Government will increase PTSD benefits, and that's a good thing
I returned from Panama 20 years ago with post traumatic stress syndrome. I had been through a lot of violence, had seen people killed, and was almost killed myself on a few occasions. Four Cuban soldiers dressed as Panamanian policemen jamming AK's into my car windows while shouting at my friends and me is one of my less fond memories.
PTSD is Real
You can't put a finger on it like a messed up back or worn out knees, so assigning disability can be difficult.
Author Sebastian Junger was on Bill Bennett's Morning in America the other day talking about his year embedded with a combat unit in Afghanistan. He wrote a book about it called “War.” They were talking about PTSD. Killing, seeing friends killed, and almost being killed yourself are the most obvious causes.
Other PTSD Factors
Junger went on to mention other factors I had never thought of, but they rang true. In a war zone there is a sense of urgency and an immediacy of purpose you rarely find anywhere else. Everything is “in the now.”
You will never bond with others the way you did under such extreme circumstances. You're doing an immensely important duty in a very stressful environment. Lives are literally on the line. It is an extreme adrenaline high. Ironically, returning home can be a letdown.
Returning from Panama, it took me months to decompress. Everything had moved so fast and suddenly I was thrown back into happy, peaceful America.
I had nightmares for awhile, but they slowly went away. The heartbreak of seeing that country and its people I had loved so much come to such violence was probably worst of all, but that slowly healed as they put it all back together. I went about my Air Force duties, played in a Country-Rock band, and although it permanently changed me, I have no lasting negative effects. What I remember now is all the fun I had before the trouble started.
War is A Life Changing Experience
I didn't have PTSD coming back from my year in the Middle East, just tinnitus. I did have a hard time ramping down after working non-stop 90+ hour weeks and deploying all over the place installing and repairing communications vital to convoy security, perimeter defense and air-to-ground missions. It was important, fast-paced work and lives were at stake.
The picture on the left was taken at the Air Force camp at Baghdad Airport. When I e-mailed the picture home, my wife remarked how happy I looked. Well, I was literally having the time of my life. Those guys with me in the picture were like my sons. I cried when they returned home...Reuniting with my family was awesome. Our youngest was three and she didn’t know me, so it took her awhile to warm up to me. Although I came back with no trauma, life for me had changed forever. So I can only imagine the hell a returning combat troop must go through.
My experience with PTSD is vastly different than the horrors experienced by our young combat troops coming home today. I just want my fellow conservatives to know that it is real. It also afflicts people here in the US who have witnessed violence or experienced a tragedy.
Blood and treasure are not the only costs of war
Couples divorce, families are irretrievably broken, lives are changed forever. People who have survived combat will never be the same again. Children will lose parents; spouses will lose their beloved; siblings and parents will be left with nothing but memories. War wrecks lives and produces a cohort of walking wounded. For this reason, military action should never be taken lightly.
