Soldier's Heart

The single most defining article I have read was printed in the local Austin Chronicle in December 2004. Actually, it was commissioned by the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, written by Dan Frosh, and printed nationwide specifically in weekly magazines. This was the story that initiated the Returning Warriors program. Here is a link to that article in the Chronicle: December 24, 2004.

Aside from the example stories, there were a few paragraphs that caught my attention:

"There are thousands of Operation Iraqi Freedom soldiers across the country like Joshua Peterson. They are coming home with minds twisted by what they've seen and done in Iraq.

"A December 2003 Army study - published in The New England Journal of Medicine - found that approximately 16% of soldiers returning from Iraq were suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a psychologically debilitating condition causing intense nightmares, paranoia, and anxiety. But that study is already out of date."

What we know is that the armed forces as a whole don't have the resources -- or in some cases the appropriate approach -- to address the problem. Those that DO have a clue are underfunded. However, the VA's response in Iron Hammer is to put their soldiers in a room and talk for hours about PTSD and how they should be acting, then declaring them "cured" and sending them home.

They are now experimenting with application of the drug Ecstacy as a way to induce patients to "let down their emotional guard and feel free to talk." Is it better treatment to stip away the person's protection and make them "feel" safe? ... or to make them REALLY safe?

More from the article:
"At the same time, there is mounting concern over the system designed to help: the Department of Veterans Affairs. Numerous reports show the VA does not have many of the essential services veterans desperately need. 'I don't know how many people are going to be seeking treatment, or whether the demand is going to be met by available resources,' acknowledged Matthew Friedman, executive director of the VA's National Center for PTSD. 'What I am confident [about] is that people who come for treatment will get good treatment.'

"Yet the VA's mental health programs are chronically underfunded, and the agency currently projects a $1.65 billion shortfall in those programs by the end of 2007. 'If we don't give the VA what it needs immediately, the consequences will be lifelong and devastating,' says Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center."

What we are looking at here is the reintroduction to society of young men and women, many of whom were snatched from their jobs and sent into war zones virtually overnight. Extended stays and for many enforced call-backs ensued. Now months later those returning home find that their lives -- and personalities -- have been changed forever.

Welcome

Everyone is invited to contribute their thoughts and experiences to this weblog. We recognize the tremendous sacrifice our Warriors have made in the service of their coutry, and we know the sometimes horrific toll it takes on body, mind and spirit.

In ancient, as well as in many current indigenous tribal cultures, when Warriors returned from battle they were not allowed to re-enter the tribe immediately. The War Chief first led his Warriors into the wilderness for days, weeks or months of cleansing. Through bathing, burial, and other shamanic ritual practices, the "burning blood" was dissipated and the Warrior Spirit calmed.

Only then were the Warriors allowed to return to the tranquility of the tribe.

Our culture has no such ritual, no such process for our Returning Warriors. Since our earliest wars, we have simply sent our soldiers home after conflict to resume their "normal" lives as though nothing had ever happened. The result of this oversight has been massive trauma to both the individual and the community. Left to themselves, even with current post trauma psychological support, our Returning Warriors are unprepared to reconstruct their lives and rediscover who they were before the War.

Many World Wars I and II veterans simply do not speak of their war experiences at all, and veterans of conflicts since also are scarred by the post traumatic stress. The result of returning our soldiers directly back to their families, communities and society without the opportunity to release the Warrior Spirit has been horrifying.

Broken lives, broken families, broken minds.

And today, the reported incidence of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among our soldiers returning from Iraq, in particular, is appearing more quickly, more severely than ever before.

If you are a Returning Warrior or you want to express your support and understanding, you are invited to participate. The more we know, the better we will all be able to close the circle and help in the transition.