Back, but not at home

The Boston Globe printed the following on Veterans Day 11-11-07. The subject above is the title the link below is the sub-title of a moving article

Battered returning vets struggle with transition

The Globe followed, "New England's Own", for a year after their return. The article and three video's are the results of what these Marines have experianced since returning.

For us 'Nam Vets it's like looking into a mirror of the present, showing the past, we've been here before.

This Country has Once Again Failed to hold it's Side of the Contracts Signed, to serve and defend this Nation, by those who join it's Military Forces!

Maybe it's because, like 'Nam, those serving aren't Defending but Occupying another small country thousands of miles away, than again maybe not, for it seems the other 99%plus just plain don't want to Sacrifice a Damn Thing, while giving lip service and slogans, as others fight their their Wars of Choice so they can cheer like it's a Sporting Event or Video Game!



The parents of Eric Valdepenas, one of "New England's Own" killed in Iraq, visited his grave in East Providence, R.I.

The 878 men who came home have struggled to come to terms with the fact that 11 did not; that 68 others, like Murray, suffered combat wounds; and that many more were hit with injuries less visible but with long-term effects, like bomb-blast concussions.

It is as if they all shared in those losses, and, in a real sense, most did. A Globe survey of more than 130 members of the battalion found that nearly 60 percent report one or more symptoms of war trauma - anger, depression, nightmares, hypervigilance - even if they have not been diagnosed with the disorder.

Many hasten to add that they are doing just fine, picking up life right where they left off. It is, in the main, a proud, resilient group, not much given to complaint. Service, most say, changed them irrevocably, and for the better.

But fully half say the transition back to civilian life has been hard. Money, for some, is tight, relationships with loved ones bruised, frustration with the government veterans bureaucracy real and growing. Reserve units like theirs have, in particular, reported problems with medical screenings for brain injuries.

Below are links to the short video's that accompany the article, but you'd be better served if you took a trip to the site and read this article.

* PDF Survey of the Marine battalion

* Video | Part One Coming Home

* Video | Part Two The Roulette Wheel

* Video | Part Three Moving On

There is also a powerful consensus that while most of their neighbors appreciate their service, civilians don't quite get it. A sense of isolation grows out of that, particularly in New England, where military bases are few and hostility to the war runs high.
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More than a few of the Marines have doubts about this war, too. But their focus is on their duty - and on getting well, or helping others to do so. In that, members of the battalion report some ringing successes but also some shameful failures as the nation delivers, unevenly, on its pledge to care for those wounded in service.

Visit the link above to read the rest, than you can return and see another coming out of Boston from 11-12-07 in the Boston NOW paper.

Mentally ill soldiers being sent back to battle
Military says PTSD must be looked at case by case

And also this one about my fellow Vets and another Veterans Day parade.

Veterans arrested at parade

Yep 15 of my fellow Veterans For Peace brothers Arrested for wanting to participate in a Veterans Day Parade!

And lets let Keith and Paul tell us about how this Country treats it's Vets.

Respecting Us Veterans on Veterans Day?


Thank You America for another memorable Veterans Day!!!!!

And I Mean That ------------------- BULLSHIT!!!!

If they were sent to fight, they are too few. If they were sent to die, they are too many!

Is 'Funding' Really For Troops?

What Happened To Funding and Oversite For Military/Veteran Care In Previous Congresses?