The Last Thing PTSD Veterans Are is Weak

Joe Biden talks about a Captain and how he did not want the Silver Star. Why? Because the soldier he saved ended up dying. Personally, after all these years, the last thing these men and women are is weak.

How do they go from enduring ever considerable hardship, putting their own lives on the line day in and day out, and then end up having anyone think, they just couldn't handle it? Especially when you consider that few end up committing suicide while they are deployed but end up ending their lives after surviving combat.

The last thing they are is not strong enough. That's the problem. They are too strong emotionally and feel it all more than others. Would be great if some of these folks in charge would finally figure that one out.


WOW: Joe Biden PASSIONATELY Calls Out Donald Trump on His PTSD Comments, Shares Story of Son Beau FOX 10 Phoenix

Lake Nona VA Hospital Saluted by Birds

We went to Lake Nona VA Hospital this morning and I had a lot of time to walk around. The Veterans Memorial walkway is just about my favorite spot, so brought along my camera. This is the view from the back of the hospital.

 Even the birds did a salute to veterans and formed a V over it!

Veterans Come Out in Force Against Trump PTSD Comment

Trump under fire for PTSD comments
STARS AND STRIPES
By ALEX HORTON
Published: October 3, 2016

“I mean, I guess by reinforcing stigma (strong soldiers don’t get PTSD!), he’s doing his part to keep those VA lines short!” tweeted Ana Marie Cox, a political and culture columnist at MTV News and New York Times Magazine. Cox, with 1.3 million followers on Twitter, drove commentary early on.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Monday told an audience of veterans that “a lot of people can’t handle” post-traumatic stress, igniting controversy on the sticking points of discussing mental health among troops and veterans.

“People come back from war and combat, and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over,” Trump said during a question-and-answer session with Retired American Warriors, a political action committee, in Herndon, Va.

“And you’re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can’t handle it,” he said.

The remarks touched off charged discussion on Twitter as commentators took at least two positions: Trump appearing to characterize veterans with PTSD as weak on one hand, and Trump indelicately describing the complexities of trauma that could lead to avoidance of help on the other.

Eduardo Colon replied to Cox, saying “Vet with PTSD here -- I can’t wait for this election to be over with -- hopefully trump will disappear.” Other veterans offered restraint over the comments. “Trump isn’t even close to enlightened on mental health issues. But hard to watch that and think he was implying PTSD sufferers are weak,” tweeted Max Rosenthal, a reporter with Mother Jones and an Army veteran.

Trump went on to say he would have a “very robust level of performance” at the Department of Veterans Affairs in his administration, offering few details.
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Trump Says PTSD Veterans "Can't Handle It"

Trump suggests that vets with PTSD ‘can’t handle it’
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 3, 2016


Video by Donald Trump Speeches Events

Donald Trump is drawing criticism after he appeared to suggest that veterans who suffer from PTSD might not be as strong as those who don’t.

Trump made the reference Monday as he discussed his commitment to improving mental health services for veterans at an event held by the Retired American Warriors political action committee.
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Full Event: Donald Trump Speech at Retired American Warriors Town Hall in Herndon, VA (10/3/2016)

Disabled Vietnam Veteran Alan Meisel Beaten By Sex Offenders?

update

Senators demand investigation into disabled veteran's death Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst sent a letter Friday to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, asking him to look into the circumstances of Alan Meisel’s death. The senators referred to a Des Moines Sunday Register article about Meisel, who lived for decades in Iowa before moving to Texas in 2013 to be near a brother-in-law.

How did Iowa veteran end up dead in Texas
Des Moines Register
Tony Leys
October 1, 2016

SPRINGTOWN, Texas — Alan Meisel’s Iowa friends can’t imagine how he came to spend his final months here, stuck in a rundown rental house with two paroled sex offenders instead of in a nursing home.

Meisel, who lived in Des Moines much of his life, wasn’t a criminal. He was a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, who qualified for a significant disability pension and free health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs. He was exposed to the chemical Agent Orange during the war, sparking a severe form of Parkinson’s disease that left him barely able to walk, talk or eat, his friends say. It also left him unable to defend himself last March, when two roommates in the Texas rental house allegedly shoved him out of his wheelchair and beat him black and blue, according to sheriff's investigators.

The 68-year-old veteran died three weeks after the alleged attack. A medical examiner listed “natural causes” for his death, but the autopsy report notes numerous scabs and yellowing bruises on his arms, legs and face. Just 102 pounds remained on his 5-foot-7-inch frame.

His friends back in Iowa aren’t satisfied with the fact that the two roommates are charged with assaulting Meisel. They see the tragedy as an example of how a vulnerable person can be neglected if no one speaks up on his behalf.

They want to know how he ended up in the rental home, which they believe was grossly inadequate for his medical needs. Why was he no longer in a nursing home with professional care? Why wasn't his veteran status enough to guarantee him that care? What happened to his money?
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