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I need to comment on the PTSD issue...I know so many of our soldiers, Active and Guard, who have come home from Iraq and Afghanistan, and more often than not, they have shown "symptoms" of PTSD.  I know that the "system" for getting these guys the help they need is so hard to navigate, they usually just give up trying to get help.  They end up acting out and losing so much of what their life used to be.  The things they saw, the things they felt...there is no way for us "civilians" to know what they went through.  Even if they were never in a fire fight, never confronted any resistance directly...there are scars there.  I don't think articles like the AP article do anything but hurt these faithful public servants.  It kills me to know that so many people think many of these soldiers fake symptoms.  I think, if anything, they ignore the symptoms for which they should be getting help. 

Also, I know some soldiers in this last demobilization, who were stuck at Ft Lewis for so long before getting to come home to see their families.  They were "detained" there, going through the reintegration classes, etc., when all they wanted to do was get home.  They were so close, yet they couldn't get here.  A lot of them were resentful, a lot of them just ignored what the people were saying, just wanting to get through it and get out.  I feel that if they had just gotten their health checked then go home to their families for at least a few days or a week. THEN I think after the shock of returning civilian life is not so fresh, THEN they should go through all the demob classes.  They would get so much more out of it.

As for the Guard vs Active issue, the caller just now said that the Guard don't receive as much training.  I don't know if I'd agree with that statement.  I think the 41st BDE is one of the best units in the nation, Guard OR Active.  I feel that is why they have been tapped so often to be deployed into war zones.

Just my opinions...  Jenn

posted 2 years, 12 months ago
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