'Marlboro Man' Marine Describes Struggle With PTSD- ABC World News Tonight

[kpete]

'Marlboro Man' Marine Describes Struggle With PTSD

Marine Suffering From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Tells His Story

By JAKE TAPPER, ROXANNA SHERWOOD and KARIN WEINBERG
LONG FORK, Ky., April 13, 2006 -- - You may know him from the iconic photograph, showing the exasperation and grit of a U.S. Marine.

He is Lance Corp. James Blake Miller from Jonancy, Ky., holler -- a small valley between mountains -- in the eastern part of the state named after his great-great-great-grandparents, Joe and Nancy.

To many Americans, this picture of a young American fighter has become a symbol of what is right with the nation. That may be true, but the deep, psychological wounds Miller has sustained in Iraq make him a symbol of something else, too.

Miller suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, a condition he says the American people do not truly understand.

"I tried to explain to people that I was suffering from PTSD , and they were thinking that this guy is a head case," he said. "That's the reason that I am doing this."

more at:
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1838802&page=1&WNT=true

[Fridays Child]

1. NBC followed up on him a week or two ago. Here's a picture...

[kpete]

2. thanks....

[BrklynLiberal]

3. And this administration is cutting back on Veteran benefits.

[ismnotwasm]

5. Yup

I worked in long term care for a lot of years. We'd often get Vets from the local VA for rehab, from WW11 to the Vietnam war. Even then, it sometimes was a struggle to get Vets what they needed. Some of it was because the VA is a huge Bureaucracy, (I use to call it the monster)Sometimes it was because the money wasn't there.

I have little story I used to tell about how the VA rated disability. I'll make it real quick here. I had two patients, both with PTSD. One had benefits covered at 30%, despite his PTSD, because he tried, struggled, fought with his inner demons and managed to hold down a job and raise a family. When triggered, he had one of the worse episodes I've ever seen. The other also with PTSD, was at covered 100%, but had succumbed to drug and alcohol abuse, "worked" the system--even in his short rebab stay, it was apparent that he presented to the VA one way, and was a relatively healthy man during his stay with us.

Neither person was served well or had their needs fully addressed or attended to. I wasn't sure how I felt about PTSD before meeting these two. Watching my one patient (Covered at 30%) shaking, crying and nearly unable to speak for three days (among other things) made a believer out of me.

These men and woman are going to come home damaged, they're going to have to fight for coverage. They, like Vets before them are going to be denied as a matter of course, and are going to need advocates. My daughter, who just got out of the army, says the military is more sensitive to PTSD, but not enough is being done, and with budget cuts, the mental health of these Vets like the mental health of our nation is not going to be top priority. PTSD ruins lives. The whole thing makes me sick.

[BrklynLiberal]

9. There is SO MUCH MORE damage being done than the 2400 dead that

we know about. It is so heartbreaking. So many of the wounds are not visible to the eye. ;(
And yet, they are still cutting back on benefits after these men and women have put their lives on the line for this country.

[genie_weenie]

4. As if the * admin really cares in fact

the admin is unhappy with the number of wounded who don't die quietly back home after having been evac'd, because those deaths stop the drain on the DoD budget for healthcare and remove the daily reminders Americans are finally getting at the true cost of war. Not $'s but Blood, Sinew, Bone and Mind...

[janx]

6. I had an Iraq vet student who suffered from this.

It was a couple of years ago. He'd been on drugs for PTS for about a year and he was still messed up. He still had nightmares and his sleep patterns were irregular--far beyond his control.

Near the end of the semester, he improved to the point that he could write (a little) about some of his ordeals. He wrote a creative essay about the day his friend's foot got blown off. He's a good writer.

But he could not write about (and I would never encourage him to write about) his job of picking up dead bodies over there. He'd been assigned to do that, apparently, for months.

It was so great when he got better; he realized, though, that the PTS would ebb and flow for quite some time. Still, his appearance and behavior were so strikingly different at the beginning of the semester and at the end. I will never forget that Marine and have a copy of his essay saved in my files.

[ldf]

7. great several minute commercial

for marlboro.

:shrug:

[nonconformist]

8. K & R. nt

[Bozita]

10. Marlboro man's story continues on tonight's Nightline

[Neil Lisst]

11. I saw him on TV a few weeks back. It's a great lesson.

The lesson is that a photo is an image into which you can plug your ideas, fantasies, and realities. He was the image of the cool, battle hardened soldier.

But now comes reality. Life ever after. As he get older, he gets more regrets, he wrestles daily with his conscience.

This young man is going to take years to get it back together.

[chookie]

12. He's a good man

He's using his 15 minutes of fame to educate people about the ravages of PTSD on the military. I salute him.