Invisible wounds of war

About 300,000 U.S. troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, but about half receive no care, an independent study said on Thursday.

The study by the RAND Corp. also estimated that another 320,000 troops have sustained a possible traumatic brain injury during deployment. But researchers could not say how many of those cases were serious or required treatment.

Billed as the first large-scale nongovernmental survey of its kind, the study found that stress disorder and depression afflict 18.5 percent of the more than 1.5 million U.S. forces who have deployed to the two war zones.

RAND recommended that the Pentagon create a way for service members to receive mental health service confidentially and monitor the quality of care. I say, what about taking these troops home and send some kids fresh out of military school??!! I’m being sarcastic, of course.

One of my friend told me her ex-husband’s job in Iraq was to drive a Hummer around town. Every time there would be a child or an adult in the middle of the road, soldiers were ordered NOT to stop because it could be an ambush. No wonder why these kids are all messed up…. My friend Michelle ended up divorcing her husband because the war had rendered him crazy, like crazy dangerous.