I’m pretty sure if you’re the typical movie going American citizen, you have seen the award winning film, Forrest Gump. Lieutenant Dan, an unforgettable character, gets wounded from a battle deep within the jungles of Vietnam. Eventually it resulted in the loss of his legs. Over the course of the movie’s 142 minutes you saw the dramatic rise and fall of this character as he accepted and then refused a fate he didn’t deserve. What’s particularly sad is that Lt. Dan was a foreshadowing of a harsh reality facing returning troops from Iraq.
More and more, I hear stories of young adults around my age, 22, returning home from Iraq without limbs, with dependencies, suffering from PTS and the worst fate—death. We live in a country that claims to be #1, but we haven’t accepted responsibility for providing help to our modern day veterans.
In 2005, The Washington Post ran an article about a wounded veteran, Robert Loria, who returned from Iraq to find out that the government turned its back on him.
Loria had his hand blown off and could not walk as well. As pain increased significantly throughout his body the last thing that entered his mind was him owing money to the U.S. Army. He was hit with a $6,200 debt after putting his life on the line that would eventually alter his bodily functions forever. When The Washington Post looked into this situation, they found 331 soldiers also dealt with this problem. When military authority higher-ups were questioned, the only response they gave was a computer malfunction was messing up the debts (George, A01).
Along with financial problems and physical complications that arise from this war, some of the worse are long term psychological effects that remain untreated. Since the Vietnam conflict, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been a main concern and those who suffer from PTSD experience anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, flashbacks, wariness, and in extreme cases, suicide. One of these extreme cases is Marine Lance Cpl. James Jenkins.
Jenkins was a Marine who survived a fifty-five hour battle with the Mahdi militia in Najaf which would eventually mess him up. After returning home he couldn’t sleep for some time because of the hyper sensitive activity of the war and took up gambling which turned into a major problem and even bigger debts. Soon after Jenkins couldn’t function and would eventually take his life. The reason behind this terrible incident was the lack of medical assistance with PTSD (Dobie).
Everyday the news is awash with political jargon and pseudo promises of a better future for America. We’ve heard “change” and “hope” repeated like an old style vinyl record that’s been overplayed too many times. Yet one topic that hasn’t been touched upon enough in presidential debates is treatment of returning veterans. Why is it that these soldiers who are putting there lives on the line for a better world are being pushed aside?
Shouldn’t the current administration be concerned about offering assistance to men and women, to mothers and fathers, and most of all, to these kids? Maybe they should make sure that all returning veterans get the assistance they need whether it is mental, physical or financial.
Citations:
St. George, Donna. “For Injured U.S. Troops, ‘Financial Friendly Fire’.
Washington Post 14 Oct. 20005:A01.
Dobie, Kathy. “Denial in the Corps.” The Nation. 2008. Truthout Issues. 18 Feb. 2008
Matthew Gobbler '08
Wilkes University
Communications Studies
More and more, I hear stories of young adults around my age, 22, returning home from Iraq without limbs, with dependencies, suffering from PTS and the worst fate—death. We live in a country that claims to be #1, but we haven’t accepted responsibility for providing help to our modern day veterans.
In 2005, The Washington Post ran an article about a wounded veteran, Robert Loria, who returned from Iraq to find out that the government turned its back on him.
Loria had his hand blown off and could not walk as well. As pain increased significantly throughout his body the last thing that entered his mind was him owing money to the U.S. Army. He was hit with a $6,200 debt after putting his life on the line that would eventually alter his bodily functions forever. When The Washington Post looked into this situation, they found 331 soldiers also dealt with this problem. When military authority higher-ups were questioned, the only response they gave was a computer malfunction was messing up the debts (George, A01).
Along with financial problems and physical complications that arise from this war, some of the worse are long term psychological effects that remain untreated. Since the Vietnam conflict, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been a main concern and those who suffer from PTSD experience anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, flashbacks, wariness, and in extreme cases, suicide. One of these extreme cases is Marine Lance Cpl. James Jenkins.
Jenkins was a Marine who survived a fifty-five hour battle with the Mahdi militia in Najaf which would eventually mess him up. After returning home he couldn’t sleep for some time because of the hyper sensitive activity of the war and took up gambling which turned into a major problem and even bigger debts. Soon after Jenkins couldn’t function and would eventually take his life. The reason behind this terrible incident was the lack of medical assistance with PTSD (Dobie).
Everyday the news is awash with political jargon and pseudo promises of a better future for America. We’ve heard “change” and “hope” repeated like an old style vinyl record that’s been overplayed too many times. Yet one topic that hasn’t been touched upon enough in presidential debates is treatment of returning veterans. Why is it that these soldiers who are putting there lives on the line for a better world are being pushed aside?
Shouldn’t the current administration be concerned about offering assistance to men and women, to mothers and fathers, and most of all, to these kids? Maybe they should make sure that all returning veterans get the assistance they need whether it is mental, physical or financial.
Citations:
St. George, Donna. “For Injured U.S. Troops, ‘Financial Friendly Fire’.
Washington Post 14 Oct. 20005:A01.
Dobie, Kathy. “Denial in the Corps.” The Nation. 2008. Truthout Issues. 18 Feb. 2008
Matthew Gobbler '08
Wilkes University
Communications Studies
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