Thursday, December 20, 2007

Is The Military Neglecting PTSD Troops?

Is The Military Neglecting PTSD Troops?
Veterans' Advocates Say Ignoring Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Is A Military-Wide Problem

WASHINGTON, Dec. 20, 2007

(CBS) Army Spc. Shawn Saunders was proud of his first two tours in Iraq. But midway through his third tour - he snapped.

"If I hear loud noises, I get, I'm real, real jumpy,” Saunders told CBS News correspondent Kimberly Dozier. “I get paranoid."

"Distraught, lost, confused..." is how Saunders’ father characterizes his behavior.

His parents say his breaking point was watching his best friend die while guarding a checkpoint.

"He kept saying, it should have been me, it should have been me," said his mother, Pam Wilson.

Texas medic Taylor Burke took Saunders’ turn, and the car blew up.

"When he passed, it was like a part of me that's left me, and I haven't been the same since," Saunders said.

During home leave from Iraq, Shawn talked of suicide.
go here for the rest
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/12/20/eveningnews/main3637097.shtml

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