Father and son, both veterans, share insights on service-related stress

Father, Son Share Insights On Service-related Stress
Australia TO - Sydney,NSW,Australia
Written by Linda Hosek
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2009 - Rich Glasgow and his son, Robert, served in different military services at different times, but they know what it's like to deal with the same psychological enemy. And both have recommendations for the military.

Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer 4 Rich Glasgow directed search and recovery operations out of New York in the 1990s, overseeing boating accidents, airplane crashes and even Fourth of July events. But the post he really wanted was commanding officer of Station Golden Gate in San Francisco, not for its beauty, but for a grim reality.

"It was known throughout the Coast Guard as the station where you pick up bodies," he said, referring to people who commit suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. "I was going to figure out the trend."

Glasgow got that job in 2000. But as he immersed himself in efforts to lessen the number of suicides and ease the burden on his Coast Guard crew, he began his own psychological struggle against post-traumatic stress disorder, an anxiety disorder caused by witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event.

"I thought I was prepared," Glasgow said, but the vivid sights and sounds of people falling and hitting the water replayed over and over in his mind and affected his behavior.

Glasgow, now a civilian, came to see that his son, Robert, a high school graduate who enlisted in the Marines before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, also was afflicted with PTSD.

"This was a kid, just a loving kid who'd do anything to please people," Glasgow said.

Cpl. Robert Glasgow was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division's 1st Battalion, 8th Regiment, serving as a rifleman in the infantry. He was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and fought in Fallujah in Operation Phantom Fury, a U.S.-Iraqi military offensive that involved intense urban combat.

"It was up-front and in-your-face action," he said of the operation that lasted for weeks.

Based on his own experiences, Rich Glasgow said he saw numerous signs of PTSD in his son when he was out on leave and after he left the Marines in 2005.

"There was sleeplessness, active aggression and zero tolerance for the Arab community," he said.

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