National Guard Colonel does not think PTSD is normal?

Col. John Coffin has just shown part of the problem with the stigma of PTSD living on.

"It is a term just thrown around that Vietnam veterans like me object to, although sadly enough it is one of the things that honors people. If you have PTSD people really feel for you as a Vietnam veteran. But however, if I declare myself having PTSD, I have just called myself less than a normal person," Coffin said.

"Less than normal" is what he said but it shows he does not understand what PTSD is. It is a very NORMAL response to the abnormal world of combat. What does he think trauma is? Trauma comes with traumatic events, in other words, not part of normal life. Simple to understand if you want to.

It looks like Coffin doesn't want to but he's in a role of deciding what happens to the men and women under his command. If he has this attitude, then what chance does a soldier with PTSD have if he can't understand what it is?

Vermont soldiers confront the challenges of PTSD

Colchester, Vermont - July 1, 2011

Megan Daleiden works in Human Resources for the Vermont Guard, but 5 years ago after she returned from a deployment in Iraq she found herself struggling to readjust.

"I was jobless, I was bored and I was suddenly finding myself as a housewife! Looking for jobs, as opposed to a team leader who was in charge of eight other soldiers," she said.

She said her spouse, a war vet himself, noticed a change in her personality after she got back.

"The problem is you are going through it. So you do not notice what you are doing to other people," Daleiden said. "One day my husband just sat down and said, 'Why are you so angry?' And I thought, 'I am not angry, at all!'"

Col. John Coffin says Daleiden's behavior is normal. He works with soldiers before deployment and after they return to evaluate their mental state.

Coffin explained, "We ask them three questions. Who are you, what did you do? What was your first thought or feeling when you got off the plane? Then the money question-- is there anything you want to say now as you leave your tour?"

He says soldiers need an opportunity to talk about the deaths of fellow soldiers and troubling memories. His team then evaluates them individually to see who needs extra help readjusting.

"When they get home to avail themselves of vocational and counseling services, so they can lift off into a new life, having been at the gates of hell," Coffin said.

And for some, that leaves a mark.
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Vermont soldiers confront the challenges of PTSD