PTSD:Widow says Army's screenings don't work

This is why I do what I do. This is why thousands of others do what they do. I'm not saying the people in charge care less or are careless but I am saying they will not open their eyes and know what they are doing is not working. I cover this all over the country and from other nations. While it's getting a little better, they are not replicating what is being done in the civilian world. Time for the DOD and the VA to get up to speed and fast.

Grassroots have sprung up all over the country because the government does not seem to hear very well about what these veterans need. They need support but first they have to understand what PTSD is. If you're thinking Battle Mind Training, forget about it. If it worked the suicide and attempted suicide rates would have gone down instead of up. They need to know what is normal with PTSD and what others are dealing with, not just in the military but in the civilian population as well. PTSD only knows trauma and doesn't really care what the cause of it was. The families need to know even more than the troops do, especially when it comes to the National Guars and Reservist families. They need to know what to look for, what the changes mean and when the warrior needs more help. Without them, you can prepare to bury a lot more after war. We already lose more after war than we do during it yet while we invest hundreds of billions of dollars on ways to kill the enemy, we don't even invest a fraction on defeating the enemy that comes home with them.

Every single military instillation should be holding information gatherings with the same kind of seriousness as they do when they are about to deploy the troops into Iraq and Afghanistan. Every single National Guards armory should do the same only call in the local officials to inform them as well. Every VFW, American Legion, DAV post needs to invest a lot of time in providing the information to their members but also open the doors to all veterans and their families to help them understand what this is and what can be done about it. The time has run out for excuses. It's been done! There are many places already doing something about this, but too many others are not even bothering and yes, I've run into too many of them myself. Ignorance is deadly for the veterans. Part of the mission of these posts was supposed to be about helping veterans and it's high time they got to work. Any need to wonder why with two military campaigns going on their memberships are down instead of up? Right here is the answer.


The DOD and VA need to also push religious groups into getting their leaders up to speed so the spiritual needs of the veterans and their families are being taken care of instead of being ignored. Ever try to talk to a pastor who spent his life living in a bubble instead of the real world? Try to get them to understand any of this as their eyes glaze over. It's not that they don't care but because they are unaware.

There will be many, many more dying when they come home unless all of us work together instead of against each other. Stop using what does not work as if it's better than nothing because if you were not doing it, you'd have plenty of time, energy and urgency to find something that will work.

Senior Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
www.youtube.com/NamGuardianAngel
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Widow says Army's screenings don't work
Kristin M. Hall
Monday, November 17, 2008


CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - On the outside, Spc. Carl McCoy seemed to be the perfect soldier, his personnel file highlighted with praise from his officers like "great man" and "could not have asked for a better mechanic."

But McCoy's personal life was unraveling after he returned from his second tour in Iraq in December. He was drinking so much that he often passed out. He was losing a custody battle with his ex-wife and was in marriage counseling with his new wife, who worried he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

McCoy, 23, took a hard step for a battle-tested soldier and made an appointment with a mental health counselor at Fort Campbell, Ky. At the last minute, his appointment was canceled because the counselor was sick. That night, McCoy put a gun in his mouth, pulled the trigger and died instantly at his home in Clarksville, Tenn.

An Army investigation into his July 11 suicide says McCoy's superiors didn't realize how much emotional pain he was in until it was too late. McCoy's family wonders why, when he did reach out, he didn't get better care from the Army, including the canceled appointment.

"I feel now that this was Carl's last cry for help, and his voice went unheard," Sgt. Maggie McCoy, his widow, said in a letter she sent to the Army inspector general and members of Congress asking for better mental health treatment for soldiers.
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