Sanders "500,000" PTSD Veterans Only Part of Story

Bernie Sanders Forgot A Lot Of Veterans
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 15, 2015

I don't watch the political debates for a reason. They can say whatever they want when they want our votes but when we want answers, they never seem to have any.

There seems to be some controversy over a claim that Senator Bernie Sanders made about PTSD.

Politifact: Sanders claims 500,000 veterans have PTSD, brain injuries

“When you talk about the long-term consequences of war, let's talk about the men and women who came home from war,” Sanders said. “The 500,000 who came home with PTSD and traumatic brain injury. And I would hope that in the midst of all of this discussion, this country makes certain that we do not turn our backs on the men and women who put their lives on the line to defend us.”

Considering he was the Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, that shouldn't have been questionable to anyone, especially given the fact that none of this is new.  So why didn't Sanders mention the other veterans his committee was supposed to be taking care of? We still have living veterans from WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the all too often forgotten Desert Storm/Gulf War.

As a matter of fact the simple fact that after decades of Congress doing something about Combat PTSD, it has all gotten worse.

Some want to pretend that PTSD is something new, but it isn't. Some want to pretend that what members of Congress have been doing to prevent suicides just needs time to work.

How long is anyones guess.

Most Vietnam veterans will read about the half a million with PTSD and their heads will explode because this is the same number of them found in a study in 1978 called the Forgotten Warrior Project.

None of this is new and won't improve as long as we fail to hold our politicians accountable for what they have failed to do. When the study was released, no one was really doing anything for veterans with PTSD. Vietnam veterans came home and fought for everything available for all veterans.

Congress had excuses back then claiming they just didn't know but the truth is, they should have known. Just like today, when they write more bills, spending more money on what has already failed, they should have known better. 

Frankly our veterans deserved better from all of them.