I was having drinks this weekend with a friend that served in the Air Force during Vietnam. The question came up about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He was told by the VA, that since he is functional and has not been in and out of jail or currently homeless, that he does not suffer from PTSD, and that he did not get shot at enough to have stress from one tour in Vietnam.. His primary responsibility was to guard the air field with an M60 in an observation post. But according to his veteran rep that was not dangerous enough.
After he had told me of several situations involving life or death, where he either stopped or detained an intruder and prevented whatever caustic destruction they were planning. I had to agree that he is doing well compared to other Vietnam era Vets I know. Me being a former Marine I too know myself that something the Government does not associate everything you do as combat or stressful enough to leave an emotional scar. I ask him to blog about it, but he gave a big grin and laughed saying "At least now with all the Vets coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, they now are understanding that just being in a combat zone can cause PTSD, and you don't have to be a Marine to get it."
No comments:
Post a Comment