Spc. Jordan Phillips had to go AWOL for help with PTSD

For all the talk about getting this right someone needs to be talking about what is still being done wrong. If you ask someone who works for the VA, they think everyone is being taken care of, but the point is, the VA isn't telling them they are not even close to keeping up. The DOD is not doing much better. While they talk about BattleMind training to prepare them for what may come, the truth on that is, they get very little of that training. Even if they received more, the evidence points to BattleMind not working. If it worked, would we see a rise in suicides and attempted suicides? The answer is obvious.

Considering the BBC did a report with some of our troops in Afghanistan focusing on PTSD, it also addressed that as the troops arrive in Afghanistan, they are attending two days of briefings while they are tired from the trip. In those two days, 11 1/2 minutes are about PTSD showing BattleMind. That's it. If you want to know why our troops still have to go AWOL just to get help or why so many veterans are still taking their own lives, don't ask anyone in the DOD or the VA. They won't be able to tell you and the people at the top of the food chain won't tell you. Just ask Paul Sullivan of Veterans For Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth. They had to file a law suit, which was kicked out but have since filed and appeal to have the case heard again with newer evidence. KC

Local Veteran Suffers Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
LocalNews8.com - Idaho Falls,ID,USA

Posted: Aug 6, 2008 12:32 AM EDT
Reported by: Danielle Grant

It's a disease that haunts our country's heroes.

One in three war veterans suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, when they return from the battlegrounds.

One local soldier escapes his post, makes a run from the government, all in an attempt he says to get the help he needs.

"I do want to be the same as I was before Iraq. I want to so bad but I know it'll never happen," said Specialist Jordan Phillips.

Meet Specialist Jordan Phillips with the 101st Airborne Division out of Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. He spent his early days growing up in Rigby, Idaho.

But at only 19-years-old, Phillips dedicated his life to serving our country and joined the U.S. Army.

After a year battling on the front lines in Iraq, Phillips returned and knew something was different about himself.

"I realized I was pushing away a lot of people that I loved and who loved me," he admitted.

He didn't want to believe he was suffering but deep down the traumatic experiences haunted him at night.

He felt like his unit wasn't giving him the help he needed.
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