Iraq Vet: "...he poured a gallon of camping fuel over himself, got into his car & started a fire"

[Hissyspit]

http://www.sanduskyregister.com/articles/2007/06/17/front/313912.txt

Vets' pain lingers long after war
By WAYNE BAKER | Sunday June 17 2007, 3:23am

Need for counseling grows; life after war ends in tragedy for two area veterans

Adam Kurczi and Phillip Cantu served their country proudly as members of the military. They also became part of a growing list of young men who suffer from depression or commit suicide following their tours of duty.

Cantu, of Sandusky, was 24 when he killed himself last year. The army sergeant was also a national hero as his military unit helped capture Saddam Hussein in December 2003.

- snip -

Kurczi had tours of duty in Korea and Iraq and, most recently, served in the National Guard with the HHC Brigade Combat Team out of Washington, Pa. He served for a year and a half in Iraq with the Signal Corps, deployed with Task Force Dragoon.

June 9, Kurczi drove to the home of his former wife's relatives to pay an unexpected visit during a bonfire. While there, he poured a gallon of camping fuel over himself, got into his car and started a fire. He died the next day.

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[SeattleGirl]

1. Oh God. This is happening far too much. The men and women

returning from Iraq and Afghanistan NEED HELP, damnit!!!

I was listening to a rebroadcast of The Air Americans on AAR today, and Senator Akaka from Hawaii (D) who is head of the Armed Services Committee, was on. He was talking about this very thing: PTSD. One of the things he said, which I know is true, is that initially, when military personnel come home after being in war, many of them seem fine, but sometimes up to a year later, they really start having problems with PTSD. He has worked on a bill to make the transition of care from the Defense Department to Veteran's Affairs smoother, so that these men and women do not fall through the cracks.

Here is some info on that.

http://akaka.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsArticles.Home&month=6&year=2007&release_id=1751

This is so very important. I hate it when I hear the argument that "They volunteered for duty". Well, duh, because we don't have a draft right now. But volunteering shouldn't mean that this country owes these men and women nothing. It doesn't matter if they volunteered. AND it doesn't matter, in many ways, what a person's view on war is. Those who volunteer, those who go and fight, deserve the physical and mental care they need when they come home.

I am disgusted and heartbroken when I read these stories. This SHOULD NOT BE HAPPENING! Anyone who thinks that they don't deserve the care they need doesn't support the troops, period.

Edited to add link.

[Hissyspit]

2. We had plenty of warning that this would happen. It was called "Vietnam."

Our soldiers did not volunteer to be lied to, used, abused and turned into cannon fodder. The "they volunteered" argument is fallacious.

Thanks for posting the link, SeattleGirl. :thumbsup:

[SeattleGirl]

3. You are welcome, Hissyspit.

And yes, we DID have plenty of warning about this. Goes to show how dangerous it is when the majority of people in power have absolutely no idea of what it is like to be in combat. Candy, flowers, and cakewalks are NOT what war is about. I have never served in the military, but even I know that!

The husband of a friend of my mom's did 3 tours in Vietnam (he volunteered for all three), and I learned at a very young age that what you did NOT do is approach this man from behind, without letting him know you were there. He came out of it relatively unscathed in comparison to what some others are and have been going through, but still, he had his "hot spots".

[BikeWriter]

4. 1981, I'd had enough of being angry, and of hurting others...

I totaled out a new Chevrolet I'd bought and went to jail for the gun in my boot I wore because I was paranoid the enemy would kill me if I were unarmed. How crazy is that?

[SeattleGirl]

5. How crazy is that? It's not "normal" crazy (pardon the contradiction).

You were in Vietnam, which can't have been easy to deal with.

I don't know if you ever watch the show "Criminal Minds", but this past season, they had a story about a missing man who was an Iraqi vet. He lost it one day when he was near a construction site that was really, really noisy. In his mind, he was back in Iraq, in the middle of a firefight. The team on the show, which usually tracks bad guys, figured out what was going on with him from his Army buddy, and tried to save him. He had been back in the states for awhile, and while his wife said she saw differences in him, he didn't get really bad until he was near the construction site. In the end, they killed him because he went after a kid on a bike with his gun. He was flashing back to having killed a kid in Iraq. Everyone was devastated about what happened, but they were afraid he was going to harm this kid (when in his mind, he was trying to save him).

Even though it's a fictional show, I "got it". I know that they were spotlighting the plight that so many military men and women go through after returning from a war theater.

It seems you are doing better now. I truly hope your life is good, BW. :hug:

[BikeWriter]

8. Thank you. It's not that I'm "doing better" my youngest Son is dead...

...He straightened out a mountain road in Alabama a year and a half ago, and my oldest Son has some issues. Their Mom was far from the most maternal nest for our Children, but I do share the responsibility. It's like our other thread says, "Hold someone accountable today!"

[Eurobabe]

6. Good god, this happened where I grew up!

In a tiny little town along Lake Erie. So sad and unnecessary, WTF is happening with the VA??

[SeattleGirl]

7. Check out the link in my response #1.

Sen. Akaka is trying to do something about the gap in care, thank God.

[Hissyspit]

9. .