DisasterPhilosophy

Raw Deals for US Soldiers and Veterans
Category: News and Politics

· Several weeks ago, Nation magazine had a disturbing article about the increased number of D-13's from the military during the past six years. A discharge 13 order is a fairly quick way to be dropped from the military for alleged "personality disorders".

· Military doctors and the Department of Defense, not subject to legal suit for malpractice due to being part of the federal government, have cut off over 6,000 army and marine soldiers and over 20,000 total from Defense. It is a convenient way for the government not to be obliged to provide disability and medical care to these troops/ veterans. It is a quick way for commanders to quickly get rid of a disabled soldier to be replaced more quickly as cannon fodder.

· Soldiers with actual or potential head injuries, or with posttraumatic stress disorder (battle stress, shell-shock; psychological disorders due to injury while in military service) are being urged to sign off on D-13s. They are apparently be told by doctors and superiors that they will be able to get disability and other veterans benefits. That is a lie; the soldier is thrown out on the street with nothing.

· In fact, some of these soldiers leave the military owing the military money because their sign-up bonuses are rescinded. Many of these soldiers, with undiagnosed injuries, end up as homeless, dysfunctional, and suicide victims. Some probably end up in prison.

· "Personality disorder" is something that should be determined by diagnosed problems before and after military service. Military doctors are saying that the problems only became evident because of military service. A civilian doctor doing this would be guilty of malpractice.

· I spoke with newly elected US Representative David Loebsack (Democrat, 2^nd District, Iowa) on this matter at a roundtable discussion in Iowa City on May 4. He was there to discuss health care, disability compensation and other soldier/ veterans' issues. He is a member of the House Committee on the Armed Services.

· Also discussed Friday:

· Loebsack is a member of the readiness subcommittee. He related that the military lacks any C-1 (combat ready, level 1) unit ready to deploy. The military is now saying that they must get up to C-1 during theater deployment.

· One female soldier related the continued problems with supply in Iraq and Afghanistan for our troops. There are still problems with antiquated unarmored humvees—many with little more than cloth windows.

· A female veteran related how she has been on treatment for suicidal stresses for thirty years. She was able to achieve a degree of independence from medication and therapeutic relief from her companion animal—a dog. A veterans group and others provided the dog to her. The Veterans Administration refused to fund this therapy for her due to not being a defined viable treatment.

· Discussion was held on the increased head injuries from today's combat survivor. Apparently many of the soldiers' helmets are a contributory factor in many injuries.

· Discussion was held on inadequacies of rifles, personal armor, and vehicles. Mr. Loebsack said it would be very instructive if members of Congress could see the huge vehicle wreckage pile in Kuwait to see the vulnerability of our soldiers to the IED explosive devices used by insurgents.

· Another person talked about the difficulty of former soldiers getting preference and other services from the government due to incurring a criminal record. He suggested that some forgiveness and understanding would often be in order for many. I wonder how many D-13's are in that category.

· I would urge friends and readers to contact their Senators and Representatives, particularly those on the Armed Services Committee (armedservices.house.gov) or Veterans Affairs (veterans.house.gov) in the House, and those in the Senate serving on the Armed Services Committee (armed-services.senate.gov) or Veterans Affairs (veterans.senate.gov). We need to make amends for the poor way our nation treats its military and veterans. This has been the case throughout most of our history, except, for the GI benefits of WWII (which were essentially denied to African Americans and other non-whites).