Heartbreaking story about another vet screwed by the country he defended

[BYH]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/military_the_enemy_within

Maybe George will cut table tennis out of his life now, too.

 

[Beaker]

Wow...the Pentagon really knows how to support the troops...

 

[Smallpotatoes]

But liberals only support the troops when they're not fighting.

 

[User 1019]

Instead of making childish comments, someone tell me why you think the Army doesn't care about this guy?

 

[BYH]

you read the story, right?

Answers are there.

 

[User 1019]

I also read that he lied on his post-deployment health screening -- one of the most important medical documents in the file (and he should've known better since he gave those screenings. He consistently blew off treatment, spent time in some treatment facilities and didn't, or couldn't, take full advantage of VA treatment once he got out.

Sounds like there's plenty of blame to go around without making silly statements like those above. But, then again, that's par for the course around here, right?

 

[BYH]

I don't think there's anything silly about my statement. and we're supposed to categorize his lies, bailing on treatment, etc as proof that he didn't WANT to take advantage of the treatment and not as proof he was incapable of helping himself and needed the government to work harder to help him?

Joseph Dwyer is the symbol of the rotten treatment vets are getting. And have been getting, for decades.

 

[DanOregon]

I don't see anybody raising their hands to raise taxes to pay for increased and improved vet benefits. We like to blame "the government", but the truth is "WE" are the government and if it doesn't matter to us, it won't matter to the "government."
We all knew better than to think the Iraq War was going to be the walk in the park it was advertised as. I know I thought, "it can't be this easy, can it?" in the march to war. But when the Dems signed off on it, (even if they were under political pressure to do so), they really lost all moral authority to capitalize on a soldier's misfortune.
The truth is we spend more time obsessing about who should be American Idol than whether we're truly prepared to deal with war and its by-products.

 

[zagoshe]

I don't see anybody raising their hands to raise taxes to pay for increased and improved vet benefits. We like to blame "the government", but the truth is "WE" are the government and if it doesn't matter to us, it won't matter to the "government."
We all knew better than to think the Iraq War was going to be the walk in the park it was advertised as. I know I thought, "it can't be this easy, can it?" in the march to war. But when the Dems signed off on it, (even if they were under political pressure to do so), they really lost all moral authority to capitalize on a soldier's misfortune.
The truth is we spend more time obsessing about who should be American Idol than whether we're truly prepared to deal with war and its by-products.

Right, right -- because there already isn't enough money going into the federal budget to be able to find some to increase and improve benefits for the vets.....

 

[User 1019]

Joseph Dwyer is the symbol of the rotten treatment vets are getting. And have been getting, for decades.

No, Joseph Dwyer's case is an extreme outlier, and 99 percent of veterans are getting the best care available.

 

[zagoshe]

Joseph Dwyer is the symbol of the rotten treatment vets are getting. And have been getting, for decades.

No, Joseph Dwyer's case is an extreme outlier, and 99 percent of veterans are getting the best care available.

Of course, I'm guessing Dwyer will find his way on to the stage at one of the conventions..........

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

Thought this was a Kerry thread.

 

[spnited]

Joseph Dwyer is the symbol of the rotten treatment vets are getting. And have been getting, for decades.

No, Joseph Dwyer's case is an extreme outlier, and 99 percent of veterans are getting the best care available.

You just keep believing that and mouthing the Army line, soldier.

 

[mustangj17]

I also read that he lied on his post-deployment health screening -- one of the most important medical documents in the file (and he should've known better since he gave those screenings. He consistently blew off treatment, spent time in some treatment facilities and didn't, or couldn't, take full advantage of VA treatment once he got out.

Sounds like there's plenty of blame to go around without making silly statements like those above. But, then again, that's par for the course around here, right?

I'm going to take a stab that Three Bags would know more about any of this than all of us; and that given his background it would be pointless to argue about him with this.

 

[BYH]

Joseph Dwyer is the symbol of the rotten treatment vets are getting. And have been getting, for decades.

No, Joseph Dwyer's case is an extreme outlier, and 99 percent of veterans are getting the best care available.

Of course, I'm guessing Dwyer will find his way on to the stage at one of the conventions..........

that'd be pretty ****ing remarkable, since he's dead.

 

[User 1019]

I also read that he lied on his post-deployment health screening -- one of the most important medical documents in the file (and he should've known better since he gave those screenings. He consistently blew off treatment, spent time in some treatment facilities and didn't, or couldn't, take full advantage of VA treatment once he got out.

Sounds like there's plenty of blame to go around without making silly statements like those above. But, then again, that's par for the course around here, right?

I'm going to take a stab that Three Bags would know more about any of this than all of us; and that given his background it would be pointless to argue about him with this.

Absolutely not. I'm as wrong as can be most of the time.

 

[User 1019]

Joseph Dwyer is the symbol of the rotten treatment vets are getting. And have been getting, for decades.

No, Joseph Dwyer's case is an extreme outlier, and 99 percent of veterans are getting the best care available.

Of course, I'm guessing Dwyer will find his way on to the stage at one of the conventions..........

that'd be pretty ****ing remarkable, since he's dead.

Hell, at least I read the story. ::)

Gotta give me credit for that.

 

[zagoshe]

Joseph Dwyer is the symbol of the rotten treatment vets are getting. And have been getting, for decades.

No, Joseph Dwyer's case is an extreme outlier, and 99 percent of veterans are getting the best care available.

Of course, I'm guessing Dwyer will find his way on to the stage at one of the conventions..........

that'd be pretty ****ing remarkable, since he's dead.

OK, then one of his next of kin or relatives will somehow find his or her way on to the stage at one of the conventions for a tear-jerking moment........

 

[BYH]

Joseph Dwyer is the symbol of the rotten treatment vets are getting. And have been getting, for decades.

No, Joseph Dwyer's case is an extreme outlier, and 99 percent of veterans are getting the best care available.

Of course, I'm guessing Dwyer will find his way on to the stage at one of the conventions..........

that'd be pretty ****ing remarkable, since he's dead.

OK, then one of his next of kin or relatives will somehow find his or her way on to the stage at one of the conventions for a tear-jerking moment........

no shrugging this one off. Had you opened the link instead of trying to **** off people on both sides of the aisle, you'd have read very quickly that Joseph Dwyer was dead.

 

[User 1019]

Joseph Dwyer is the symbol of the rotten treatment vets are getting. And have been getting, for decades.

No, Joseph Dwyer's case is an extreme outlier, and 99 percent of veterans are getting the best care available.

You just keep believing that and mouthing the Army line, soldier.

I'll ignore the insult and provide something. You can join in, if you'd like.

This story http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/565407 (from November, but the latest one I could find) says that about 300,000 psychiatric patients have returned from Iraq, a war in which these numbers have been extremely high compared to those from other wars. How many of these stories have we heard about? 500? That's alot, right? Sure, but it's still only 16/1,000ths of a percent. You get my point.

We know these numbers are probably low, and this quote from Evan Kanter, MD, PhD, staff psychiatrist in the PTSD Outpatient Clinic of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, leads to that.

"At the time of return, people want to get home and get to their families. They perceive that if they answer yes to the question, it is going to take time [and delay their return home]. So, there is tremendous underreporting. The other is that PTSD and other mental health conditions have an insidious and delayed onset."

The most important piece of this puzzle, obviously, is the reporting and making soldiers understand reporting these issues. She also stresses later in the story that family and other networks play an important role in the process, urging them to seek or continue receiving treatment.

Take it for what it's worth, but the Army's medical system and the VA system ARE NOT broken. Stressed and ill-prepared going in, but not broken. If that was the case, this place http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_the_Intrepid would've never been built.