'My Son Is Why We Fight So Hard'

from HuffPo: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/teresa-mccoy/my-son-is-why-we-fight-so_b_140216.html


by Teresa McCoy
Posted November 3, 2008

{snip}

I came to this campaign in late August, not knowing what to expect. I had never done anything like this, but I knew that it was time to get off the couch and do something to change my corner. (so to speak) You see, it was my chance to do something to help my son.

James has PTSD. For those who don't know what that is, it's called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and it came directly from Iraq. Fallujah, to be exact. James fought proudly there for sixteen months. He did so without reservation because he wanted to serve his country. It's all he ever wanted to do. I signed the papers for him to be able to accomplish his goal before he ever left high school. I now wish I hadn't done so, but our country called him and I knew that I couldn't stand in the way of that. He was raised to respect his country and his flag, and he fought courageously for America, and he had friends who died for it. He lost his best friend on that battlefield, and the experience profoundly changed and marred his young life.

Our nations military not only sent James to Iraq, but the army sent his family to war with him. We were beside him in spirit, and we counted the days until he got home. There were times when we wondered if the day would ever come that he would come home to us, and when it finally did come, we were ecstatic. Little did we know that when they sent our son home, he would only be a shell of his former self. The light in his eyes was gone, and I know that as much as we love him, and as much as we try to understand, we're never going to see our James again. The innocent young man who went off to war is gone, and he is never coming back.

To add insult to injury, when he was discharged fron the army, he found it difficult, if not impossible to get medical attention. He was told that PTSD didn't exist and if it did, he wasn't eligible under the GI Bill to receive mental health attention. He and his family were dropped from military insurance and basically told to fend for themselves. He was treated badly by the US Army, and was told to stop being weak. A few days rest would be all he needed to get through this, and the readjustment would be short. It's two years after he returned home and we are still battling the affects of an unjust war.

I felt as though my country was calling me during this election, and I had no choice but to answer. I had to do something to make sure this never happens to another family. I wanted to try to make sure that no other mom has to sit and wait and wonder and worry, and then wait and wonder and worry all over again when that soldier finally returned home. We've been dealing with this war and it's after effects for almost 8 years now. I believe that the government has an obligation to make sure their military is taken care of and that there is support out there for them and for their families, and that our soldiers get the health care they so deserve.

We were proud that James served his country even if we disagreed with the war, (and believe me, we do disagree with it.) but we believe that when a soldier serves, they should be treated with respect and dignity. It won't happen with John McCain, and all I can say to that is it's a crying shame that a maverick and a war hero could turn his back on his own.

I got involved because I am one voice, and if you add my one voice to the thousands of other voices who are involved in Barack Obama's campaign, then add those voices to the millions of American voices who are hoping and praying and believing that we can change things, you have a universe of people who are coming together in this country. Unity and hope, that's what Barack Obama stands for, and for me and my son James, we are counting on both.

read: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/teresa-mccoy/my-son-is-why-we-fight-so_b_140216.html

:shrug:

. . . most of the new recruits, at a time in their life where they are most impressionable and vulnerable. Many join the service looking for leadership. This generation of recruits and regulars were misled into Iraq. I don't believe that it's a simple or an easy choice to voluntarily stand against their commitment and subject themselves to jail or a life as a fugitive in support of an opposition to their mission.

...they should watch "Star Trek, Next Generation" instead of joining the military IMO

. . . but, these are adults who deserve credit for their decision to serve. I fully support and appreciate our military in its defensive role (which Bush/Cheney/McCain have perverted with their reckless, unbridled, illegal aggression) and I fully appreciate and support those who make the choice to serve and commit their lives, limbs, and livelihoods to our protection.

bigtree, tell teresa mccoy that the only way to get him back to positive ground (or at least, reset to zero) is to take him along with her. Not to testify but to witness. If he is going to recover, he needs to see the positive side of american life. God knows that he has witnessed the worst of what we have to offer or he would not be this way. let him now see the best - that is what he thought he would do - let him know that it exists but that he will find it at home, under his nose.

too many of us go off to change the world for the better when the world that we an best influence is here, in our own yards, and that if we change it here, it will change it there, also. please pass this along to her. it is never too late to save someone who wanted to save others.

where you can post a comment directly to Teresa McCoy or, I believe send her a PM with your sentiments.

was working so hard on this bill when his plane was taken down.

Friday, September 23, 2005

Obama, Durbin Amendment Ensures VA Review of 72,000 PTSD Claims Cannot Revoke or Reduce Benefits

WASHINGTON - On Thursday, the Senate passed legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) to ensure that no veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder would see a reduction or revocation of benefits received as a result of a Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) review of 72,000 post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) cases.

The bill would also require the VA to report the cost of the review to the Senate Appropriations Committee before proceeding. The VA has said it will review 72,000 cases in which the maximum amount of PTSD disability benefits was awarded because of the VA's belief that 2.5% of these cases are "potentially fraudulent."

"I am extremely wary of this unnecessary and costly review of settled PTSD cases" said Obama. "The veterans who received full benefits for PTSD are some of those who need our help the most, and I believe it's wrong to make them endure another stressful review. This legislation will ensure that no veteran will have his or her benefits reduced or revoked as a result of this VA review."

"Our amendment permits the VA to conduct this review if it results in a plan for staffing and funding improvements," said Durbin. "The VA cannot correct its errors by taking money away from veterans who now depend on that income. Veterans should not now - years later - be punished with a loss of income due to the late discovery by the VA of its own error."

http://obama.senate.gov/press/050923-dds/


Obama, Bond Demand Pentagon Report on PTSD Cases
Tuesday, October 23, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Christopher Bond (R-MO) sent the following letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, requesting a full accounting of service members’ psychological injuries, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), since October 2001. The senators also requested a detailed report on how the military monitors other psychological injuries. Recent media accounts indicate that the number of service members seeking care for PTSD from the Veterans Administration (VA) increased 70% over a 12-month period, or an increase of some 20,000 cases. In addition, reports of the total number of cases of PTSD treatment at the VA since 2001 – 50,000 cases – far exceed the number of wounded documented by the Pentagon.

In the letter, Obama and Bond request information including the total number of PTSD among active duty service members; the total number of other reported psychological injuries; the procedures and referral mechanisms for service members to seek counseling while in combat; the number of mental health staff deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan; the number of mental health staff for each major mobilization and demobilization site; the incentives in place to attract additional behavioral health specialists; and the total annual expenditure on mental health care for active duty service members.

letter: http://obama.senate.gov/press/071023-obama_bond_dema/


May 16, 2008

Obama demands VA investigation into PTSD diagnoses

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is demanding an investigation into reports that a supervisor at a Texas Veterans Affairs facility told staff members to refrain from diagnosing returning war veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in order to reduce costs.

On Friday, Obama sent a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake expressing his "serious concerns" over the reports and demanding an investigation.

The Washington Post reported the story on Friday, which included emails from Dr. Norma Perez suggesting to her staff members that they "refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD straight out," because of the increasing costs of treating the disorder.

"Simply put, Ms. Perez’s email is outrageous," Obama wrote in the letter. "As you well know, PTSD is the most prevalent mental disorder afflicting our returning ... veterans."

"In order to receive their deserved benefits, these brave men and women must endure a long and arduous process. To hear that a VA official is promoting misdiagnoses of soldiers to save money is unacceptable and is tantamount to fraud. "

"Too many veterans see the VA as a bureaucracy with the singular goal of denying services and benefits to veterans," said Obama. "This recent incident merely serves to promote that impression."

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/0508/Obama_demands_VA_investigation_into_PTSD_diagnoses.html

My freedom and no other US citizen's freedom the is threatened in Iraq! WWII was the last real war fought for our freedom.
The Revolutionary War was the first. Iraq is not a declared war. Congress must declare war. We need to get back to the Constitution or there will be no freedom left to fight for.

The only lying criminals that have threatened and absolutely destroy American freedom is George W.(War Criminal) Bush.

The recruiters tells these young men they will be fighting for our freedom. Anyone willing to research and locate the truth knows differently. The Iraq war has done nothing but line the pockets of Halliburton, Eron and Blackwater and caused thousands of young men to die for Cheney and Bush. :dem:

:applause: