Casualties of war and PTSD

UPDATE
The moderator of Spouse Calls left a comment on this post to clear up any misunderstanding. The following comes from an Army Wife named Sheryl.

It is a powerful statement of what we do not think about when we think of how much is asked of the men and women serving especially when we ignore their families. When I read stories like this, I wonder if the marriage could have been saved if the spouse had the understanding as well as support to live with what the war did her marriage. I know how difficult it was for my family to stay together, even though I knew what PTSD was. I cannot imagine what it would have been like if I did not have the tools to help my husband heal, to forgive him because I knew why he did the things he did or how to help myself heal as well.

None of this has to happen but until the DOD understands what PTSD is, what has to be done, educate the families, it will keep happening just as the suicides keep going up. None of this has to happen.

Spouse calls:
Casualties of war and PTSD
By Terri Barnes, Special to Stars and Stripes
Stars and Stripes Scene, Sunday, January 17, 2010
On the Spouse Calls blog:


As I watched the towers fall, I knew our lives would change. My heart ached for the people in the towers and their families, and then I got a cold shiver and knew my life was about to change, too.

That day I knew we were going to war and my husband was going to go … I just didn’t know that it would mean that I would lose my husband and our family, too.

Forward to mid-tour homecoming from Iraq: The man I picked up at the airport was not my husband. After all of those months, he hugged me and patted me on the back. He didn’t embrace our children. His eyes were cold. In fact you, could see right through them and the sparkle that was once there was gone.

Forward to the Iraq homecoming: Again, he got off of the plane. The excitement to see me wasn’t there. He was trying, I know he was, but they left my husband and what he was in Iraq, never to return.

We were the couple that everyone thought would be together forever — never gave it another thought. Now we are separated and going through divorce.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=140&article=67291