From Carissa Picard
In 2007, the DoD Mental Health Task Force recommended MEB/PEB for soldiers with PTSD/TBI versus disciplinary or other administrative action (when possible) in cases of misconduct as both injuries were known to cause what it identified as "disinhibitory" behavior. If senior leadership isn't going to honor those recommendations, how can we expect that of lower level leadership? And why hasn't Congress done anything about this yet?
Carissa is a good friend of mine and I'm very proud of what she's doing. I'll be joining here site soon to focus on PTSD. Right now I feel like Lisa Simpson on the Disney ride when she and Bart keep repeating "are we there yet" only to have Homer tell them "Yes, we've arrived at this exact spot at this very moment!"
We are not there yet but no one seems to be asking why we are not even close to being able to treat all the wounded with PTSD adequately enough that things like this do not happen any longer. What's it going to take? Three Generals not enough for them to wake up and understand what PTSD does? Think about that. Three Generals came out and said they had PTSD. Did the military try to end their careers too? When will the DOD stop treating them as if they are useless instead of wounded?
I posted yesterday about an Iraq veteran who had a limb amputated. He was treated, went through physical training, fitted with a prosthetic leg and he's right back with his troops. It's the same thing with PTSD. There are different levels of it and depending on the person, they can return to their units after they are treated properly. So why isn't this being done for them when the wound is PTSD? Why are they not given what they need without having to fight for it? Did they have to fight the DOD for a gun to train and deploy under orders? Who can expect them to get on with their lives after without the proper tools to do it with?
How many more years do they need to get any of this right and why aren't we there already?
PTSD victim booted for 'misconduct'
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jan 7, 2009 12:55:53 EST
After serving two tours in Iraq — tours filled with killing enemy combatants and watching close friends die — Sgt. Adam Boyle, 27, returned home expecting the Army to take care of him.
Instead, service member advocates and Boyle's mother say his chain of command in the 3rd Psychological Operations Battalion at Fort Bragg, N.C., worked to end his military career at the first sign of weakness.
In October, a medical evaluation board physician at Bragg recommended that Boyle go through the military disability retirement process for chronic post-traumatic stress disorder — which is supposed to automatically earn him at least a 50 percent disability retirement rating — as well as for chronic headaches. The doctor also diagnosed Boyle with alcohol abuse and said he was probably missing formations due to the medications doctors put him on to treat his PTSD.
But in December, Lt. Gen. John Mulholland, commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, signed an order forcing Boyle out on an administrative discharge for a "pattern of misconduct," and ordering that the soldier pay back his re-enlistment bonus.
Last year, after a number of troops diagnosed with PTSD were administratively forced out for "personality disorders" following combat deployments, the Defense Department changed its rules: The pertinent service surgeon general now must sign off on any personality-disorder discharge if a service member has been diagnosed with PTSD.
"Not even a year later, they're pushing them out administratively for 'pattern of misconduct,' " said Carissa Picard, an attorney and founder of Military Spouses for Change, a group created in response to the personality-disorder cases. "I'm so angry. We're seeing it all the time. And it's for petty stuff."
In Boyle's case, according to Picard and Boyle's mother, Laura Curtiss, the soldier had gotten in trouble for missing morning formations and for alcohol-related incidents such as fighting and public drunkenness.
"The whole thing is absurd to me," Picard said. "They acknowledge that PTSD causes misconduct, and then they boot them out for misconduct."
FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE, click link
I can answer that question NO. I am the step mother of Brian Wothers( veteran who committed murder and found not guilty because of PTSD he suffers from his time served in IRAQ). He is now sitting in a state Hospital and the VA still denies his claim of PTSD how absurd is that? I have completed writting a book about the tragic event and the aftermath. I am feverishly searching for a editor ( yet to find one to pick it up). I despartly want to get the word out about PTSD and the lack of treatment for our military.I don't want another family to suffer needlessly. If any one can help email Eileenwothers@hotmail.com
ReplyDeletehttp://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/01/military_ptsd_discharge_010709w/
ReplyDeleteMy son, SGT Adam Boyle, is the soldier in the story. This has been devastating for him and our family. All Adam has ever dreamed of since 9th grade in high school JROTC (four years, three as an officer) is the Army as a career. It was painful enough to have to give up that dream and Adam has felt so much shame in feeling he let his country down and the Army and now to do this to him.
Those who are being treated the worst are the most loyal and don't come close to believing the military would let them down this way. Adam, after over 8 years in the Army, 4 years of JROTC and 2 tours in Iraq does even come close to knowing how to live in a civilian world. Now he's kicked out on his own, no money, no benefits and even his last paycheck and leave pay (over 60 days) has been taken away. Including the little bit of counseling and meds they had him on to help keep some sanity is also gone.
Since his last tour in Iraq he's dealt with constant humiliation and harassment at the hands of those he respected most, even though he was diagnosed with chronic PTSD by their own military docs and recommended for immediate medical discharge (Honorable).
We are still in shock but we are also amazed at the support by the groups and people associated with Carissa Picard and Chuck Luther. Chuck is an Iraqi Freedom vet and wrongly diagnosed with pre-existing personality disorder after many years in the military, combat injuries, traumatic brain injury, PTSD, etc... and one of the subjects on a PBS documentary last summer. It was this documentary that lead us to them and also to the fact that this behavior by the military is horribly common.
We are so grateful to Carissa and Chuck and their never ending support, to an incredible attorney specializing in the military who is representing Adam pro bono and is outraged at what's been done to my son, our Vermont congressional offices, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Bernie Sanders, and Peter Welch and most of all I thank all of you for your support and wish your service members/veterans healing and happy lives.
Laura Curtiss ~ Very Proud Mom of SGT Adam Boyle - former 173rd Airborne Brigade (1st year of war in N Iraq 2003-2004) and just kicked out of 3rd Psychological Operations BN/Airborne of FT Bragg (2nd tour in Ramadi & Fallujah Iraq 2005-2006)
PBS Documentary:
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/424/index.html
http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/424/transcript.html
More on Carissa Picard, Chuck Luther and fight to save our service members and vets suffering combat injuries, and even worse from our own military:
http://fight-ptsd.org/Advocacy.html
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/2008/04/carissa-picard-totally-rock\s-says.html
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/01/military_ptsd_discharge_010709w/
http://www.bloggernews.net/119335
http://www.namguardianangel.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/2009/01/treating-ptsd-are-we-there-\yet.html
Hi Eileen,
ReplyDeleteAs bad as all this is now, it was a lot worse when the Vietnam veterans came home. While PTSD has been a wound since the start of recorded history and all generations have been wounded by the trauma they witness, it took the Vietnam veterans willing to fight to have it recognized as a wound of war and compensated for. The problem is, the DOD and VA has yet to catch up.
Too many still fall thru the cracks instead of being treated for PTSD. A lot of Vietnam vets ended up in jail instead of being treated. The good news is that judges are now more aware of what PTSD is and what it does. Veterans Courts are being set up across the nation so veterans like your son are not sent to jail instead of help.
My advice to you is to turn to the Disabled American Veterans for help with your son's claim. They are not connected to the government but they know all the rules and regulations. If anyone can help with the claim, it's the DAV.
The other thing is that if you want to take on this fight, you are in for a whole lot of heartache but I can assure you that you will meet some of the most fantastic people in this country. You'll be constantly amazed by these men and women. I've been doing it for 26 years and have not regretted a day of it. It's hard to do but if you understand what PTSD is and what it does, you'll realize the pain they have far exceeds whatever you go through fighting for them.
I'll be praying for you and your son. If you need any advice in the future, please don't hesitate to ask.
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry you and your family are going thru all of this. Your battle must be very hard. I can assure you that you couldn't ask for a better advocate to take on the fight for your son other than Carissa. I know her well and I know her brilliance as well as dedication to those who serve this nation. She will fight tirelessly for your son as if he were her own.
Your son's story being in the national spotlight is a good thing. The pressure will be on the military to do the right thing as they have had a history of finally doing because of public pressure to do it. In a perfect world, they would automatically honor the men and women serving, but we all know the military is anything but perfect. Even though three generals have recently come out publicly about being wounded by PTSD, some in command positions are like dinosaurs unable and unwilling to learn anything. Lt. Gen. John Mulholland will be regarded as a narrow minded, uneducated fool instead of respected if he fails to do the right thing. Your son has no shame to carry, but Mulholland should be fully ashamed of himself. PTSD is a wound of the soul and comes with a host of issues that are all connected. If Mulholland bothered to become aware of any of this for the sake of the men and women in his command this never would have happened. It's been documented throughout recorded history.
Just since Vietnam when the term was first used, in 1978 there were 500,000 Vietnam veterans with PTSD. He's had over 30 years to learn something about it but he must have never bothered to learn anything. Now he'll have to either face the wrath of the American people or finally redeem himself in the eyes of his troops and peers.
Thank you Kathie,
ReplyDeleteDue to my son's father I've been involved with Vietnam and other vet issues for most of Adam's life as my former husband is an in country Vietnam vet who still suffers many injuries. I also have worked closely with all the vet orgs and service offices due to both working on a volunteer level and professionally overseeing state level veterans benefits programs for the state up until two years ago. I just never in my lifetime thought I'd be advocating on my son's behalf and that our country would repeat these autrocities that were carried out during and after the Vietnam War. I don't know how many times I've talked to my son, his father and other vets and foolishly said that we will never go back to that mentality and that we at least learned something from that time, to take care of our soldiers and vets. Thank you again. And to Eileen, I pray for your step son and family and hope that somehow what he's going through wakes up this country and stops this from happening again. Laura
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteThis country needs more people like you and Eileen. The rest of the country goes about their own lives, focus on their own problems and needs, pick up a flag once or twice a year, repeat the words "support the troops" and then forget all about them after. We are a nation of over 300 million people but we can't manage to take care of 24 million veterans. That's deplorable. We wouldn't retain this nation if it were not for them.
I remember the protests going on across the country. I have friends on both sides and support their views because both sides had their hearts in the right place. They took the time to do what they thought was right for the sake of the men and women serving. They had their own family members serving on both sides. All the hours they spent marching thru the streets could not do what was really vital and urgent. The urgency was to march thru the streets and demand the government take care of all of them. No matter what anyone did or said, the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan could not end swiftly but we had the wounded suffering and their needs could have been addressed yesterday if only these same people found it worth their time to take to the streets and demand it. No one did. I figured that they at least agreed on taking care of the troops and should have come together on this one issue, but ego got in the way and no one wanted to join forces for the sake of the wounded. Pretty telling about what is important to both sides and what is not.
So sons like your's and Eileen's come home wondering what they did wrong because they had to suffer for serving. They fought the battles this nation sent them to fight and then forced them to fight the nation because they did what was asked of them. There is a quote from Washington I use at the bottom of all my emails. Too bad Washington knew what was right but far too few presidents ever considered it.
"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
Thankyou so much for the support.My family and I are healing slowely and I am grateful that we can. PTSD takes away our loved ones and sometimes no matter how hard they fight to return to us that may never happen. We had turned to the DVA in the begining of Brians troubled and the VA and we could not get the help he despartly needed.I believe it was high priced Lawyers and a Sympathetic Judge who saw the truth. That is why Brian is in a Mental hospital. we are trying to get him in the veterans to get treatment for his PTSD ( they don't have the treatment he needs. We are still getting a hugh amount of resistance. I am sorry today I trusted others instead of my Gut I may saved a inocent life. I can not go back and be bitter. I felt very much alone but it through my faith in God and my own suffering that inspired me to tell my families story. I may not be able to help those in the past but I certainly have the ability to in the present.Men and Women put thier lives in danger for me. I am obligated to try and help them. I have a story that needs to be told and I will continue to fight to get it published if it takes me a life time.
ReplyDeleteHi Laura and Chaplin Katie. I know I can rant and Rave forever but that is what gets attention. We have another lawyer fighting to get Brian his benifits and I know we will be ok. My heart goes out to all those who will suffer needlessly in the future including the cilvalians who will suffer. The ripple effects from one veteran who goes untreated for the unseen wounds spreads far and wide.The silence must be broken,I am amazed how many people are unaware ( I was one).I suffered also as a child my father was a WWII vet and today I understand. The blinders must be lifted and I can help. I prayed for direction and guidance and I am here- First time blogging. There are no mistakes, I just continue to trust.Bless you all for being here.
ReplyDeleteHi Eileen,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry the DAV didn't get him the help he needed. Usually they get the job done.
Outside of the VA, there are a couple of groups that may be able to help him. Give An Hour is a group of psychologist and psychiatrists formed across the country offering free help to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. I'm a member but not a therapist. My job is education and I help when I can online as a Chaplain. Go to www.givenanhour.org. They may have someone in your area. Another group I'm a member of is National Alliance on Mental Illness. www.nami.org. If there is a group in your area, they have people that can help as well.
Keep fighting the VA for the help and compensation your son earned. He wouldn't be wounded if he did not do his part of the deal and the government needs to step up to fulfill their end of it. You can also email me if you talk in private at namguardianangel@aol.com
By the way, you're not ranting. You need help.
From my experience with the federal VA, which has been good here, it's the nature of being no different then any other federal institution. when applying for disability the vet almost always seems to get turned down initially and why it's so important to have representation, such as the DAV, VFW, American Legion or VVA. But, the nationally certified service officer(s) working for these orgs are not always necessarily good at what they do, not unlike some attorneys, and like attorneys they represent our vets legally in gaining the VA benefits so need to have a very good understanding of the extremely complicated VA system and the politics involved. This is now, so many cannot imagine what it was like when the VA was not so good and the Vietnam vets were treated like trash.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to say but it's now due to Iraqi Freedom that a lot of prior war era vets are coming out and asking for assistance and benefits because they see a difference but there are so many who won't even leave their homes and most likely will die alone due to the pain and fear they suffer from PTSD and whatever other demons that have attached themselves since they served in combat.
About five years ago we had state representative call my office when I worked for the state level veterans affairs office due to a Vietnam vet in his community who he was very concerned about (every state has a state level providing state level benefits and to assist vets in referral to the federal VA). This Vietnam vet had only one leg (combat injury), lived in a broken down camper with no electricity or heat, and donations of food from the locals of the town who would drop off food and other items for him to survive. He was so traumatized he would not leave the camper and behaved like a dog that had been beaten so many times you couldn't get near him. This state rep managed over time to very carefully visit this vet and talk softly and approach him in a manner that he was one of the very few who he trusted. The state rep called because he hoped the vet could get help from the VA and really did not understand what was available, all he knew was that the vet came home from Vietnam, with one leg, was treated and booted out of the system with no benefits (one leg). After my boss talked to the state rep he was told to bring the vet down and we'd arrange to get one of the best service officers for him to meet in our office (VFW at the time, though later our state legislature approved a state level service officer and now the office has two great state level officers along with the VFW, DAV, etc..). The state rep explained how traumatized this poor vet was and that he even wondered if he could get the vet into his car, much less get him to the office and have to deal with other people. We contacted the VFW service officer, who is a Vietnam vet and he directed us to tell the state rep to bring the vet to our office if he's able and have everyone leave the office but me due to being female and soft spoken.
The day of the appointment my boss and other staff went outside of the main office while I sat in my bosses small office and waited at his desk. Shortly after the state rep came in with the vet, who hobbled in with a cane and help from the rep due to having one leg. He looked like he hadn't eaten in years, long hair and beard, torn and dirty clothes and the look on his face reminded me of a small and terrified child. I've been involved with veterans issues due to my former husband for years but it was this face and this experience that made me realize I'll work for vets until the day I die (though again never thought my son would be one of them). I started talking to the vet very softly, just chit-chat, and over a short period of time he began to respond. What a feeling that was. Eventually the VFW service officer came in and due to his long experience with vets like this he was able to get his trust as well.
The end of this story is that the federal VA took care of this veteran because the service officer did his job. The vet was given funds, both state and federal to cover rent in a home equipped for the disabled, a healthy monthly disability pension, and more. Other then what he received I have no idea how this vet is doing, other then the fact that at least he's living better then he was before and I'm so grateful for the state rep and our VFW service officer for this, and our VA system. However, this vet will never, ever be a whole person and this is what so many don't get. It's hard enough to have to fight the system if you're healthy but to take someone who can't fight at all, like Brian and Adam, it's almost impossible for them to fight without help. I'm sorry I'm going on and on here but this is not a new issue and it breaks my heat that it's still happening and that so many don't get how devastating PTSD is, to both the vet and those around him/her. Far too many homeless we see on the street everyday are these same vets and now we're adding to this population all over again. I have other stories, maybe not quite as dramatic but close enough concerning our current era vets and this is partially why I'm so angry that my son is part of this pathetic repeat of the past. Thank you Chaplain Kathie for your continued support of our vets and my continued prayers and thoughts to Brian and your family Eileen. Laura
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteThat is a wonderful story of the system finally doing something right. Once a veteran has a claim approved, the VA workers can't do enough for the veterans. It's great once they are in but torture getting there.
When my husband's claim was tied up, the six year battle nearly ended him. He ran out of hope. I had a relationship with his doctors and the DAV by then and kept things going behind his back. I couldn't keep telling him to find hope when the result was like a knife in his back. I only had to tell him a tiny bit of what I was doing when he had to fill out some paperwork.
During that time a VA doctor told us that for every 10 claims filed, 8 drop out of the system because of the frustration. Most claims were turned down the first go around. Sadly there have been reports this is still happening.
What would it have taken the VA to make sure that when they came home from Vietnam, there was a service officer standing there waiting for them? They came home one by one to cities and towns across the nation. What would it take them now to have an army of service officers at bases when they come home now to make sure none of them fall thru the cracks? Lives are on the line along with whole families.
I know a lot of people with the DAV. My husband is a life member of the DAV and I'm a life member of the Auxiliary. They do a lot of good work but you're right about the service officers not doing their jobs. We had one that was absolutely wonderful. We also had one that accused my husband of falsifying his Bronze Star award because it had one number of his social security number typed wrong on the award. I told the service officer that if my husband was smart enough to fake the award, he'd be smart enough to use his right social security number. I complained to the head of that office with all the documentation of the Bronze Star in hand. We ended up with the wonderful service officer again and thanks to a General, the award records were fixed. His claim was finally approved.
Veterans should not be at the mercy of an adversarial system. There shouldn't have to be psychologist and psychiatrists donating their time to take care of the veterans the VA is not taking care of. The VA should have such a wonderful reputation of taking care of veterans that no veteran hesitates to go to them. This will never happen until people in charge and Congress making the rules puts veterans in a high priority just as they do when they need troops to wage war. It's even worse for the National Guards and Reservists.