DID VIETNAM VETS GET SICKER IN THE 1990s?

The answer is,,,NO. They did not "get sicker" they just finally found out what was going on inside of them and the reason for it. Before this time, most were like the older veterans of WWI, WWII and Korea, just like the generations before them suffered all the same. Had some of them been helped to heal when PTSD was at mild or low levels, they would not have ended up suffering and most would have been able to work until they retired at a normal age. The problem was there was too much time between the onset of PTSD and the time they were treated because PTSD kept claiming more and more of "them" in the process. Untreated PTSD allowed the entry way for the secondary stressors to strike. This ended up sending mild PTSD into PTSD on steroids.

Thru the late 70's and into the 80's reports were beginning to raise the awareness but it was not until the 90's when PTSD was discussed more in the media and by service organizations. In other words, the message finally began to get thru. Do any of these researchers ever read the publications the people that already researched all of this already did?

DID VIETNAM VETS GET SICKER IN THE 1990s?
The veterans disability compensation (VDC) program, which provides a monthly stipend to disabled veterans, is the third largest American disability insurance program. Since the late 1990s, VDC growth has been driven primarily by an increase in claims from Vietnam veterans. Researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) attempt to solve the problem of selection bias that's inherent in comparisons of outcomes between veterans and non-veterans by using the draft lottery and 2000 U.S. Decennial Census data.
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http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18067

UPDATE

This was found in an article on homeless veterans. I think it really adds to what we're seeing today but is also a predictor of what we'll face if we allow the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans to go untreated for PTSD. It doesn't cure itself if they are allowed to just bury it.

David Boling, a tall, softspoken 62-year-old, served in Vietnam from 1969–74. He worked as a welder and a machinist for many years but retired after injuring his back in 1997. He’s staying at the Glisan

Street Shelter while he waits to move into an apartment in Vancouver.
Boling says he’s had post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues since returning from the war, but they became especially acute after he stopped working.

“I buried it for 30 years,” he says. “It is coming back on me… it just came back in the last two years, all those memories.” Boling is now on medication for bipolar disorder and sees a VA counselor for his PTSD.

Burroughs says many veterans find their situation changing as they age. They may retire, lose a spouse to death or divorce, or watch their children move out. With fewer distractions and a weaker support network, emotional trauma can seep to the surface.
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Veterans arriving on the streets not who you think
by Mara Grunbaum