Berta

[gdsnide]

Berta,

Since I read what you said about the book "Stolen Valor: & how U got mad each time U tried to read it & never finished it I had to get that book.

I got it thru my Local Library & must agree this Fellow sure doesn't think much of the Vietnam Vets who have any sort of problems,Illness' &/or Diseases.

He writes a good book & someone not framiliar with the situation sure could be sucked in by it.

Seems like he thinks every vet that files a claim is a phony.

I kind of wonder if he has ever been in the Military.

He slufs off Agent Orange as being over blown & that the Media picked it up & blew it all out of proporation.

Also, that the Drug Companies paid off the Vets to the tune of 180 Million Dollars because they didn't want to be bothered.

I agree with U 100% this guy is some kind of NUT.

But, he must have sold a lot of books if the Public Libraries picked up on them.

"Waiting For An Army To Die" is more realistic.

I read it once but my memory sucks so bad I put in a request for it again.

I reccomend that one.

Also, he ( The Agent Orange Expert.. NOT) referred to another book entitled " The Wounded Generation"

He had a very low opinion of it so must be something pro Veteran.

I just figured I'd let you know U are still helping me ( Which U have for a long time) by providing me with a reading list.

Interesting to read what this guy says as he claims to be the Granddaddy of all Investigators & no one else has ever bothered to check any Vets Military Files.

If he ever filed a Claim he would find out how throughly the VA can be checking Veterans Records.

I find it hard if not impossible that he has done half of what he claims in the book.

He can tell U every Vet that lied on anything. Which I find to be an out right lie as he was not there at the time so how could he possibility say that?

But, the good ole 2nd Amendment is alive & well.

Again, Thank U for all your time & patience in helping me. It worked.

GARY

[Pete53]

Actually Burkette has caused a lot of ill will between Veterans. Let him chase the wannabess someone should do it but he almost wrecked a VVA Chapeter in Dallas that was the first one in Texas. Not all Vets are liars and PTSD is real. If you don't think so look at what is going to come up from the hurricane survivors who get it from New Orleans.

I also think that our soldiers sent to Iraq and Afghanistan are going to suffer heavily from it.

[Jay Johnson]

Those that deny the existence of PTSD due to war, rape, molestation, etc are usually the ones with the deepest seeded problems. I have spent a lot of time researching people with PTSD and I have found that people who go out of their way to denounce the existence of such problems are usually sufferers themselves that do not have the strength to confront their own problems; therefore, they over compensate by belittling everyone else in order to prove to themselves that nothing is wrong. I also feel that these are the people most likely to actually snap and commit suicide and/or homicide.

A better example acn actually be found in the many victims in the country of sexual abuse. Most women I have met that have been raped/molested are quick to point out the flaws in other women who have been through similar circumstances...it's like by admitting that the other women are justified in their behaviour, as a result of sexual trauma, they must also admit their own faults (kind of like looking in a mirror). IMO, one of the reasons why rape is such a problem in this country is that other rape victims will not support one-another...it has taken the better part of 3 yrs to get my wife to empathize with other rape victims and to see herself through them. After all, the biggest problem with PTSD is admitting your own limitations and to admit the limitations of others is to admit your own.

[Guest Berta]

"I also think that our soldiers sent to Iraq and Afghanistan are going to suffer heavily from it."

Pete- you are right and I believe this is one reason for the PTSD reviews-the VA sees the potential of

future PTSD comp at the expense of those who presently have comp from other wars and events.

Gary- I thought Burkett was a Vietnam vet but I must have gotten that wrong-

another side of the coin is this- the other day I was trying to find a BVA case and came upon one that was just awful- the vet was a bonafide wannabee from the git go- with numerous disabilities he claimed due to service-but his med recs revealed that he didnt even have most of these disabilities at all , absolutely no nexus to his service for any of them, and his military records were in complete disparity to his claimed military experiences.

It was almost as if the vet made everything up just to see of he would somehow get any comp at all.

This ticked me off to- I dont see much like this but here this vet (if he WAS a vet) took up the time of the VARO and the BVA to get a denial. There was no attempt at all made by the veteran to prove anything he was saying in his claims. Sure the time it took to go through his records and then deny him might not have been a lot of time-taken from a bonafide claim- it just somehow ticked me off that this guy

thought somehow that his claim was valid. I wondered how the BVA people viewed the next couple of PTSD claims they got. You know it only takes one experience with a wannabee to get kind of leary of some PTSD claims. I had a wannabee with a PTSD diagnosis who had a phenomenal war experience.

Secret Missions in Cambodia, incoming into an area with no documented incoming, horrific visions of Korean atrocities during Vietnam War, it was all possible but none of it was probable, in this vet's case.

He dressed like a trip wire, lived in the boonies with bungy sticks, the whole 9 yards, and

was extremely convincing.The VA even put him into the 21 day PTSD program but that is where they knew for sure the lack of dcumentation of his stressors was due to an overactive imagination or too many war movies and not fact.

I spent a lot of time trying to find proof of his so called stressors and it almost tainted my view of the next REAL PTSD vet I helped.

Jay - that was quite a post-you said some very important things.Two friends of mine who have professional jobs with the public definitely exhibit PTSD- both decorated Nam vets, they have problems at work and at home that they share with me but yet will not quite admit that maybe this is PTSD-although one says he knows he is in denial over his PTSD-a true oxymoron and I pointed out to him that this is his way of acknowledging it ,then getting it back on a mental shelf real quick. That shelf gets so full it can crumble.

They are both in a predicament I understand-as professionals they fear the PTSD stigma. Also the public they deal with could find out and they fear this would damage their professional work.

Then again those arguments really wont hold up well if they really make a significant error at work or the wife leaves them- due to PTSD.

One of these guy told me that, since he did have a prosperous clientel, this shows that he is dealing with his PTSD -if he really has it. The other guy claims that he couldnt have the biggest house on the block if he was really nuts. Then he often admits he must be nuts.

Denial is the name of the game here-and I believe that this type of denial is prevalent in many successful veterans-if you base success on homes, cars, a good job and money-

The funny thing is that PTSD is PTSD regardless of who has it. Regardless of any status as to job etc.

These are the closet PTSD cases, when all of a sudden out of the blue-as you recognise too Jay-

it can become a fullblown anxiety attack or worse, even lead to a heart attack, or the sudden recognition of the inner anger that one can have over the stressors in their lives, becomes projected onto others with devastating results.

When our veteran congressmen and senators are interviewed around Veterans day and Pearl Harbor Day etc, I note that many have tears in their eyes and become visibly shaken when some of them recall their own war experiences. I have no doubt that many of our countrys leaders suffer from PTSD.

It is so sad that it is becoming associated with a wannabee scenario when , in fact, it should be honored as any sacrifice from war. And military rape victims- the stigma is sure there too -how could that PTSD be any different from warfare PTSD. It is an outrage when you realise that war stress cannot really be prevented but a rape depends on someone making a terrible choice to rape. It is literally an act of war against a person's body. I blame a lot of misunderstanding about PTSD on the civilian public. They often just do not have a clue. nor do they want to know what it is all about.

[john999]

My neighbor had PTSD. My father-in-law had it. I think my own father had it from being in bombardments in WW2. It exists for sure. I know a wanna be. They always are Special Forces and have three or four Silver Stars and spent 5 years in Vietnam. It they just said "Yeah, I was a grunt in Vietnam " it might be more convincing.

[gdsnide]

Berta,

I have been reading selected chapters in the book, will read entire book. but the more I read the more convincing this guy sounds.

Someone who has no association with the VA &/or Veterans would be taken in by him.

He claims, the way I understand it, that PTSD is a made up condition by the VA so the people in the VA can keep their jobs as we have a shrinking number of Veterans 7 only way to stay emplyed is to keep people in the system.

He claims comp. is so easy to get that anyone ( Vet or not) can get it.

In real life I have found the VA if anyting to be overly critical of the Veteran filing a claim.

He sounds very convincing but I wonder what his real agenda is?

Just another report on your book.

I would reccomend every Vet read this as I bellieve it may be the view of a lot of people.

I know I'm not NUTS as I asked the Shrink the VA has me seeing & he said NO.

So, that's good enough for me. lol

GARY

[Guest Jim S.]

qdsnide: sorry to bust your bubble, but you don't have to be Nuts, to be considered Crazy and or insane.

or for that matter, to have PTSD, which is a stress related disorder and don't be fooled for a miniute if you are paranoid that someone is after you, doesn't always mean that someone isn't after you.

Jim S.