Healing Combat Trauma

43,000 Troops Found "Unfit to Serve": Non-Deployable but Sent Anyway?!

Several weeks ago I watched a wonderful Bill Moyers interview on PBS with Oliver Stone, noted filmmaker and Vietnam veteran. The whole interview was great, but a figure Moyers used at the beginning was just stunning -- for the implications it has for soldiers with PTSD and their families.

Moyers said:

"...I read a report based on military records which revealed that from 2003 to 2008 some 43,000 troops had been sent to Iraq and Afghanistan despite having been classified as "non-deployable" for medical reasons. In plain English, they weren't healthy enough to go, but were sent, anyway."

Yowser. It's hard to imagine a circumstance in which being considered unfit to serve for medical reasons, and being deployed anyway, improves your situation. It sounds like all it would do is reinforce the difficulties you were already having, or pile more trauma on top of the pre-existing trauma.

Additionally, troops who have fought in Iraq, when they're deployed next to Afghanistan, find that to be a completely different experience. So Afghanistan for them isn't "more of the same," it's new and different, with all the challenges that implies.

(See news report from November 29, 2009, entitled "Afghanistan, Iraq: Different Wars -- U.S. Soldiers: Afghanistan War Dramatically More Difficult, Challenging Than Iraq," linked here.)

Editor's Note: For the link to Bill Moyer's Journal and his excellent interview with Oliver Stone, shown on December 4, 2009, click here.)

The Good Work of Elmo: Sesame Street Special Supports Military Families

In celebration of April being "Military Family Month," the venerable public television institution Sesame Street rolled out a half-hour special called "Coming Home: Military Families Cope With Change," which they consider one of their most important efforts in a 40-year history.  The show features Queen Latifah,
who mentions on the show that she was raised by a Vietnam veteran with PTSD, who later got help; plus John Mayer and Elmo.

According to press material, "This half-hour special tells stories of service members who return home with injuries, visible and invisible, and explores the heroic struggles their families face in discovering a new way of finding a new normal. It salutes the extraordinary courage and strength of these military families and offers the general public a powerful glimpse into what they often must endure. The special will air on PBS on April 1, 2009 at 8PM (check local listings)." For more information about the program, click here.  To see videos about the behind the scenes making of the special, choose either one of the following links:Behind the Scenes, I and Behind the Scenes, II.

Kudos to Sesame Street for taking on this important issue, in such a positive and accessible way.

Investigative Report on Desperate Troops with PTSD Who Go AWOL

Seattle's KOMO-4 television station broadcast an investigative report on the 11 o'clock news about local troops with active PTSD who chose to go AWOL because of concerns their PTSD was not being addressed.  For a link to the story, entitled "Shattered Soldiers Say There Was No Help When They Needed It," click here. It sounded better (as in, more interesting) than it actually was.  It's a brief segment, mentioning three soldiers, and focusing on one's case who may or may not have PTSD.  The other soldiers, whose stories are less dramatic, do seem to have PTSD.  Hmmmn. This might be a case of a story that could have been more effective as a national story than as a local one, in part because there could have been more individuals covered, across a broader spectrum of people.  Maybe that will happen. 

Kanye West and MTV Share the Glow - And Help Some Struggling Veterans

"Dedicate some of your life to others.  Your dedication will not be a sacrifice.  It will be an exhilarating experience because it is an intense effort applied toward a meaningful end." -- Dr. Thomas Dooley

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Wow -- just wow.  It is thrilling to be here and watch this happening.  I hope it's even half as good as it looks, but it looks very, very good -- even wonderful.  Superstar entertainer Kanye West and MTV, along with MTV host Sway Calloway, team up to address with truth and candor some of the needs of hurting OEF/OIF veterans with PTSD today, in real time, while it's still happening - and it's possible to do something constructive about it. How cool is that?!

The MTV documentary special titled 'Choose or Lose & Kanye West Present: Homecoming,' will air this Monday night, July 28 at 10 p.m.  It seems like a "Don't Miss" piece of "appointment television."  (Be sure to watch the video linked below -- it's well done and, in places, riveting -- thanks to the vets themselves, and Kanye's candor and concern, which are clearly genuine.)

According to the article on AOL Music's website, linked here:

"The stories of the veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are important and worth telling." MTV's Executive Vice President of News Dave Sirulnick said, saying that the network and West "felt it was time to listen to them and show them the same interest by giving something back."

This is just GREAT.

Sure he's gonna give them stuff -- sort of Oprah-like in that regard -- and help them get back on their feet -- and that's wonderful (though some might argue they shouldn't be in the position of needing to be rescued, anyway -- we should be taking better care of veterans as a country, and as a military.)  But it's not the handout or the hand up that's so impressive here: it's the veterans, it's MTV, and its Kanye.

The veterans have great stories to tell, and you want to see them succeed.  MTV deserves props for putting their resources behind getting this show made.  And Kanye, well, he impresses. He talks to survivors like another survivor, with warmth, empathy, care and concern - and you can tell the veterans feel, equally importantly, helped AND heard. 

"I've had a lot of struggles in my life this year," he says to one of them (I'm paraphrasing), and continues, "I know you have, too."  "I came here to encourage you and do something about your problems," he adds in another section (again, my paraphrase); "but you've encouraged me," he says to the vet, "you've inspired me to be a better person, and make better decisions."  This is good stuff, and has so much power to heal.  (The old Paul Tillich line we've blogged about here before: "The first duty of love is to listen.")

Well, and if you're a celebrity, it's phenomenal, and surprisingly (shockingly?!) rare, to actually use your public persona and clout (plus cash!) for good.  For years, among women celebrities at least, Oprah has been a rare and shining light of socially-conscious giving that calls others higher, but few seem to follow.  And socially-conscious giving as opposed to a welfare-y handout or cash prize for having a desperate situation, riddled with plugs from sponsors.  From her "Remembering Your Spirit" segments from the 1990s to Oprah's Angel Network and beyond, she has set such a good example of digging down deeply into the difficult, troubling areas, and bringing up something that has the potential for catharsis -- in the subject, and often the viewer as well. 

Is Kanye following Oprah on this path?  For the extent of this documentary special, if nothing else, he seems to be -- and that in itself is fantastic, and refreshing. Converting pain into breakthroughs and overcoming adversity with help and courage -- wow -- who wouldn't be a fan of that?  I certainly am.  It's both a generous, and an inclusive, gesture, that draws the viewer in.

Even the title, "Homecoming," is well-chosen.  You can see from reading Pat's story yesterday, linked here, that "homecoming" isn't always what it's cracked up to be. The pain from his, gone wrong, has followed him for decades -- and his story is typical. Homecoming is the celebration that starts a veteran's transition back into the community he left.  It can go well or badly: he or she can be embraced, neglected, or shunned.  It sets the pace for the decades afterward and we can see from a story like Pat's what happens when it goes horribly wrong. 

But the word, "homecoming" SHOULD mean, "Welcome Back!" "We're thrilled to have you; we're very glad you're home."  "Thank you for coming back to us; let us help you to be whole."  What does the (erm) Good Book say? "Bind up the wounded" -- and not with needless bureaucracy and red tape, but with warmth and love, care and concern.  Will Kanye and MTV, even with their great resources, be accomplishing all that?  Nah, but they're making an impressive start.  Kudos to Kanye for using his celebrity for good, in a very tough (his mom's unexpected death) and very successful (his "Glow in the Dark" tour, which has been eclipsing all expectations) year.  And heartfelt thanks to him and MTV for not forgetting veterans.

[Editor's note: Kanye West's foundation in honor of his mother, Dr. Donda C. West, is linked here.  It does not, however (at least not yet) contain information about this veterans effort with MTV.]

<p>&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/" target="_blank"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Kanye West and Choose Or Lose Presents: Homecoming&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</p> <p>&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/" target="_blank"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Kanye West and Choose Or Lose Presents: Homecoming&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;</p>

Kanye West and Choose Or Lose Presents: Homecoming

CNN This Weekend - A Special Report on the Broken-Down VA System

(Yikes.  The bad press continues...)  On CNN this weekend, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, takes a look at the VA and how it's treating returning veterans.  Here's what CNN has to say about the series, from its site:

Broken Government

Meet Iraq war heroes who barely escaped death, sacrificed limbs and then came home to a broken bureaucracy that let them down. Marine Sgt. Ty Ziegel, Army Maj. Tammy Duckworth, and Army Sgt. Garrett Anderson share the intimate details of their survival on the battlefield, and the war they would end up fighting on their soil. CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigates the shocking reality of what happens to so many wounded warriors once they return from the battlefront in Waging War on the V.A.

Watch this Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET.

•A family of warriors
•Iraq War Vet Let Down by V.A.
•The price of war

Empathy versus Sympathy

It was interesting to read in Kimberly Dozier's story on NPR recently, one comment that she made about empathy versus sympathy.  We've talked about that before on this blog, somewhat obliquely; and it was nice to hear the same sentiment expressed by another.  Dozier, you'll remember, is the CBS news reporter who was seriously injured in a car bomb explosion in Iraq.  She recently published an op-ed piece in the Washington Post, simply entitled, "War's Wounds Need More Study," a topic she could speak about from intimate experience.  In the question and answer session that followed, here's one interesting snippet of what she had to say::

On a personal note, I hate sympathy, thanks, and so do the injured troops I've met. Makes my stomach turn. Empathy is welcome, however, and appropriate for anyone injured in that conflict, whatever any of us think about ...it....

(Click here to read the NPR story; or listen to the audio file.)

What is it about those two words that makes them so different?  Language arts teachers would probably say it has something to do with the difference between connotative and denotative meaning.  What the words literally mean is one thing -- denotative -- but it's the accretion of context that's changed them in our ears, so that when we hear them, we hear something different - perhaps the difference between compassion and pity?  "Sympathy" is basically, "I feel sorry for you," emphasis on "I" (the 'me').  Empathy has come to mean, "I'm sorry with you," emphasis on "you" (the 'other').  There really is a difference.  Some say, as Dozier's comment underscores, that it's a difference you can actually feel.

VA Budget is Overdue - But Veterans Healthcare Can't Wait

Watch the ad, sign the petition...to make sure veterans get the healthcare and services they need, including treatment for combat trauma and PTSD.  More background can be found at IAVA.org and IAVAAction.org.

PBS Show on Veterans & PTSD Tonight

PBS will air a show called "Veterans of PTSD" tonight, on "Now," with David Brancaccio -- familiar to many listeners of "Marketplace."  Streaming video will be available after the show airs.  Click for a link here.  You can also learn more about Matthew Zacchea, featured in the program, in this earlier article on PTSD and veterans, from US News & World Report last year.

About the show:

Bouts of fierce anger, depression, and anxiety that previous generations of soldiers described as "shell shock" or "combat/battle fatigue" now earn a clinical diagnosis: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. But the relatively new medical label doesn't guarantee soldiers will get the care they need. NOW looks at how America's newest crop of returning soldiers is coping with the emotional scars of war, and some new and innovative treatments for them.

In the show, we spent time with Iraq War veteran Michael Zacchea, a Marine lieutenant colonel who trained Iraqi troops and led them in the battle of Fallujah. Haunted by the violence he saw there, Zacchea and other soldiers diagnosed with PTSD now face what could be a lifelong struggle to leave the horrors of war behind and reclaim their once-peaceful lives.

In a side note: do you notice how much of the decent reportage on PTSD and combat trauma -- indeed, on veterans issues in general -- is coming from listener-supported public radio and television?  While bloggers and others complain about what the mainstream media does and doesn't cover, I hope someone is paying attention to this trend -- the good information is still out there, it's just a question of where you look.

Speaking of which, she said somewhat peevishly, we've been blogging about this topic for almost two years now -- well ahead of the current "surge" in popular interest.  That said, there can't be enough interest given to this topic, to help heal those who are struggling with it/suffering from it.  Though frankly this topic should have been on our minds since Vietnam -- or maybe the Civil War, where it also was an issue.  And undoubtedly since combat began.

Watch HBO's "Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq"

BTW, now that HBO has shown its excellent special, "Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq," you can watch the entire film on its website.  Here's the link. 

Well-deserved props to HBO, James Gandolfini, and everyone involved for getting this vital story out there.  Realistically, the film shows nine or ten people's valuable stories -- but nine or ten out of the more than 27,000 military who have been injured in Afghanistan and Iraq, so far.  That's almost 30,000 people coming home and needing to cope with the massive adjustments to their lives, families, living accommodations, pride, and dreams for the future.  And it's just the beginning of the adjustments -- there's a long road ahead.  Let's hope we still are giving this topic the compassionate, effective treatment it deserves in another few years -- and from here on out as well.  The vets, and their families, deserve it.

"Alive Day Memories" on DVD in October

"Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq" -- the sure-to-be-spectacular HBO documentary, scheduled to show this Sunday evening at 10:30 p.m. -- is also scheduled to be released on DVD on October 23, 2007, according to Netflix.  Click this link to learn more about the documentary, and to read the stories of some of the individuals interviewed by James Gandolfini for the film.  Watch the entire ALIVE DAY MEMORIES special on HBO.com beginning Sunday, September 9 at 11:30pm, immediately following the premiere.  Read the interview with executive producer James Gandolfini here.