Iraq war veteran: Haunted, in prison, now homeless

Iraq war veteran: Haunted, in prison, now homeless

www.guardian.co.uk

The nightmares and flashbacks he increasingly suffered but had tried to suppress, became impossible to ignore. He saw dead children everywhere. He couldn't see a way out and tried to kill himself.

He says he can pinpoint the root of his problems back to an incident in Basra in the first month of the Iraq invasion, seven years ago. "We were told to hit and clear an enemy building," says Dale. "The tanks opened up on the building and we went in, firing, throwing grenades in every room. We thought there was no one firing back because of the weight of fire. But when we got in there, it wasn't an enemy building. It was just a normal family. There were about seven of them in total. Dead children laying all over the floor."

(visit the link for the full news article)



[edit on 5-7-2010 by DimensionalDetective]

Sigh...

Truely sad and horrific on too many counts to even describe.

The war industry and military industrial complex are perhaps one of the greatest plagues upon this earth-period.

As tragic and heartbreaking as this story is, more of these types of accounts need to be brought to light, so that the masses can step out of the gov, M.I.C.'s, mega-corp and mainstream media puppet's brainwashing of how 'patriotic' and wonderful war is....

www.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
As tragic and heartbreaking as this story is, more of these types of accounts need to be brought to light, so that the masses can step out of the gov, M.I.C.'s, mega-corp and mainstream media puppet's brainwashing of how 'patriotic' and wonderful war is....

War is hell and should be avoided at all costs.

If any of our readers are suffering from PTSD please follow the link provided below. Booze, Drugs and or going head on in your car with a Semi-tractor trailer is not a way to deal with the issue.

I won't bother commenting on the whole "Puppet and War is Wonderful BullCrap"
Veterans Health Administration

A huge percentage of the homeless are war veterans.

Originally posted by yellowcard
A huge percentage of the homeless are war veterans.

23% is not a huge percentage.

Reminds me of a story I posted about here on ATS earlier this year:



This is a documentary that I watched in January last year. Although it's been more than a year since I have seen it, it is one of the stories that I still remember very well. Probably because this story is so shocking, sad and outrageous and decided this needs to be known. Specifically, because I have the idea that American TV seems to be censoring such stories.

It is the story of Jeans Cruz, a war hero who was part of an elite squad that captured Saddam Hussein. After his return home, he has become very suicidal, he is suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder.

After a medical examination by the army, he was told that his mental wounds had been caused by a personality disorder that he had always had. They refuse to admit he is suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder as a consequence of the traumatic experiences he encountered during the war. By doing so, the army is not required to pay him a benefit. Henceforth, panic attacks, depression and chaos control his life. He is barely able to nourish his family.

And he's not alone. Approximately 22,500 other American veterans have been honorably discharged without receiving a benefit. The reason: Supposedly, they all suffer a personality disorder.

It is a disgrace that veterans who risked their life for their country are ill treated like Jeans Cruz. Is this how the American government reward its veterans?

source


[edit on 5-7-2010 by Mdv2]

Originally posted by Carseller4

Originally posted by yellowcard
A huge percentage of the homeless are war veterans.

23% is not a huge percentage.

delete

[edit on 5-7-2010 by john124]

Originally posted by Carseller4

Originally posted by yellowcard
A huge percentage of the homeless are war veterans.

23% is not a huge percentage.

I beg to differ with you, sir. 23% is in fact a very large percentage. That is almost a full quarter of the whole! 23% is a very large market share. Advertising campaigns DREAM of affecting such a percentage. If indeed, as your handle implies you are a carseller then you do realize this.

Originally posted by SLAYER69

War is hell and should be avoided at all costs.

If any of our readers are suffering from PTSD please follow the link provided below. Booze, Drugs and or going head on in your car with a Semi-tractor trailer is not a way to deal with the issue.

I won't bother commenting on the whole "Puppet and War is Wonderful BullCrap"
Veterans Health Administration

Agreed.

For any Brit's going through this, contact any of these links below and you will get help.

www.veterans-uk.info...

www.combatstress.org.uk...

www.britishlegion.org.uk...

No matter what rank, what unit, what length of service, what you've been through....there is more help out there for you and your family than you may be aware.

If i could give one bit of advice for soldiers shying away from getting help, it would be to forget the macho attitude for a moment and let others help you...you've done enough for others, now let them be your leaning post for a while.

CX.

Originally posted by Carseller4

Originally posted by yellowcard
A huge percentage of the homeless are war veterans.

23% is not a huge percentage.

Considering the military makes up 1-2% of the population overall...you don't think that 23% of all homeless is a huge discrepancy? Uhm...that's a huge percentage. There are some statistics such as the murder rate among military veterans which is greatly exaggerated and below the mean of the population...but this is not. It is a well known fact that a vast number of the homeless are vets...

[edit on 5-7-2010 by yellowcard]

reply to post by Carseller4
23% of homeless war veterans is a lot when you consider only about 9% of American citizens are veterans.

(yahoo answers stated it was 9% )



[edit on 5-7-2010 by star in a jar]

[edit on 5-7-2010 by star in a jar]

Originally posted by Carseller4

Originally posted by yellowcard
A huge percentage of the homeless are war veterans.

23% is not a huge percentage.

You state this like it's a fact. Maybe you should have qualified it as your opinion. That's one of the biggest problems with people today, you can't tell a damned fact from an opinion, like so many people don't know what the difference is. "Huge" is not a scientific word, so there's your first "clue" that you are arguing opinions.

And I happen to disagree with your take, especially considering what has been posted above regarding total population in the military vs. total homeless population that are veterans. Nearly a quarter of the total is a pretty damned significant chunk.

Every vet knows the meaning of GI and for those that don't its Government Issue. Your a number a piece of meat, lubercation for the machine and after use, discarded and thrown out with the garbage. The military will use you, abuse you and leave no part untouched.

With 23% being homeless, that is unacceptable along with refusing to treat returning vets. However I'm well aware of how the vet is treated (26 years USAF retired). Its beyond words what the US does to its vets. You would think that they would be proud of their service but thats not the case. The only way its ever going to change is that it requires a total change from the top and thats not going to happen.


[edit on 7/5/2010 by pstrron]

Originally posted by Carseller4


23% is not a huge percentage.

Hmmm, well now, if I came to you and said that you should give me 23% of your salary, would you think that was a lot? How about 23% interest in your home, vehicle, or hey, how about 23% of everything you've got?

Would you think 23% was a lot then?

The fact that there are homeless people in the US at all is horrible. The fact that 23% of them are people who have served their nation, is criminal!

In the US drug companies are no longer allowed to just tout their products without also indicating the possible side effects and hazards associated with using their product. Sometimes the commercials spend more time on the lengthy dangers than the benefits.

That is as it should be.

The military should also be held to those same standards. When they put up glossy adds or commercials they should also be required to state the risks. They should show pictures of vets with PTSD, on poverty row, in jails and mental hospitals. They should show the faces of kids killed.

Of course they won't do this. The war machine is too big, too vast, too powerful, and the politicians totally in their pocket.

Originally posted by wayno
In the US drug companies are no longer allowed to just tout their products without also indicating the possible side effects and hazards associated with using their product. Sometimes the commercials spend more time on the lengthy dangers than the benefits.

That is as it should be.

The military should also be held to those same standards. When they put up glossy adds or commercials they should also be required to state the risks. They should show pictures of vets with PTSD, on poverty row, in jails and mental hospitals. They should show the faces of kids killed.

Of course they won't do this. The war machine is too big, too vast, too powerful, and the politicians totally in their pocket.

I'll have to disagree with you...when you join the military, you should know full well that you could end up getting shot at and will be required to kill. Too many people joined in the past just expecting a free scholarship and a sharpened up resume...that's not the fault of the military. It has nothing to do with the "war machine," in fact the many years of peace and low deployment pushed many people into the military who never expected deployment (prior it was draftees). So again, that's not the fault of the military's marketing, this is a 100% volunteer military now...no one is forcing anyone to join. People know full-well what they are getting into, this coming from someone who is in a military family.

[edit on 6-7-2010 by yellowcard]

reply to post by yellowcard


Nope. I think you prove my point. People are indeed ignorant of what they are getting into. Their ignorance is supported by the outright lies the military recruiters espouse in their adds and programs.

People should be given the truth before they make their decision to "volunteer". Of course, if they really knew what was in store for them you would most likely have to resort to the draft, with only a few bloodthirsty individuals eager to take part voluntarily.

Originally posted by wayno
reply to post by yellowcard

 

Nope. I think you prove my point. People are indeed ignorant of what they are getting into. Their ignorance is supported by the outright lies the military recruiters espouse in their adds and programs.

People should be given the truth before they make their decision to "volunteer". Of course, if they really knew what was in store for them you would most likely have to resort to the draft, with only a few bloodthirsty individuals eager to take part voluntarily.

They knew what they were getting into, they just never imagined they'd be deployed. Two totally different things, that's why you have people trying to get out of their contracts...it has nothing to do with them not having known what they were getting into only that the free ride is over and it's time to serve. My post didn't prove anything, I've witnessed deployment in my own family...they knew exactly what they were getting into. Under your logic people who work at McDonald's should be given warnings that it could lower their self esteem, strippers should get warnings that they may develop drug habits, business men should be warned that hey may become detached from their families because of their career. Total crap. The military doesn't put you through psych training, counseling, basic, OCS, etc for no reason. The military's main mission is to train you for war, physically and mentally...advertisements are not the guts of the military's mission any more than an Xbox advertisement where the wall of your room gets blown out because the game comes to life...shows what an Xbox is like...it's an advertisement. Perhaps before knocking the military you should ask someone who's been in it. The recruiter tells you you'll get a position if you want it, which is always false...you could complain about that, but not that the military seeks to show that this is a blood sport and is going to be tons of fun.

[edit on 7-7-2010 by yellowcard]

Originally posted by SLAYER69

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
As tragic and heartbreaking as this story is, more of these types of accounts need to be brought to light, so that the masses can step out of the gov, M.I.C.'s, mega-corp and mainstream media puppet's brainwashing of how 'patriotic' and wonderful war is....

War is hell and should be avoided at all costs.

If any of our readers are suffering from PTSD please follow the link provided below. Booze, Drugs and or going head on in your car with a Semi-tractor trailer is not a way to deal with the issue.

I won't bother commenting on the whole "Puppet and War is Wonderful BullCrap"
Veterans Health Administration

War is hell indeed and should be avoided at all costs, yes so very true God bless our Veterans.
Bump for important information.