Say what you want about the MSM, when they finally decide to do their job, they can do a hell of a job. Take a look at this stunning and terrible series by Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman of the Hartford Courant. Excerpt:
All three were given antidepressants to help them make it through their tours of duty in Iraq — and all came home in coffins.Warren, 44, and Guy, 26, committed suicide last year, according to the military; Hobart, 22, collapsed in June 2004, of a still-undetermined cause.
The three are among a growing number of mentally troubled service members who are being kept in combat and treated with potent psychotropic medications — a little-examined practice driven in part by a need to maintain troop strength …
See http://www.pennlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news/1147251989162610.xml?pennnews&coll=1
This paralegal signed up for 4 years in the Army and 4 years Reserves to get the money to go to law school. She was finishing up her active duty tour in Kosovo when she was extended and sent to Iraq.
"Day to day, experiences in Iraq piled up in Conway's mind: an incoming round exploding near her tent, a charred Iraqi soldier sticking out of a tank, a young Iraqi boy selling daggers."
When she came home, "She drank heavily and had nightmares. Her body twitched when a car backfired. She angered easily and broke things.
'She was a loose cannon,' said House [her fiance at the time], whose engagement with Conway ended. 'I was angry at the government for not telling her the war was over for her. She came home, and they should have deprogrammed her from the war zone before coming to civilization.'"
"Conway said she has not recovered from her first tour in Iraq, with the Army in 2003. The smell of bodies and the shock of incoming fire still haunt her. She believes she has symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder."
She's been called up and will be in Fort Benning next month and back in Iraq soon after. The Army says she's in perfect condition.
This is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I suspect there are thousands of such stories around the country.
Posted by: Joyful Alternative on May 18, 2006 7:09 AM