Coming home: The conclusion

Salon reporters Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna did a fantastic job on this series. When you read about the troops we've failed, consider that along with failing them, we also failed their families. We failed their friends. We failed their communities. We faced a problem that existed since the beginning of time but we shut our eyes, stuck our fingers in our ears and refused to speak. PTSD is not new nor is it a sudden conditioned faced only by Iraq and Afghanistan forces. We knew what would come but the government was allowed to ignore the warnings from history. Had we taken care of them as soon as symptoms of PTSD began, it would have saved lives, marriages and perhaps billions of dollars. Had they been treated in the beginning when PTSD was mild, it would have been stopped from getting worse. Much like an infection, PTSD stops getting worse as soon as it is treated. Could you imagine what was possible with the data we had on PTSD if they took any of this seriously in the beginning?

Coming home: The conclusion
Salon - USA

In the final article in Salon's series, we ask what President Obama will do about the rise of suicide and murder among U.S. soldiers returning from combat.
Editor's note: This is the conclusion to Salon's weeklong "Coming Home" series on preventable deaths at Fort Carson. You can read the introduction to the series here.

By Mark Benjamin and Michael de Yoanna


Feb. 14, 2009 | Two days after the election, the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, released a list of the 13 issues requiring "urgent attention and continuing oversight" from the new administration and Congress. Listen to any politician. Surf the Web. Open a newspaper. You can probably draw up a list yourself pretty quickly, given the recession, two wars and killer peanut butter.

After scanning the headlines, you probably would not jot down the first agenda item on the GAO list of issues "needing the attention of President-elect Obama and the 111th Congress." The first issue on their list: "Caring for Service Members."

Four years ago, Salon exposed inadequate mental healthcare at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, unraveling the first threads in what eventually became part of a national scandal. Today, the grind of multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan translates into scores of damaged soldiers coming home. The trend far outstrips the raft of good-sounding military programs -- seemingly invisible at some Army posts -- the Pentagon set up to help these desperate troops. Forget about moldy barracks or mouse droppings in the hallways. People are dying unnecessarily.

Over the past week, Salon has published a dozen stories and sidebars about the healthcare problems at just one Army post among the many Army installations worldwide, Fort Carson, Colo. Salon dug up 25 cases of suicide, prescription drug overdoses or murder involving Fort Carson-based soldiers since 2004. In-depth study of 10 of those cases exposed a string of preventable deaths. In most cases, deaths seemed avoidable if the Army better identified and then appropriately treated soldiers' combat stress or brain injuries from explosions. In others, the Army, under pressure to deploy more troops in Iraq, brought into the ranks mentally damaged soldiers and then sent them to war. After combat had exacerbated their preexisting problems, the Army set them loose on the streets with deadly consequences.

Untreated, combat stress can cause bad behavior -- insubordination, substance abuse, violent outbursts. The Army was quick to crack down on soldiers for misbehavior but showed little interest in figuring out the underlying cause. Our reporting suggests that saying there is a "stigma" in the Army associated with seeking mental healthcare is an understatement. Harassment or punishment of those soldiers who show signs of mental strain or "weakness" seems like a more accurate description. One mock official Army document at Fort Carson asked soldiers seeking mental health help to pick one of the following explanations for their "Hurt Feelings": "I am a pussy," "I am a queer," "I want my mommy." In that environment, some troops opted to self-medicate with alcohol or drugs, making their problems worse.
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