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My name is unhappycamper and I live in ______. I served 9 years, 9 months and six days in the United States Army from 1963 to 1973. I was in Viet Nam 1967 ~ 1968, and then again from 1970 ~ 1971. During my time in Viet Nam, I saw Tet of ’68 up close and personal, and I was in the Cambodian invasion in April of 1970. I have two Army Commendation medals as well as two Bronze Stars. I have an honorable discharge from the Army.
I’ve also suffered with PTSD on and off over the years.
I’d like to talk a bit about some of the things our military is suffering from.
Ike Skeleton gave a talk House floor speech on July 25, 2007 talking about the depletion of the services. Some highlites:
” Today, nearly every combat brigade located with continental United States would report that they are not ready for duty. They are at the lowest levels of readiness.”
”Every non-deployed National Guard combat brigade in the Army is reporting at the lowest level of readiness..”
”40% of the Army’s ground equipment is deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.”
”The Army has lost over 1,000 wheeled vehicles, and over 100 armored vehicles and 100 helicopters since the start of the war on Iraq.”
”The recent supplemental funding resolution increased the installation budgets by $722 million but the Army is still short $530 million to meet minimum support levels through the remained of the fiscal year.”
Those are public statements. I have to ask myself: How much do congressmen and congresswomen know about Iraq? I strongly suspect that members of congress have an idea what’s going on, but you are reluctant or afraid to tell the American people how bad things really are.
I read the Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Corps Times, Stripes, and military.com daily, in addition to newspapers around the country.
On Sep. 27, Gen. George Casey made a speech in San Juan, Puerto Rico. From truthout:
Gen. George Casey – and others at the three day gathering that ended Monday – acknowledged that the Guard’s wider role puts unprecedented pressure on the lives, careers and relationships for troops once considered mostly weekend warriors.
On August 12 the Observer published an article titled” Fatigue cripples US Army in Iraq”.
I’d like to quote two paragraphs from that article:
The anecdotal evidence on the ground confirms what others – prominent among them General Colin Powell, the former US Secretary of State – have been insisting for months now; that the US Army is ‘almost broken’. Only a third of the regular Army’s brigades now qualify as combat ready. Officers educated at West Point academy are leaving in a rate not seen in 30 years, with the consequence that the US Army has a shortfall of 3,000 commissioned officers – and the problem is expected to worsen.
And it is not only the soldiers that are worn out. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have led to the destruction, or wearing out, of 40 per cent of the US Army’s equipment, totaling at a recent count of $212 billion.
Let’s take a closer look at the human side of this equation.
From the Army Times: On Oct 5, Spc. Ciara Dunkin of Quincy, MA was found with a single gunshot wound to the head in a secure area of the Baghram airfield on Sep. 26. The Army is investigating.
From stripes: On Sep 30, a command sergeant major in Ramadi banned canned air for soldiers E-6 and below to prevent huffing.
In Oct both the Army and the Navy Times announced bigger enlisted bonuses: $90K for some Navy specialties including all EOD, the Army is offering $35K for truck drivers with a $5K bonus if you join within 30 days.
On Oct 3rd, Channel 6 in Minneapolis reported that Minnesota National Guard troops, who have been “deployed longer than any other ground combat unit” have been denied education benefits because “the order for the guard unit were written for 729 days”. Had the order been written for 730 days, the soldiers would have received the education benefit.
On Sep 30, Stripes reported that a trial for a gang related death was underway in Germany:
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Of the 10 people implicated by an eyewitness in the 2005 beating death of Army Sgt. Juwan Johnson, only two have stood trial. A third faces a court-martial that begins this week.
When it comes to the health of our soldiers,
Sep 24 Army times: The USA Today newspaper reported that scientists say TBI from war is worse than thought.
Sep 25 McClatchy reported that 1 in 4 Gulf war veterans still have serious illnesses. Sixteen years after the end of the Gulf War, veterans from that war are dying in unprecedented numbers.
Sep 27 Marine Corps Times reported that the DoD needs 8 months to reform mental heath care.
The stories on how the Army is broken is common knowledge for those who are not glued to Britney and OJ. These stories are but a microcosm of the state of the health and readiness of our armed forces..
And we are putting this on our credit card while our men and women are dying.
Finally, on this subject, the US has killed an estimated 1,000,000 Iraqis. 4,000,000 Iraqis are refugees – 2,000,000 outside the country and another 2,000,000 inside the country.
2. Homelessness veterans – 300K per night
Last November, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s report on homelessness stated that “on the average, there are 978,000 homeless.” News reports (google it) tells us that somewhere between 200,000 ~ 300,000 of those homeless are veterans.
You see these vets in most major cities across the country. Almost 1/3 of the homeless population are veterans. Too bad veterans fall off the radar screen when they are no longer useful for war.
I recently heard that the Beford VA facility is ups for grabs. The homeless veterans who are sheltered there and the ill men and women who use the facility will most likely wind up on the streets.
Some other subjects:
3. PTSD – VA has over 400,000 disability cases pending
On Sep 26 the Marine Corp Times reported that the “VA still far off care goals. From that article:
The report found that even though the Army has touted creation of more personalized medical care units so that wounded veterans don’t slip through the cracks, nearly half — or 46 percent — of returning service members who were eligible did not get the service due to staffing shortages.
And despite months of review by no less than eight congressional committees, a presidential task force, a presidential commission and the Pentagon and VA itself, the government has no apparent solution for reducing severe delays of 177 days, on average, in providing disability payments.
4. Depleted uranium – almost 400,00 from GW I permanently disabled
Depleted uranium is the trojan horse that probably has the greatest impact on the long term survivability . Our government refuses to test soldiers for uranium poisoning. It continues to deny that depleted uranium is dangerous.
In my opinion, depleted uranium is Agent Orange on steroids.
5. Veteran’s care – VA, Walter Reed
6. Suicides –
In the Sep 28 issue of the Marine Corps Times, “Senate OKs vet’s suicide prevention bill”:
VA estimates more than 5,000 veterans commit suicide each year, according to Harkin’s office.
Suicides in the military are a) kept quite and b)increasing. Yet what passes for the mainstream media does not report the bad news.
7. Drug and alcohol abuses – Most of the drug and alcohol abuse are common for vets, and related to PTSD. We saw it in Viet Nam, and we see it in every war.
Stacy Bannerman once stated “A nation that does not take care of its veterans has got no business whatsoever making new ones."
If we were to look at veterans of other wars, we would see the same thing. I don’t think we have learned a damn thing.
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