ptsd Triggers - Vietnam Veterans, Discharged Under Cloud, File Suit Saying Trauma Was Cause

[carlie]

By JAMES DAO

Published: December 2, 2012

"NEW HAVEN In the summer of 1968, John Shepherd Jr. enlisted in the Army, figuring that the draft would get him anyway. By January 1969, he was in the Mekong Delta, fighting with the Ninth Infantry Division.

Within a month, his patrol was ambushed, and Mr. Shepherd responded by tossing a hand grenade into a bunker that killed several enemy soldiers. The Army awarded him a Bronze Star with a valor device, one of its highest decorations."

Full article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/us/vietnam-veterans-claiming-ptsd-sue-for-better-discharges.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

[Philip Rogers]

It's about time! I'm sure the Gov't will fight this hard.

pr

[SP4RVN1971]

Let the war died and save the soldier that fought for our country. Everybody has a breaking point.

[john999]

Isn't what this soldier did an instance of acute combat fatigue. Thousands of troops in WWII ran away or just went to pieces during combat but only one was executed. If a good soldier suddenly just breaks down why should he be punished for the rest of his life? I know the Army's rational: "If we let a soldier refuse a direct order to go into combat then we have lost control of the troops and nobody will go". This sounds like the "Red Badge of Courage" where the same soldier can be a coward and a hero in the same day.

[SP4RVN1971]

Your right John999!

[jbasser]

It is a sad situation. Have we ever seen the Army or the VA get anything right without having to fight tooth and nail for it for a very long time and then on occasion still have them do us wrong?

These guys need to be upgraded and awarded benefits. The VA is hiding behind a wall of Bullcrap called the DOD and its fabrcated personality disorders just to get rid of people and they are doing it again as I am typing this one out.

J