Posted on 06/17/2007 2:52:46 AM PDT by FremontLives
Army Spec. Jeans Cruz helped capture Saddam Hussein. When he came home to the Bronx, important people called him a war hero and promised to help him start a new life. The mayor of New York, officials of his parents' home town in Puerto Rico, the borough president and other local dignitaries honored him with plaques and silk parade sashes. They handed him their business cards and urged him to phone.
But a "black shadow" had followed Cruz home from Iraq, he confided to an Army counselor. He was hounded by recurring images of how war really was for him: not the triumphant scene of Hussein in handcuffs, but visions of dead Iraqi children.
In public, the former Army scout stood tall for the cameras and marched in the parades. In private, he slashed his forearms to provoke the pain and adrenaline of combat. He heard voices and smelled stale blood. Soon the offers of help evaporated and he found himself estranged and alone, struggling with financial collapse and a darkening depression...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
It’s more than a disgrace, it’s criminal.
More traitors helping to demoralize the nation. Get the ropes out and let’s start clearing up this problem. Enough already.
Anyone do any research on this guy? I smell funk... putrid, rotting, steamining, stinky poopy funk! What do men that served with him have to say? This guy has an agenda... I’ll bet it is a dim agenda. Will he run for office under the symbol of the ass? Does he want welfare compensation for life? Does he have a lawsuit against our Nation? Is soros paying him? Is he friends with sheethead? Like I said... something smells funky!
LLS
I smelled something too. With this part: "Army Spec. Jeans Cruz helped capture Saddam Hussein".
Thanks to Al Gore inventing the Internet, I was able to find this..
FOX NEWSErgo, there were 600 troops involved in the operation which "helped" capture Saddam, BUT it was the The Green Berets (SF) who did the capturing.
Sunday, December 14, 2003Saddam Hussein Captured Near Tikrit
~~ snip ~~ Operation Red Dawn
About 600 U.S. troops took part in the raid that resulted in Saddam's capture,~~~ snip ~~~
Troops with Task Force 21, the special forces unit set up to go after Saddam, surrounded a farmhouse and looked for the ex-dictator in two specific locations — dubbed Wolverine One and Wolverine Two — but initially did not locate him. The search of the home continued and troops discovered something in the ground called a "spider hole." .... Odierno said that Saddam was disoriented and bewildered as he came out of the hole.
Another thing that smelled. In all the 'awards' this guy received nowhere is a Combat Infantry Badge (CIB) mentioned. And if he was really in the Infantey (4th ID) and a 'Scout' and saw combat, he'd have a CIB.
But naturally the Army lost all his records. (suuuure)
Plus in the article there's that crap about 'Dead Children Everywhere' which stinks to high heaven. It reminds me of that phony Ranger, Jesse something who was outed and now facing trial.
Yep... he probably changed oil in Humvees. I knew he was a phony. Thanks for your effort FRiend!
LLS
You're right and you're welcome :-)
There's more that I thought that busts this guy's story, but I'll save it for future reference ;-)
Most likely because the article was written by the WaPo's Dana Priest... tireless purveyor of putrid, steaming poop.
It’s hard to advocate for yourself when you are sick, with PTSD it is near impossible.
Some of the responses on this thread are precisely why many vets and soldiers with PTSD don’t come forward to get the help they need. When they do they are maligned, their patriotism and motives questioned.After all, REAL MEN don’t have problems with the aftermath of war, do they? REAL MEN just STFU.
And yes, not every award and commendation is recorded in your personnel record. I had to go the Congressman route to get records even partially fixed. Do y’all have any idea how long and how tortuous the path can be to get VA comp. or treatment for PTSD? I personally know of vets who just gave up.
VA MO is to stall until the vets just goes the hell away, and vets in mental crisis are easier to fob off.
There are men on Free Republic that could tell you horror stories of their experiences with military health care or the VA. To paraphrase a saying, the squeaky wheel gets pounded down.
And by the way, VA compensation is not lifetime welfare compensation.
Thanks for your reasoned response.
well, I did have to get up and stomp around awhile before I edited, edited, and edited some more before I pressed the post button. ;o)
I smell funk... putrid, rotting, steaming, stinky poopy funk! What do men that served with him have to say?
My now deceased older brother served in the Korean war. He saw all the above and worse. Having to walk on the dead bodies of his fellow soldiers who were rotting.
Came home and led a productive life, with no compensation I might add.
Smells like Mr. Cruz is fishing for a military hand out.
It’s nice that your brother had no problems after the war. Not every veteran is so lucky. Compensation is not a hand out.
I’d like to add that I’ve held the hands and cried with the wives of WWII and Korean war vets. Their husbands were in denial about their PTSD, and life could be hell.Everyting was kept within the family, alcoholism, spousal abuse, It wasn’t acknowledged, what real treatment was available? You know that malarkey about Vietnam vets and Afghanistan/Iraq war vets not being as tough as the older vets? It’s BS.
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