The Unseen Cost of War

The Unseen Cost of War: American Minds
SeattlePI, August 27 edition

This is a really good and comprehensive article that covers the spectrum of responses, problems and barriers to treatment. It also points out the rarely mentioned difference in reaction between the reservist serving in the war-zone and the career, volunteer soldier:

"But PTSD specialists say reservists and National Guard soldiers appear particularly vulnerable. War is not the full-time job of the estimated 160,000 'weekend warriors' now in Iraq -- civilian soldiers who have been called up in the largest numbers since World War II. They have off-duty lives, careers and demands back home that increase stress."

And there is the Nam Factor: "Anger and insomnia are common symptoms of PTSD. So is the numbness one counselor calls "a freezing of the heart. A hardened heart may serve in battle. Back home, still numb, it creates its own kind of pain....

"Comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam are frequent in counseling circles. While an estimated 2 percent to 10 percent of veterans exposed to combat in the brief 1991 Gulf War developed combat-related PTSD, in Vietnam it was an estimated 30 percent."

The similarities pointed out in the article are troubling and belie those who say the Vietnam experience is irrelevant. From the article:

* In Iraq, as in Vietnam, it's not always clear who the enemy is. Iraqi fighters don't wear uniforms, they fade in and out of crowds. And in the pressure cooker of urban warfare, it may be a grandparent or grandchild waving hello with one hand and holding a crudely improvised bomb with the other. "You find yourself asking, 'Is that a toy gun or a real gun?' " said one returning soldier.

* Soldiers in Iraq, like those in Vietnam, face danger 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from a 360-degree sweep around them. The study in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates 95 percent of Marines and Army soldiers in Iraq have been shot at, 56.5 percent have killed an enemy combatant and 94.5 percent have seen bodies or human remains. Ambushes, sneak attacks, random mortar fire and roadside bombings are standard enemy operations. But fighting can get up close and personal in patrols and raids. "Everyone is vulnerable most all of the time," said Steve Hunt, director of the deployment health clinic at the VA Medical Center in Seattle.

* As in Vietnam, some soldiers in Iraq find the mission confusing. Are they putting their lives on the line for a war, an occupation, a liberation? "We never really knew what was going on. We were told, 'We're here to do good, to help Iraqis, they want us here.' And we know that's just pep talk from politicians -- a bunch of professional liars," said an Army infantryman recently home on leave from Iraq and counting the days till he leaves the service."

While there are many expressions of personal experiences now available on the Internet via Weblogs and other sources, the story of the Marine reservist near the end of the article is compellingly touching. His story alone is worth the read.