Our view: Helping our heroes
Improved federal benefits mixed with state proposal can aid Florida vets
The latest numbers on Iraq and Afghanistan veterans needing help for mental-health problems show how extensive the crisis has become:
Mental illness -- including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression, and drug and alcohol dependency -- is now the second biggest injury for which new vets seek treatment with the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to USA Today.
Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans seeking treatment for PTSD jumped by 20,000, or almost 70 percent, in the 12 months ending June 30, the VA reported.
Total mental health cases among those war vets rose from 63,767 on June 30, 2006 to 100,580 a year later, a 58 percent jump.
Those figures don't reflect thousands of other new vets treated at storefront VA centers around the country, or active-duty personnel already diagnosed with PTSD.
PTSD sufferers, along with other wounded troops, can require lengthy and costly aid -- more than overwhelmed federal and state agencies can currently provide.
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This piece also said that the Brevard county veterans have teamed up with Massachusetts based Home For Our Troops to help a serverly wounded veteran. This is what is best about our veterans. They continue to serve their brothers and sisters!
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