Vietnam Vets, first to fight for PTSD care, now last to get it

Other generations came home with what ended up being called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder but unlike other generations, the Vietnam Veterans decided to do something about it. Because of them and their courage to take a stand, we have what is available to todays veterans even though it is far from perfect. Because the newer veterans have all the media attention, what little is given to veterans that is, the Vietnam Veterans end up being pushed aside, told they don't get what is being given to the newer veterans. Take a look at some of the programs for PTSD veterans and you see they are not included in most of them even though they suffered longer without much at all. None of this is fair.

The Invisible Veteran Part 2: Veterans Fight Mental Health


Posted: May 13, 2011 6:33 PM


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The Invisible Veteran Part 1: Fighting the Claims Battle
Reporter: Mark Kelly l Photojournalist: Sally Delta

Lynchburg, VA - Post-traumatic stress disorder has gotten more attention in recent years, but the condition is nothing new. Soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan feel it; Vietnam-era vets have felt it for decades. Many came home from war angry and they acted out. But for thirty years, they say, their mental health was ignored and went untreated.

And just when these Vietnam vets got the tools to tackle their mental health, they say, the tools were taken away.

Bud Perry remembers what Vietnam did to his mind. He took a job at a prison, but says he should've been locked up.

"You didn't think about what you were doing. You just wanted to do something, or a crazy idea came up or somebody got you mad, you let go," said Perry.

Perry says PTSD took over him and many fellow vets.

Dr. Thomas Eldridge credits Vietnam vets for shedding light on PTSD.

"The Vietnam era veterans brought this to our attention," said Dr. Thomas Eldridge, Associate Chief of Staff for Primary Care in VA in Salem.

And the VA works to treat it. To save Lynchburg Veterans a drive to the VA hospital in Salem, they brought both mental and physical healthcare closer to home. The community-based outpatient clinic, CBOC, was built on Lakeside Drive in Lynchburg. It provides basic medical care to treat conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis.

Vietnam Veterans say CBOC gives the physical healthcare they earned. But when it comes to mental healthcare, the Vietnam generation is being pushed aside, just as progress is being made and support groups are gaining ground.
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Fighting the Claims Battle