I love, value, appreciate and respect our War Heroes and the strong families that stand behind them on the home front. As a military wife of 20 years (Desert Storm Era) I have experienced all sides. After my husband retired we divorced due to alcoholism and his PTSD. I missed the role I had always filled as a family support advocate and took a job as a civilian contractor in North Tikrit Iraq...now 7 years later, I am home after being injured in Afghanistan. I have been home on medical leave, recovering and will soon have to decide if I will return to work in the war zone or resign from duty. After all the years of constant deployment, constant incoming fire, constant exposure to the wars horror. I work as an HR Manager which requires my presence in the ER when our employees are injured, arranging med-vac for our civilian contractors, I have spent many hours upon hours...just being with our injured war heroes awaiting transport to Germany for further care or just to listen to them talk about their trauma and more precious, about their spouses or children back home waiting their return, All of this has changed me forever... I am brought to tears daily by the memories and find it very difficult to relate to "life in America" I find it really difficult to relate to what most people regard as "a bad day" ...I have a VERY STRONG FAITH and I have to believe that God had me on this path to minister his love in the battle field... so I have to trust that with God's help, I will one day, be able to re-engage in to what life after a war zone may have in store.
My husband is also a Vietnam vet and finally received his PTSD disability in 2009. He is also taking prescription medications for mood and sees his VA psychiatrist regularly. Please tell your brother-in-law to check with his VA center to find out if they do group therapy. That is the thing that helped my husband the most - sharing experiences with other vets (they all seem to think that no one else on the planet understands the way they feel other than another veteran who has seen combat). The biggest plus is the fact that we have made some great social friends as well (from him taking part in the group) and it is not only now individuals, but couples. There are several of us who have breakfast together every Saturday, and sometimes meet for socials on Friday night. Tell him not to give up - keep trying with the VA for the compensation he deserves. They take a long time - it took over 2 years for my husband to get it. Make sure the paperwork is correct, that they get all of the doctors information correct, fill out the forms correctly, and do a very good job for himselt on the C&P interviews. He could also contact his local American Legion or DAV (Disable Veterans of America) for assistance in managing the paperwork. Good luck to him and thank him for his service to our country.
I want to thank all the men and women who have fought for “our” freedom. I’m ashamed that for most of my 57 years of living, I’ve gone through life taking my freedom for granted. I also want to thank Dr. Phil for doing this show and initiate the awareness of this terrible disease that our hero’s and family members have been living with for a number of years.
I just finished watching your show on PTSD. I have recently reconnected with my ex-brother-in-law after 42 years who served in Vietnam from 1967 thru 1971 (during which time the “Tet Offensive” occurred). I had no idea what “Tet Offensive” was when he said that word in passing. For those of us that don’t know, apparently there was an agreement between North and South Vietnam that a cease fire would take place on Christmas or North Vietnam’s “Lunar” New Year. On January 30, 1968 the enemy did not hold up their “end of the bargain” and killed countless soldiers, women, children & infants right before his eyes. He and countless other heroes have been living with that, and numerous other events that occurred in the war zone and have “sucked it up” and kept it inside.
He is in mental, physical and financial trouble. We’ve “asked” the VA for help and completed all the paperwork and have been waiting for a year. The only response we have gotten is his claim is “in the process” of being reviewed. He was exposed on a daily basis to “agent orange” and is living with those symptoms and has been suffering for over 40 years along with the PTSD symptoms. He lives in daily fear of being exposed to any “new” experiences or people; he has episodes of “memory or time lost” that he can’t account for, which is also linked to this disability. After several medical & psychological appointments he just recently was diagnosed with PTSD, but there has been no financial support. They have given him drugs for depression, anxiety and a muscle relaxer for his physical pain.
The fact that his current way of living is a direct result of being exposed to what is the “unimaginable horrific daily sightings” and “smell of death” from the time our men and women “step off that plane” for our freedom is incomprehensible.
We should be ashamed that our “hero’s” are not compensated and have to endure more pain just to receive some extra help from our government. Unlike in “Mary” blog, I live in Arizona and the VA appears not to be as willing to help the “hero’s” of the Vietnam War and as they do in Florida.
I too hope that you (Dr. Phil) will interview several Vietnam vets who have been suffering and living with this disease and these symptoms for over 40 years. A segment should be done on the effects of Agent Orange and PTSDsymptoms.
I have a son that is only 23 years old and has only been back from Iraq from a year, and after watching this show I can relate to so many of you. He has PTSD and is currently going through several programs through the Veterns Hospital for this. He tries to medicate himself as well and has flashbacks and as the mother has had to call the sheriff out her to control him during one of his rage times, this was very heartbreaking for me. This is something that I as a mother never thought that I would ever have to see or go through but there are so many of our Soldiers that are coming back that are not knowing how to cope with society anymore. This is very hard for their families to see and deal with and I am so sure it is hard for them to deal with as well, but as for us we are not educated enough to know how to deal with this. This is something that is very serious and can cause someone's life in the long run, not only that they are not knowing how to cope to work! My son had recieved a purple heart while serving but we have been working for over 4 months to try and get his benefits going and still have not gotten nothing! Please help me and my son, this is all i am asking in return...
I just finished watching your show on PTSD. I have recently reconnected with my ex-brother-in-law after 42 years who served in Vietnam from 1967 thru 1971 (during which time the “Tet Offensive” occurred). I had no idea what “Tet Offensive” was when he said that word in passing. For those of us that don’t know, apparently there was an agreement between North and South Vietnam that a cease fire would take place on Christmas or North Vietnam’s “Lunar” New Year. On January 30, 1968 the enemy did not hold up their “end of the bargain” and killed countless soldiers, women, children & infants right before his eyes. He and countless other heroes have been living with that, and numerous other events that occurred in the war zone and have “sucked it up” and kept it inside.
He is in mental, physical and financial trouble. We’ve “asked” the VA for help and completed all the paperwork and have been waiting for a year. The only response we have gotten is his claim is “in the process” of being reviewed. He was exposed on a daily basis to “agent orange” and is living with those symptoms and has been suffering for over 40 years along with the PTSD symptoms. He lives in daily fear of being exposed to any “new” experiences or people; he has episodes of “memory or time lost” that he can’t account for, which is also linked to this disability. After several medical & psychological appointments he just recently was diagnosed with PTSD, but there has been no financial support. They have given him drugs for depression, anxiety and a muscle relaxer for his physical pain.
The fact that his current way of living is a direct result of being exposed to what is the “unimaginable horrific daily sightings” and “smell of death” from the time our men and women “step off that plane” for our freedom is incomprehensible.
We should be ashamed that our “hero’s” are not compensated and have to endure more pain just to receive some extra help from our government. Unlike in “Mary” blog, I live in Arizona and the VA appears not to be as willing to help the “hero’s” of the Vietnam War and as they do in Florida.
I too hope that you (Dr. Phil) will interview several Vietnam vets who have been suffering and living with this disease and these symptoms for over 40 years. A segment should be done on the effects of Agent Orange and PTSD symptoms.