National Guard helicopters cause flashbacks for Vietnam Veteran

This is the one sound that sets Vietnam veterans off but you have to remember how many were in Vietnam. They meant life or death for the soldiers in the jungle and will bring back very unhappy memories.

National Guard Helicopters in the Air
Reported by: Erica Proffer
Last Update: 4/12 7:51 pm


HIDALGO COUNTY - CHANNEL 5 NEWS learned the state sent two National Guard helicopters to the Valley to assist law enforcement

It's been a big secret. The governor announced they were beefing up security along the border. The helicopters were part of the Phase 1 plan. However, no details were given.

The secrecy has many concerned.

One Vietnam veteran tells CHANNEL 5 NEWS he was afraid when he saw a mysterious helicopter in his neighborhood.

"Whenever I hear the choppers come over, I... I automatically get flashbacks from Vietnam," explains "Joe," who didn't want his identity revealed.

"We don't know what we're facing, because of the stories of what's going on across the border. We're so close to it. Anything can happen here."

We told him the "mystery" helicopter is part of the National Guard. But he doesn't want to take chances.

"I don't trust them," says "Joe." "It's very untrustworthy. They're supposed to have a letter somewhere on the tail, fin, somewhere. They should be identifiable by a letter, but there's no identification."
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National Guard Helicopters in the Air

Iraq veteran wrestles with his invisible wounds

Iraq veteran wrestles with his invisible wounds

By David Crary

AP National Writer
On the plus side, David McBee has a fiancee who stuck by him, a 2-year-old son who loves him. They've helped him persevere through dark times -- blackouts, anger, confusion -- as he struggles with the invisible wounds of his combat duty in Iraq.

As a Marine, McBee engaged in the initial assault on Iraq from Kuwait in 2003 and the often-chaotic battle of Fallujah in late 2004.

He returned to the United States in 2005, worked for a time with the postal service and got engaged. His fiancee, Audra Cardoza, gave birth to a son in 2006.

About a year after his return, McBee began to notice a change in his personality, including what he describes as "blackouts" -- periods of time he couldn't account for.

"One day, me and my buddies and fiancee, we went out and started drinking," he said. "I had a meltdown. ... All this stuff that was in my head that I'd never said to anybody started coming out. I couldn't stop crying."

The "stuff" included images of Fallujah residents, children among them, killed by his own unit as it swept through neighborhoods that were supposed to have been evacuated.

"We search houses. We see people in there -- they're not supposed to be there. They're considered hostile. We just opened fire," he said.

"We saw a little kid in the middle road. There was no stopping the convoy. We ran him over."
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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008374857_webvethome11.html

PTSD on Trial:Iraq veteran's gunfire at Thurston Road exit

At least, if nothing else, this will be considered when the final verdict comes down. When they have a flashback, they are not really "there" but back in danger all over again. I just hope that his history, his deployment and medical evidence is all considered.

Iraq veteran's gunfire at Thurston Road exit is called 'reasonable'
Defense attorney cites stress in the road-rage incident, but the prosecutor says it's not a "flashback"Tuesday, October 07, 2008 HOLLEY GILBERT The Oregonian VANCOUVER -- A road-rage shooting was "reasonable," considering the experiences U.S. Army Reserve veteran Christopher P. Partridge had as a combat truck driver in Iraq, Partridge's attorney told a Clark County Superior Court jury Monday.The Oregonian
Partridge, 26, faces two counts of first-degree assault stemming from the incident on Sept. 18, 2007.

During opening statements at his trial, attorney Edward L. Dunkerly of Vancouver told the jury that Partridge suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. He watched his best friend die, then worked from 2003-04 near Baghdad as a driver in convoys where U.S. soldiers were under the threat of improvised explosive devices or ambush, Dunkerly said.

Partridge does not deny he shot once into a car after its driver cut him off at the Thurston Road exit from State Route 500, Dunkerly said. But he said it was self-defense.

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Vietnam Vet credits detective for help in police standoff

Video On Demand

Veteran credits detective for help in standoff
"All of a sudden I was out on the Thruway and I had no control of the situation," said Gilchriese.
James Gilchriese has spent the past five months in jail after causing an armed standoff that closed the river section of the Thruway for hours back in May.

His friend Thomas Magee said, "The guy on the Thruway is not the Jim Gilchriese I know."
Detective Teague was the one who spent an hour on the phone with Gilchriese trying to keep him calm and to put his gun down.
Also on WIVB.com

More on veteran credits detective for help in standoff
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A big turn of events Friday surrounding the man who held police at bay along the 190 and put a neighborhood under siege for hours earlier this year.

A Judge has given James Gilchriese a second chance for his plea on a felony weapons charge. Gilchriese apologized Friday, thanked police, and one detective in particular.

"I don't know. All of a sudden I was out on the Thruway and I had no control of the situation," said Gilchriese.

James Gilchriese has spent the past five months in jail after causing an armed standoff that closed the river section of the Thruway for hours back in May.

He was sentenced Friday to time served, and five years probation. The judge took into account the fact that he's 66, has no record of violence, and is very active with Vietnam veterans groups where he lives in Florida.

His friend Thomas Magee said, "The guy on the Thruway is not the Jim Gilchriese I know."
Gilchriese said he had been drinking, and was fighting with his girlfriend. "I had somewhat of a flashback to Vietnam but I can't use that as an excuse."

Detective Gary Teague from Buffalo Police said, "There were times when he'd talk about Vietnam. He said he was a veteran, he was trained in firearms and things of that nature."
Detective Teague was the one who spent an hour on the phone with Gilchriese trying to keep him calm and to put his gun down.

"And him I will never forget," said Gilchriese.

Gilchriese credits him for keeping it under control. "Absolutely, it was him. I would only talk to him," as Teague's respond was, "I'm pleased. Not very often people really thank us for what we do."

He adds, "It wasn't just me alone. It was a collaborative effort." Gilchriese could've received up to a seven-year sentence.

Please read the attached story to learn about how the New York State Police Thruway division was involved in the standoff.
Story by George Richert, WIVB
click links for all of this and learn what law enforcement officers across the nation need to understand to save more lives of these veterans.

Police need to know what's behind the emergency

Police need to know what's behind the emergency

When police respond to calls from citizens for help, they need to know what they're getting into. If they do not understand the 911 call involves a veteran, opportunities are lost and things could go from bad to worse.

There is a lot of great work being done in several states to educate law enforcement about the unique circumstances involving veterans. It is especially important for every state to be able to deal with the combat veterans considering National Guards and Reservists are being used as much as they are. There are veteran's courts being set up so that veterans dealing with the ravages of combat are treated properly instead of being sent to jail for crimes with the extenuating circumstances behind what they are being accused of. Here are several different scenarios based on news accounts and actual events in order to explain how snap decisions can destroy a golden opportunity to help a veteran.

It's 3:00 am.
You arrive at a house responding to a call about domestic violence.
The wife opens the door crying. She's in her pajamas. Her eye is swollen. There is blood on her night shirt from a nose bleed.
Three children are sitting on the floor, all of them crying.
Husband sits on the sofa, hands over his face as he rocks back and forth. He appears to be in shock.
As you look across the living room, it appears to be a very nice house with pictures hanging on the wall.
The wife says "He kept bunching me!" She wants him arrested.
What do you do?

You are on patrol on a street and notice a car weaving, slowing down without a clear reason.
You follow the car for several minute as the driving becomes more erratic.
Trash barrels line the street and he hits one of them.
You pull the car over.
The driver seems as if he is disorientated.
You do not smell alcohol on his breath.
You suspect drugs because his eyes are glazed.
You ask him if he's on drugs and he says no. He will not look you in the eye.
He opens his wallet to hand you his drivers licence.
You see other cards in his wallet as he fumbles to select the licence.
When you call to see if there are any warrants on the vehicle, you return to the car and he is shaking.
What do you do?

In the first case, the husband is a National Guardsman. There was a picture of him in uniform taken in Iraq. He served in Iraq in some of the worst fighting. He has been dealing with PTSD but does not know what it is. It was one more night of a violent nightmare. The wife was getting aggravated because of the frequency of being woken up in the middle of the night by her husband. Her patience was gone. She yelled at him to wake up and he responded by hitting her three times in the face before he realized where he was and what he was doing. The wife didn't know what PTSD was. She had no clue what was going on with her husband after he got home several months before.

In the second case, it is a Marine veteran who became a civilian. He was having a flashback with the trash barrels lining the street and was trying to avoid being near them. He was re-experiencing a road in Iraq where a bomb had blown up some of his friends. As he opened his wallet, there was a VA hospital identification card he almost handed you instead of his drivers license.

When people make assumptions, they tend to leave it at what they are thinking. A lot of veterans have ended up in jail because no one knew what the veteran was going through. These men and women were willing to give up their lives for the sake of the nation but ended up in jail because of what they went through doing so.

If you, as a police officer are aware of PTSD and what comes with it, you would have known to ask the wife more questions. Use your skills of observations to access the situation. You don't have to make a diagnosis but you should be aware that there is more there than seems obvious.

The wife and the veteran are dealing with what comes after war all too often. Even police officers and firefighters exposed to horrific situations can develop PTSD. Knowing what it is saves lives. If you simply arrest someone and no one asks what was behind the attack in the case of the domestic violence call, there could be a combat veteran put into jail instead of helped to heal. Take your suspicions and have the veteran diagnosed so that if it is PTSD, he is helped and not arrested. The same thing with the driver you suspect of being on drugs, when clearly he is not. It won't be clear to you unless you again use your skills.

There are older veterans suddenly experiencing PTSD because of changes in their lives. Most of them have lived out their days with mild PTSD but as they get older, other traumatic events occur in their lives, it comes on them with a vengeance. It's PTSD on steroids.

There are regular civilians who develop PTSD from traffic accidents, natural disasters, violence and crimes. If you are aware of what you're dealing with, you will not only keep a wounded person out of jail, you will be of great service to the community.

As time goes by, more and more people are becoming aware of what PTSD is but it takes years before people understand what it is. All too often the veteran finds himself in jail, loosing their license to drive or having an arrest on their record when they were suffering instead of just being guilty.

The more the law enforcement community becomes aware of what comes home after trauma, the better the veteran will be served.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Memory loss haunts injured Iraq War veteran

Memory loss haunts injured Iraq War veteran


By TUCKER McQUEEN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 08/10/08

Scott MacKenzie recalls little of his past. His parents remember every detail.

The young Marine corporal relies on Robert and Nan MacKenzie to fill in the gaps in his memory. His mother made a scrapbook of baby pictures and tells him about his childhood. Bits and pieces come back, he said, in a slide show of flashbacks.

"I remember my younger sister Savannah was born at 6:29 p.m. and weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces, " he said at his Canton home on a recent furlough. "But I met someone I grew up with and I didn't know his name."

MacKenzie, 23, will retire from the Marines this month with 40 percent disability.

Two years ago in October, he was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq. A traumatic brain injury wiped away memories of his high school graduation, boot camp and the trip to Iraq.

Six weeks into his tour, he was on foot patrol when an explosion threw him into the air. The lieutenant walking next to him lost both legs.

MacKenzie had three surgeries to repair a fractured jaw and shrapnel injuries.

"When I woke up, I didn't know my last name, my rank or what a square was," he said.

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PTSD:Can we smell danger? New study says possible

Can we smell danger? Study shows it's possible
The associated press
March 28, 2008

WASHINGTON - Know how a whiff of certain odors can take you back in time, either to a great memory or bad one?

It turns out emotion plays an even bigger role with the nose, and that your sense of smell actually can sharpen when something bad happens.

Northwestern University researchers proved the surprising connection by giving volunteers electric shocks while they sniffed novel odors.

The discovery, reported in today's edition of the journal Science, helps explain how our senses can steer us clear of danger. More intriguing, it could shed light on disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

"This is an incredibly unique study," said Dr. David Zald, a Vanderbilt University neuroscientist who studies how the brain handles sensory and emotional learning. "We're talking about a change in our perceptual abilities based on emotional learning."

Scientists long have known of a strong link between the sense of smell and emotion. A certain perfume or the scent of baking pie, for instance, can raise memories of a long-dead loved one.

Conversely, a whiff of diesel fuel might trigger a flashback for a soldier suffering from PTSD.

Northwestern neuroscientist Jay Gottfried, the study's senior author, says the work illuminates a sense that society too often gives short shrift.

"People really dismiss the sense of smell," said Gottfried, who researches "how the brain can put together perceptions of hundreds of thousands of different smells. . . . Work like this really says that the human sense of smell has much more capacity than people usually give it credit."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/services/newspaper/printedition/friday/orl-smell2808mar28,0,1775496.story

Staff Sgt. Scott Snyder another face of PTSD

Warrior Hotline Program Helps Soldiers With Post-Traumatic Stress
Wednesday, March 19, 2008

By Melissa Underwood

Staff Sgt. Scott Snyder and his wife, Angela, were sitting down in their Moline, Ill., living room to watch a war movie and eat some hot wings. A few minutes later, Snyder was screaming and begging Angela to admit to him something he knew for certain: that he was dead.

Snyder was having a flashback. Not only did he believe he was dead; his senses told him he was in Iraq, at the Balad airbase on his 17-month tour of duty with the Illinois National Guard. He was clutching his M-16, and he saw missiles and mortars exploding in the distance.

“I can feel the heat, I can smell the air, I can hear the sounds,” Snyder, 41, told FOXNews.com. “While that’s happening, I am here, in the Quad cities, running on auto pilot.”

Physically, Snyder was safe at home in Illinois. But, because of his post-traumatic stress disorder, he can be thrown back into the heat of battle without warning, at any time.


Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder caused by a traumatic event in which someone’s life is put in danger.

Common signs of PTSD include sleep and memory problems, anger, nightmares, anxiety, frightening thoughts and trouble concentrating. A soldier suffering with one or more of these signs may have seen a fellow soldier get injured or die in combat, interacted with gunfire and explosions or encountered other trauma.
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,339455,00.html

In Iraq or Afghanistan, they are not alone. They are surrounded by their comrades, all supporting each other, all on edge and on guard watching over their buddy. When they come home, they are alone yet too many are still waging a battle their lives depend on wining. PTSD is the battle they face. Very few will commit suicide while deployed compared to veterans committing suicide when they are back home, supposedly out of danger. This is when they need us the most to support them, insure they get the help they need and stand with them while they heal. When they come home, we need to watch over them as closely as their unit did while deployed.

Brian Christopher Wothers Not Guilty Due To PTSD

March 08, 2008

Vet using war stress defense found not guilty of murder

By LAUREN SONIS
Staff Writer

BUNNELL -- An Iraq war veteran was found not guilty by reason of insanity Friday after psychiatrists said he was having a flashback when he shot and killed a man.

Brian Christopher Wothers, 26, of Ormond Beach will live in a mental-health treatment facility until he is no longer deemed a threat to himself or others.
He was accused of killing 26-year-old Jeffrey Maxwell, a traveling construction worker from Denison, Texas, who was in Florida on an assignment. Maxwell's body was found May 26, 2006, in a wooded area near Old Kings Road in Palm Coast.

Wothers had a history of post-traumatic stress disorder related to his military duties when he saw piles of bodies and witnessed shootings, his attorneys said.

Prosecutors and Wothers' attorneys agreed to a trial by Circuit Judge Kim C. Hammond -- on charges of robbery and first-degree murder -- instead of by a jury.

"He's likely to suffer from that disorder for the foreseeable future," Hammond said.

Three adults hugged and kissed Wothers after the trial. They declined comment for this story.

"I'll call you," Wothers whispered to a woman as he left the courtroom to return to the Flagler County Inmate Facility, where he has been held pending the outcome of his case.

Wothers will stay there until the paperwork is filed to transport him. His attorneys said while it's not definite, Wothers will likely be moved to the North Florida Evaluation Treatment Center in Gainesville.

Attorney Zachary Stoumbos said in most similar cases, it can take five years before someone is considered safe enough to release.

Jeffrey Maxwell's family did not attend the trial, but they remained close to their phones on a snowy week in northeastern Texas.

His mother, Evelyn Maxwell, said she had hoped Wothers would be forced to stay in a treatment facility for at least 10 years and thought he should be punished.

"I'd prefer if he was in there a lot longer than five years," she said.

She said that while she supports capital punishment in general, she did not want to pursue the death penalty because of Wothers' mental-health problems. The mother said she wanted him to get help.

She later added, "A lot of (veterans) do need help when they come out."

When soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan and are accused of killings and other crimes, the justice system has been increasingly impelled to consider the effects of combat trauma in their offenses, according to a January New York Times report.
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http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Headlines/frtHEAD01030808.htm


Evelyn Maxwell must be an amazing woman. She lost her son but even after that she can see that Wothers was not in his right mind when it happened. How is it that she can understand PTSD but we have so many in the military who cannot?

PTSD:War vets say stress debilitating

War vets say stress debilitating
By Jennifer Reeger
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Jamie Anderson and Mike Zimmerman both brought the Iraq war home with them.
A song brings sadness over a lost friend. A simple visit to a hospital brings with it the imagined smell of burned flesh.

Loud noises bring on rages for no reason. Images too awful to describe fill dreams.
And for Zimmerman a trip home to the Allegheny County community of Churchill from the airport becomes a vivid ride through the desert in a Humvee.

"I think that was scarier than anything I experienced in Iraq," Zimmerman, 25, of Churchill, Allegheny County, said of his first flashback upon arriving home from war.

Zimmerman, a former Marine and current Army National Guardsman, and Anderson, 47, of Washington, an Army master sergeant, both spoke of their experiences dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, during the second part of a two-part discussion on the disorder and the Iraq War Wednesday night at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg.

Anderson, Pitt-Greensburg's ROTC instructor, and Zimmerman, a psychology major at the Hempfield campus, said they are receiving counseling for the disorder that began while both were serving in Iraq in 2004.
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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleyindependent/teenscene/s_555789.html

Two months between deployments PTSD followed him home

When war again found Iraq, Hill was deployed from August 2005 to November 2006. He deployed again in January 2007 with the 731st Transportation Company out of Larned.

Switching to convoy gunner a fateful choice

By James Carlson - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Dec 28, 2007 7:12:22 EST

OTTAWA, Kan. — Spc. Allen Hill wakes in the middle of the night with a real-life movie playing on repeat.

Gunner position. Night-vision goggles. A man fidgeting with something. A white light, then nothing. Over and over the scene plays, and the 39-year-old Hill can’t seem to dislodge it from his mind.

He is in Kansas for the holidays with his family before returning in early January to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he will continue treatment and finish paperwork to receive at-home care when he returns to Kansas.

The physical signs of that day one month ago are waning, but even in the security of his Ottawa home, the mental pain continues.

Hill joined the Army in Texas in 1986 at age 18. He was placed at Fort Riley in 1990 and has lived in Kansas since. He fought in the 1991 Persian Gulf War before joining the Army National Guard.

When war again found Iraq, Hill was deployed from August 2005 to November 2006. He deployed again in January 2007 with the 731st Transportation Company out of Larned.

Hill’s unit served as convoy security, where he most often drove the Humvees. That was until Nov. 21, the day before Thanksgiving.

“I had driven and driven and driven and the monotony ...” he trails off.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/12/ap_flashback_071228/

He was home two months before going back. This is how they do it to our soldiers. They stick them into another unit that is heading back, and off they go. Yet they get to say the troops have rest between deployments because the unit they left does not go back that quick. Nice trick. Too bad the media let them get away with this over and over again. It happens all the time. Yet they act as if they are surprised by how many end up with PTSD?

Pain from a roadside bomb pierces soldier's life

Pain from a roadside bomb pierces soldier's life
He and his wife endure long recovery at Wright-Pat and Georgia base that takes two years, 40 surgeries.

By Margo Rutledge Kissell

Staff Writer

Sunday, November 25, 2007

For two years Elizabeth Bowen watched her husband, Ryan, endure more than 40 surgeries, frequent nightmares and the devastating effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Two years of a recovery that never seemed to follow a straight line.


So when her husband called distraught from a hotel room near Fort Stewart, Ga., she knew what to tell him: Go to the base hospital.

It was Oct. 26 and Ryan already had been in Georgia for six weeks, much of it spent waiting for word from the Army medical board that would determine his level of disability for injuries he received when a roadside bomb exploded under his tank in Baghdad during his second tour.

The 24-year-old Army specialist had just said goodbye to friends heading to Iraq for a third tour. "Some of these guys I've known since the first time," he said.

Back in his hotel room, his mind began racing. He started pacing, hyperventilating. Then he began to cry.

After talking to Elizabeth, he called a friend. The soldier, just days away from leaving the Army, gave him a choice. He could go to the hospital — or go to the bar.

There were countless nights over the past two years when that choice was no choice at all. Alcohol was his great escape.

But this time was different. This time Ryan Bowen chose the hospital.

"I didn't want one of those nights where I broke everything in the hotel or hurt myself," he said.
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You really need to read the rest especially if your spouse is going through any of these kind of nights. The nights are the worst for them.

In the 23 years we've been married, my husband and I have never slept in the same bed all night together. It was either he was on the couch, or I was. A couple of hours was just about all we could take before the tension made both of us uneasy. He couldn't stand anyone near him at night. This, I discovered on our honeymoon, would be a problem in our marriage unless we found a happy medium. We did. As a result there were many nights when I would hear more than the TV on all night long. I would wake to a loud noise, only to find something else had been broken. A remote control was usually the fatality. I eventually learned to not place any real attachment to things in our house. Jack would always try to go out and replace whatever it was or come close to it,but it was never the same.

Nightmares are just a part of all this. One of my first lessons in waking him up from a nightmare came from a fist clinched and another hand reaching out for my throat. He stopped himself in time and figured out where he was as it dawned on him who I was. (Not the enemy.) We all learn to adjust to things that are just not possible to have in this kind of marriage. Some have it a little better. They get to sleep in the same bed as their spouse. To them I strongly suggest you do not touch them if they are in the middle of a nightmare, because they are not really next to you. They are back there. Get out of bed so that they can't reach you. Go to the foot of the bed and gently call out their name. If that fails, gently touch their foot as you say their name. Do not shout. Black eyes happen too often and there have also been many broken noses.

When their nerves are on edge, so are your's. If you know where all of this is coming from, it's easier to get out of the way of it and not blame yourself. You have absolutely nothing to do with what they are going through but you have everything to do with how well they heal from it. Until they are ready, it is a daily prayer and finding the patience and strength to get through it all. I had to keep reminding myself what he was like in the beginning when PTSD was mild. Keep reassuring yourself that he or she, is still in there beneath the pain.

One other thing is that no matter how much you know, no matter how much knowledge you have on this subject, you will not be perfect in any of this. I still blow up as if I'm dealing with a person who is "normal" even though I know there is absolutely nothing "normal" about a combat veteran. Even the ones who come home seemingly fine without PTSD have their share of issues to overcome. We are a nation of over 300 million people yet we only have about 17 million combat veterans. They are in now way "normal" because war is not part of normal life. You will never understand them totally. After 25 years, I'm still learning things about them and there is still much more I will never know. When you put yourself in their place, you understand that what they are going through is a normal reaction to a series of very abnormal events. We can understand people dealing with PTSD when it is a one shot deal like a tornado or hurricane but we fail to understand when it happens to them day in and day out.


It still amazes me when Jack finally notices something that is obviously different. I've cut my hair a hundred times and drastically changed the style. Usually he notices about a month later when he looks at me and wonders when I did it. I've lost and gained a lot of weight only to lose it again and he never notices. At least he doesn't until I have to go out and buy new clothes.

I'm still not quite sure if it's mostly anger or defense that makes him crash things in the middle of the night. Sometimes it's both. It gets very frustrating for them to not be able to sleep all the way through the night peacefully. Even medications have Jack waking up every night but he is glad he can at least go back to sleep a lot sooner now with them.

If your husband or wife is going through this, it is extremely important that you are able to talk about it with someone who will understand. Holding it in isn't good for you because you begin to think there is something wrong with you. Find groups or a trusted friend to talk about it with. They don't need to give you advice because as much as they care about you, unless they are going through it, their advice is usually wrong. They tend to blame them instead of trying to understand. That's people in general. You're much better off with some with an open mind or experience. As the DOD and the VA ramp up help for them, they should also be setting up support groups and counseling for spouses. We need it as badly as they do.

Fresh off two, back-to-back tours in Iraq, a troubled Marine reservist faced a judge

McKinney later told police that Roberts has issues with civilian society and experiences flashbacks from Iraq. He recently told her he doesn't trust himself. She said he needs professional help for mental health issues but refuses to see anyone.

Iraq Veteran Faces Charges
Threatened Girlfriend, According To Police
By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY Courant Staff Writer
October 25, 2007
MANCHESTER - Fresh off two, back-to-back tours in Iraq, a troubled Marine reservist faced a judge Wednesday on charges of pointing a loaded shotgun at his girlfriend and throwing a knife at her.

With "USMC" tattooed on his neck, Riaan Roberts, 25, of Chestnut Street, stood expressionless before the judge during his arraignment in Superior Court in Manchester.

The charges against him, which include first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree unlawful restraint and third-degree assault, stem from a bizarre incident with his girlfriend early Tuesday. According to police, Roberts insulted the woman, threw a knife at her and pointed a loaded shotgun at her in their Manchester apartment where officers found three guns - two shotguns and a rifle - four knives and boxes of ammunition.
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Wounded Wives veterans care lacking, wives care missing

PTSD
Name: Josie Salzman
Posting date: 8/13/07
Husband: returned from Iraq
Hometown: Menomenie, WI
Milblog url: lifeinacrackerbox.blogspot.com

I sit tonight in the kitchen of the Fisher House just staring at the TV while trying to collect my thoughts. The country has been informed that the Army has realized there is a need for more mental health professionals to aid soldiers returning from war with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). They claim to be adding two hundred new employees to help combat the never-ending war that remains in our loved ones' minds. I wish more than anything that tonight I could take a deep breath, relax, and fall asleep with the confidence that our military is taking the proper steps to ensure my family is able to heal from the violence we have encountered.

Unfortunately, that's not an option.

One of the first nights I had with my husband after his injury will forever be burned into my mind. He had been in an excruciating amount of pain the entire evening. It was still early in his hospital stay so the doctors had yet to find a pain cocktail that his body responded to. Just like the evening before, the nurse entered the room and handed J.R. a cup filled to the top with pills. Desperate to make the pain subside for a few hours, J.R. swallowed them in one giant mouthful. An hour later he was drifting off to sleep.

I started making my bed for the night after I was sure he was sleeping. This would be my second night of sleeping in the foldout chair that I would soon learn to hate. I had no more than crawled under the covers when J.R. sat bolt upright in bed. "Get them off me. Get them off me now. The bugs, they're all over me, get them off. They're in the bed. Make them go away."

Unsure of what he was talking about, I jumped out of bed and rushed to calm him down. After a grueling twenty minutes he was able to once again close his eyes. It didn't last. Again his mind took over in his sleep. This time he felt as if someone was in the room and he was under attack. He awoke panicked and sweat-soaked. I sat on his bed and held him in my arms. I promised him that if he just closed his eyes he would be able to sleep and that everything would be fine. I was in the room and I was going nowhere. But everything wasn't fine. No more than an hour after he closed his eyes the terror began. On this night J.R. would relive the entire accident.

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