By Caleb Oakley
Special to KyForward
November 15, 2013
To honor those who have served our country in the military, KyForward has joined with a UK School of Journalism advanced journalism class taught by Dr. Michael Farrell for a series of stories on veterans and their personal experiences. We hope these stories provide insight for all of us and give special meaning to the celebration of Veterans Day.
About 20 percent of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress syndrome, according to Face the Facts USA, a project of the George Washington University. Richard Bass, a Lexington native and assemblyman at Toyota in Georgetown, believes the real number is much higher.
“They tell you that PTSD is a possible consequence of being part of the military,” said Bass, a 30-year-old Marine and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. “At the same time, they don’t tell you that of the people that end up in combat, 90 percent end up with some sort of PTSD.”
So why the huge discrepancy in numbers?
Like many veterans, Bass joined the Marines after the terrorist attacks on New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. Also contributing to his decision: his grandfather was in the military, and Bass did not want to go to college. Bass was deployed four time during the first four years of his military service and recalled to active duty again in 2008.
Although he sustained a traumatic brain injury from a roadside bomb and witnessed atrocities such as friends being shot and civilians being blown up, Bass attributed his condition to military training more than a specific event.
“That debilitating PTSD you see all the time, I don’t think I have that,” said Bass. “I’m a product of military conditioning.”
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Want to know why? Google Comprehensive Soldier Fitness and the attitude of brass blaming them for having PTSD. Then you'll know why.
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