Returning Soldiers Struggle with Traumatic Stress

Reporter Alyson McCarthy
Returning Soldiers Struggle with Traumatic Stress

Updated: May 12, 2009 09:04 PM EDT

Stress is one of the biggest killers of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, according to recent reports. One out of every five deaths has been non-combat related.

The VA in Las Vegas says nine full-time mental health specialists are dedicated to treating only post-traumatic stress disorder patients, including those just returning from Iraq.

That psychiatric treatment is also supplemented with anger-management classes, support group sessions, and family counseling, and the earlier the treatment, the better the outcome.

"War is ugly, and if you've never experienced it, you'll never know," said VFW Post 1753 Commander Leonard Wenson.

Wensome was a radio telephone operator with the Army's 173rd Airborne Division during the Vietnam War. Now he's commander of VFW Post 1753. He says the stress he sees in the young men and women returning from Iraq reminds him of Vietnam. "It's just as bad, if not worse, because these kids today are doing even more tours."
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Returning Soldiers Struggle with Traumatic Stress