40 years. Take my word for it, it NEVER goes away! I pulled away from loved ones for too many years and hid behind the wall I built in my mind. I'd hide in "My Cave" as I came to call the darkness in my soul. Don't let that happen to you!
Talk to someone. Go to a Vet Center. Contact the VA. Don't hide in "The Cave" for 40 years!