AFTER VET FELLED BY PTSD, SERVICE DOG HONOR AIDS FAMILY NOW

AP ^ | 7 Nov 2015 | ALLEN G. BREED

[DUMBGRUNT]

He was both gunman and hostage, and, as he told a friend who was trying desperately to make him surrender, it was time for him to be "put down." When he fired at the officers, they returned fire, striking him nine times.

And so, this summer when he saw his master lying in the flag-draped casket, Honor pushed through the clutch of weeping family members, reared up, placed his paws on the edge and tried to climb in. Unable to comfort Baker, the lanky black dog in the camouflage-patterned vest curled up underneath.

[DUMBGRUNT]

Rest easy brother, rest easy.

[South40]

[American Quilter]

He’s with God now, safe and serene, his suffering fallen away like his earthly body, his soul free and joyful. And he’ll be united with Honor again when it’s time. May God comfort his wife and children in their grief.

[GBA]

Honor pushed through the clutch of weeping family members, reared up, placed his paws on the edge and tried to climb in. Unable to comfort Baker, the lanky black dog in the camouflage-patterned vest curled up underneath.

And with that, I lost it...those losses sure do take their toll and I guess I must have been holding too much in for too long.

Praise to you, Heavenly Father, for giving us dogs.

Good boy, Honor. It's not your fault, boy, you did your best and you made his bad bearable until his worst got finally got him.

[DUMBGRUNT]

Seeing the photo makes me feel even worse.

One bright spot from the weekend edition of the WSJ.
Use google to jump the paywall if necessary.

Healing the Brains of American GIs 1107
Intrepid Centers are making remarkable progress against the ‘signature wounds’ of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/healing-the-brains-of-american-gis-1446852112

One example: Army Sgt. Rodrigue Jean-Paul was hit by mortar fire and numerous blasts in Afghanistan. In a videotaped interview about the spirit centers, he says that when he came back from war he was creating havoc at home and was on the road to “hurt somebody or kill myself.”

Sgt. Jean-Paul came to the Intrepid Spirit Center at Fort Campbell, and his daughter, Deanna, says she has “seen the change my dad has gone through.” She calls it “Dad 2.0.” Without the treatment, Sgt. Jean-Paul says, he’d probably be dead. In other words, by helping a soldier, the Intrepid Spirit Center helped restore a family.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Baker told his sister that, while in the desert, he'd stumbled across an Iraqi soldier and shot him when he reached into his uniform. The man, he later realized, was reaching for photos of his children.

He's suffering from PTSD because of people he killed in wartime and to redeem himself he commits suicide by cop, thus forcing some poor cops to have to live with killing him and possibly suffering the same effects.

[DUMBGRUNT]

Thank You.

[DUMBGRUNT]

Praise to you, Heavenly Father, for giving us dogs.

Honor, with his wife and children gave him a respite from the pain.

See the link in #5, a good start.

[Ditter]

Hands up don’t shoot!

Reach into your pocket and you are going to get shot. I guess no one ever told him.

Very sad.

[Little Bill]

Don't take this wrong but I don't understand PTSD. I grew up in an old industrial city and ALL my pals, about 50, served in Vietnam, mainly as grunts.

All came back and after a period of adjustment got jobs, got married, and retired to Florida.

I did two tours in Vietnam and saw two cases of people flipping out. Both were long service types who served in Korea. The worst was a fellow Squad Leader who during TET ,when we were getting hit with rockets and mortars all day and all night, wrapped himself up in flack jackets retreated into a bunker and refused to come out.

Aside from that I never saw a case of PTSD after I got out just adjustment difficulties that went away in a few months.

[DUMBGRUNT]

True, and also very sad.

Perhaps worse, While in country and hospitals, I was with my own kind.

When I set out into the real world, I was sheltered by the WWII and Korea vets, and they were everywhere. When I retired (IIRC) there was ONE VETERAN left in the building.

The unfortunate coppers stepped over an invisible line into the depths of hell. Nothing like you see on TV.

[South40]

The PGR was there to honor this warrior for his service.

https://www.patriotguard.org/showthread.php?407751-Wade-Baker-USA-GWOT-Marshalltown-IA-29-AUG-15&highlight=Wade+Baker

[oh8eleven]

but I don't understand PTSD
I think it's safe to say most combat vets suffer PTSD to some degree, but like your friends, the vast majority deal with it and get on with their lives.
But then there are those who see themselves as "victims," who claim PTSD is the root of their problems despite the fact the vast majority of them never saw combat.
In other words - the "gravy train" has arrived and they want in.

[GBA]

Yep, it was a team effort to bring him all the way back home.

I can't help but curse, and I know to forgive, those who took him and others away, but then didn't bring him and them back.

...but it might take me a while to let go of the hatred I want to let myself feel for them and for the damage they've caused and left to fester.

May God have mercy on them. I'm not sure I would.

[Little Bill]

If you remember growing up in the ‘60’s and looking out over your peers you had an instinctive feeling about who was going to be a looser and who wasn't.

When you were reinserted into the world after being in the Nam you noticed that your guess was probably correct.

As for victims, I had to do some counseling for some Psych courses I was taking. This was mostly Nam veterans you are correct about the victims problem.

Back when I was an active FReeper we developed a series of questions to separate the wheat from the chaff.

When were you there, Who were you with. That was the start.

[DUMBGRUNT]

It is my opinion that we were helped along by the old ones from WWII and Korea, they were everywhere.

The CEO of the company I worked for was a WWII Navy officer of some distinction, I never knew it until years later from his obituary. He was the Big guy, I Was not sure if he knew my name!
Years later the old guys said that he “took care of me”!

Today in church they ask for the vets to stand, not that many. The said about 12% of Americans, the minister was career Army.

I believe we had an ‘invisible’ safety net.

[Little Bill]

I joined the VFW in 1967 when I was still in the army. I joined a post after I was discharged and they treated us like Sh*t. We Quit that post and took over a smaller post that was more compatible. I am a Life Member.

[DUMBGRUNT]

and they treated us like Sh*t.

I have heard that many times.
I have heard from many about the 'BIG ONE, we won...

Before I moved up the food chain, I used the VA (early 70's)
I never encountered any of that crap at the VA.
Yes interservice rivalry and unit to unit fun.

I did join the Order of the Purple Heart.

[Safetgiver]

I find the VFW to be an outlet for every officer elected to be a thief and graft purveyor. Sad. I left and never went looked back. If it wasn’t thievery, it was selling drugs openly.

[ponygirl]

About 2 months ago, I found this extraordinary paper online about Post Traumatic Stress and how the author was proposing it not be classified as a "disorder," but as an injury. He detailed very specific research about the damage done, the how and the why the symptoms can actually become worse over time if left untreated. It was sourced with a huge bibliography in the back. The guy was affiliated with an naturopathic center, but the paper covered all types of treatments, including western, eastern and alternative therapies (such as service animals). When I bookmarked the page, something told me to also print it out, so I did. It's still sitting here on my coffee table because I haven't finished it yet (it runs 77 pages).

I was going to link to it here, but it is GONE. It's gone from the website without mention, and the paper has been deleted from Google docs. I cannot find the paper anywhere on Google or in the Wayback Machine.

Why?