Posted on 04/29/2019 2:01:00 PM PDT by Chainmail
I was listening to the Larry O'Connor Show this afternoon on WMAL and while he was discussing the latest mass shooter atrocity at the synagogue in Poway, a caller named Todd called in and described being in shock that VA facilities had "no security checks" and after all, "veterans have PTSD" and "could bring a weapon in at any time".
I tried to call in to the show to talk to Larry but he very shortly segued into Redskins football and the bored-sounding lady screener let me know that I wouldn't be on.
First of all, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is the completely normal human response to some period of time where the person is subjected to experiences that they would never ordinarily experience: strong, unrelenting fear, seeing people killed, including friends, and maybe suffering wounds and permanent damage. When we send our young men and lately women into combat, they are all in some way changed by that experience. During my war, the war in Vietnam, we had mines and booby traps that made you watch the ground very carefully, snipers that could pick you out of a group and kill you, mortar and rocket attacks to hit you in your positions, and ambushes, night attacks, infiltrators, and so on.
PTSD or the "Shakes" were a given. Everyone had some form of it and when we got back, it caused nightmares, the Fliches, maybe broken marriages, maybe drinking, and in some rare cases, suicide.
It has almost never caused violence against others. That was a Hollywood myth that sold a lot of tickets during the aftermath of our war - you know, the "Crazed Vietnam Vet" going bugeyed nuts at the smallest provocation and slaughtering everyone their paths. You know, Rambo and Billy Jack and scores of others on the big screen and TV.
The reality is that most or all of us came home, adjusted, healed and went forward with our lives. If anything veterans are the most stable and solid members of our nation and all that I have see of our latest veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq confirm this view.
I wish that Larry had immediately countered that caller and came to veteran's defense but he didn't.
With all due respect ... after the Chris Kyle incident I wouldn’t want someone being treated for PTSD to be anywhere near me with a firearm.
Well this right here is an outrage from the jump I'll tell you what.
My “war” was the Cuban Missile Crisis. My ship entered GTMO Bay to evacuate military dependents and civvy contractors. So no PTSD here. Never fired a shot in anger.
I have PTSD from escaping the bombing of the World Trade Center. It’s been a long time and most of the most intense part of the effect is gone, but to this day I cannot see an emergency vehicle (police, fire, ambulance) in action without snapping into fight-or-flight mode. At this point I know what’s happening well enough to control it.
Once in a while, however, I will snap right back to various points in time during the event as if I was there again - in the dark, smoke-filled stairwell packed in with thousands of others like sardines and barely moving... or when I came back to the scene after the escape, a surreal landscape of emergency vehicles lining block after block in every direction. It’s not as if I believe I am actually there again though, it’s just a very vivid memory that got burned in deep.
I have no idea what role PTSD played in Chris Kyle's murder - but I would suspect that the killer had other issues besides that.
Of the hundreds of thousands of actual combat veterans - who have been decent, caring men who have always headed towards, not away from danger -that incident tars us all?
No offense, ma'am, but given your post (and some previous posts of yours) I wouldn't want to anywhere near you with a firearm, either.
Early in my life I've been in a fire where I truly thought I was gonna die (my life *did* flash before my eyes).Later on I was on a flight that had a bomb threat phoned in on it.And then I worked in a big city ER for 30 years in which I witnessed more death and suffering than most people can imagine.
And yet,despite those experiences (and the many,many *very* vivid memories that are still with me),I've managed to live a reasonably normal life.
However,I've never experienced anything resembling combat.I have absolutely *no* trouble believing that combat can change a guy...often not for the better.I've been assured of this by a good buddy of mine who was in Khe Sanh during the Tet offensive.IMO any combat vet who's been injured,physically *or* psychologically,should receive all forms of assistance that they,and their families,require.
Completely agree. Not to mention, the diagnosis or self diagnosis of PTSD is thrown around so loosely that it’s lost it’s true meaning.
Completely agree. Not to mention, the diagnosis or self diagnosis of PTSD is thrown around so loosely that it’s lost it’s true meaning.
My 13 year old daughter suffered an attempted kidnapping recently and she was deeply affected. She too, suffers from PTSD.
PTSD can take many forms. I agree that most who return are not dangerous. Those that are usually have some underlying condition that PTSD makes worse
Thank you.
That’s a pretty stupid comment.
> Hope time and the love and support of those around you help you heal.
I got support at the time from one person in the immediate aftermath.
After that, nothing, from anyone.
Witnessing 9/11 later on didn’t help one bit. Made it worse, actually - I was supposed to have had an interview in the trade center that morning, but I didn’t show up because the fear of going back to that building stopped me from motivating for it.
If there was that great of a problem with PTSD millions of people would be dead.
oh, and there ain’t even a WTC bombing support group, believe it or not
if you survived 9/11 it seems everyone has a handout for you, everyone wants to know you and help you
if you survived the first attempt to bring down the buildings, absolutely no one at all cares one bit
“after the Chris Kyle incident I wouldn’t want someone being treated for PTSD to be anywhere near me with a firearm.”
That’s quite a slap in the face to the mass majority if veterans that go to war for their country and come back with such after effects. The vast majority of veterans with PTSD do not go out on shooting sprees. It would be interesting to know what the percentages are of vets that take it out on others with a gun as compared to other segments of our society.
Another slap in the face would be with people with an attitude similar to yours advocating for removing 2A rights to vets with PTSD. Imagine, suffering the horrors of war, living through it, and coming home and having no self defense or hunting rights.
PTSD does not affect us all. Many Viet Vets were just 18 when they served. My understanding is the human brain is not totally wired until age 25. With this in mind the constant fear of death, having to kill for ones country and watching others get blown to hell will really raise hell with a kids mind. It is not their fault some wind up with PTSD. They should not be shunned in the 2A department or treated as nut cases. For God’s sake, they have saved the country more than once.
Vets of our more recent wars also fit the above scenario.
I am combat vet, and coming home watching the news and Hollywood vilify Viet Vets is really no different in the discrimination department than when Blacks were made to go to the back of the bus.
I understand the sentiment, but in most respects, people with PTSD are like everyone else. Some of them are good people, some aren't. I wouldn't use PTSD as a measure of the probability of shooting up a place. Every possibility the guy carried that with him for a long time.
I avoided PTSD after flying helicopters in Vietnam. In fact, did a lot of growing up over there. But the guys who would hit the ceiling if a paper bag was popped, they were all former grunts. I respect those guys like no other.
Decades later, sudden sharp noises make me freak out for an instant. But the worst part about PTSD now is that a diagnosis for VA disability may result in confiscation of a vet’s guns. It’s not urban legend, it’s true!
I had coworkers urge me to fill out VA forms the right way for PTSD and start collecting bucks. No way, Jose.
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