This Is For the Soldiers
This is about a petition to get Congress moving to get our Veterans the mental and physical care they need when they come home from war. So many are coming home, filing their paperwork with the VA, requesting appointments, and then waiting months for their first appointment with their primary.
www.thisisforthesoldiers.org
From a concerned sister of a Marine ...
"I am asking that for five minutes you put aside your political views and listen to a story. This is personal for me but it is a Problem. We must fix this problem and I urge you to act and sign the petitions I will list below.
Do not think this does not or will not ever affect you it does. The men and women who serve our country and fight for us to be safe and free deserve better then this. This is one story but there are many like it....
At the age of twenty a young man in search for more joined the military, the Marine Core. He became an infantry men in Lima Company 3/5. Shortly after the completion of his training he was sent to Iraq. He had the blessing of returning in tact. A few months after his first tour he was sent again. This time he was bit by a dog, almost run over by an Iraqi trying to run a heck point, and attacked by IED's. He lost friends but once again he came back. A few months later he volunteered to return. All his brothers where going so he felt he had to go. This tour he was blown out of a Hummer because of an IED on the road. He recieved a brain injury from the shrapnel. Three days after this attack we, his family, where informed. Once again he came back this time with a Purple Heart.
This time he could no longer go back. He separated from the Core a year ago. He was diagnosed with PTSD, complete loss of hearing in his left ear, an impaired hand, and his brain injury. Like most Veterans his first stop was the VA. For a year he had been trying to seek help mentally and physically. He has been shuffled through the system and told many different things. But, has not been able to receive care.
On Monday my little brother calls me upset and beside himself. He is sleep deprived and angry. He has been trying all week to sort out his VA benefits so he can get help. He has turned to drinking and become an alcholic just so he can sleep. This aggravates his brain injury and causes his brain to swell . He knows that he should not be doing this, but it is the only thing he can do to sleep. When he does not drink he will be awake for days at a time until his body shuts down. Even then he will only sleep a few hours and awake suddenly. On edge and not knowing what to do he goes to the VA. He explains he has a constant ringing in his ear (from his hearing loss), is sleep deprived, has become an Alcholic and fears he may harm himself. They tell him they will make him an appointment and to return in thirty days.
At three in the morning my phone rings. My brother intoxicated and suffering from severe sleep deprivation, and flash backs is going to kill himself. He has climbed onto a roof and just wants his sisters to know he loves them re he does this. We keep him talking all night. My husband and I attempt to track down his location. He is out of state and we have no idea where he is. We call the local Police and Sheriff departments and get as much information from him as we can get. At eight o'clock this morning he his still on the roof. I will not let him go, I refuse to. So, phone in hand he jumps. I hear the worst sound of my life as he hits the ground then nothing. No screams, no ambulance, no sirens, just silence.
I throw the phone across the room and break down. My other two sisters, my mother and my husband continue to try to call his phone. Still trying to locate him we finally get ahold of his best friend and Marine Core Brother jumps in his truck and goes to where my brother is lying face down on the ground.
He is not dead. God apparently is still not ready for him. My family is still waiting to find out the true state of his condition. My mother and older sister already flew out to where he is. But, we know very little. We wait, just like he and others did for someone to help us.
I believe we are all responsible for ourselves, but in this case the system really did fail. It is not only failing him, but countless others like him. They return with lost limbs, mental disorders, or in caskets. We honor them by subjecting them to a Bureaucratic system that is broken.
We watched in horror when Fort Bragg came to our attention, then again when we heard about Walter Reed Hospital. But, a few weeks later they are just old news to us. We forget that these men and women stood for us and fail to realize standing by and watching this repeated injustice against our veterans means we will not return the favor and Stand for Them.
I ask right now to stand for them. Start writing letters to your congressmen and Senators. Tell them that the care our Troops are receiving is not Adequate. Tell them we do not want one more soldier discharged from the service before their benefits are ready. We want better medical treatment, better treatment for PTSD and mental disorders taken seriously. Tell them we will fight for those who serve and fight for us.
This does not have to happen.
from the nonprofit organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America:
At least one in three Iraq veterans, and one in nine Afghanistan veterans, will face a mental health issue, including depression, anxiety or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Approximately 150,000 wounded veterans suffer from traumatic brain injuries
The average wait-time on a disability claim is 127 days
For claims that are appealed, the wait-time skyrockets to a staggering 657 days
In the past three years, the VA claims backlog increased by over 50%, to 378,000 pending disability claims
The VA has decreased full-time claims-processing staff since 2003
Army Soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new military report."
www.thisisforthesoldiers.org
From a concerned sister of a Marine ...
"I am asking that for five minutes you put aside your political views and listen to a story. This is personal for me but it is a Problem. We must fix this problem and I urge you to act and sign the petitions I will list below.
Do not think this does not or will not ever affect you it does. The men and women who serve our country and fight for us to be safe and free deserve better then this. This is one story but there are many like it....
At the age of twenty a young man in search for more joined the military, the Marine Core. He became an infantry men in Lima Company 3/5. Shortly after the completion of his training he was sent to Iraq. He had the blessing of returning in tact. A few months after his first tour he was sent again. This time he was bit by a dog, almost run over by an Iraqi trying to run a heck point, and attacked by IED's. He lost friends but once again he came back. A few months later he volunteered to return. All his brothers where going so he felt he had to go. This tour he was blown out of a Hummer because of an IED on the road. He recieved a brain injury from the shrapnel. Three days after this attack we, his family, where informed. Once again he came back this time with a Purple Heart.
This time he could no longer go back. He separated from the Core a year ago. He was diagnosed with PTSD, complete loss of hearing in his left ear, an impaired hand, and his brain injury. Like most Veterans his first stop was the VA. For a year he had been trying to seek help mentally and physically. He has been shuffled through the system and told many different things. But, has not been able to receive care.
On Monday my little brother calls me upset and beside himself. He is sleep deprived and angry. He has been trying all week to sort out his VA benefits so he can get help. He has turned to drinking and become an alcholic just so he can sleep. This aggravates his brain injury and causes his brain to swell . He knows that he should not be doing this, but it is the only thing he can do to sleep. When he does not drink he will be awake for days at a time until his body shuts down. Even then he will only sleep a few hours and awake suddenly. On edge and not knowing what to do he goes to the VA. He explains he has a constant ringing in his ear (from his hearing loss), is sleep deprived, has become an Alcholic and fears he may harm himself. They tell him they will make him an appointment and to return in thirty days.
At three in the morning my phone rings. My brother intoxicated and suffering from severe sleep deprivation, and flash backs is going to kill himself. He has climbed onto a roof and just wants his sisters to know he loves them re he does this. We keep him talking all night. My husband and I attempt to track down his location. He is out of state and we have no idea where he is. We call the local Police and Sheriff departments and get as much information from him as we can get. At eight o'clock this morning he his still on the roof. I will not let him go, I refuse to. So, phone in hand he jumps. I hear the worst sound of my life as he hits the ground then nothing. No screams, no ambulance, no sirens, just silence.
I throw the phone across the room and break down. My other two sisters, my mother and my husband continue to try to call his phone. Still trying to locate him we finally get ahold of his best friend and Marine Core Brother jumps in his truck and goes to where my brother is lying face down on the ground.
He is not dead. God apparently is still not ready for him. My family is still waiting to find out the true state of his condition. My mother and older sister already flew out to where he is. But, we know very little. We wait, just like he and others did for someone to help us.
I believe we are all responsible for ourselves, but in this case the system really did fail. It is not only failing him, but countless others like him. They return with lost limbs, mental disorders, or in caskets. We honor them by subjecting them to a Bureaucratic system that is broken.
We watched in horror when Fort Bragg came to our attention, then again when we heard about Walter Reed Hospital. But, a few weeks later they are just old news to us. We forget that these men and women stood for us and fail to realize standing by and watching this repeated injustice against our veterans means we will not return the favor and Stand for Them.
I ask right now to stand for them. Start writing letters to your congressmen and Senators. Tell them that the care our Troops are receiving is not Adequate. Tell them we do not want one more soldier discharged from the service before their benefits are ready. We want better medical treatment, better treatment for PTSD and mental disorders taken seriously. Tell them we will fight for those who serve and fight for us.
This does not have to happen.
from the nonprofit organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America:
At least one in three Iraq veterans, and one in nine Afghanistan veterans, will face a mental health issue, including depression, anxiety or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Approximately 150,000 wounded veterans suffer from traumatic brain injuries
The average wait-time on a disability claim is 127 days
For claims that are appealed, the wait-time skyrockets to a staggering 657 days
In the past three years, the VA claims backlog increased by over 50%, to 378,000 pending disability claims
The VA has decreased full-time claims-processing staff since 2003
Army Soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new military report."
posted by Tammy | 10:37 AM
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