V.A. hires vets to go find comrades who need help

V.A. hires vets to go find comrades who need help

www.examiner.com

MIAMI (Map, News) - Derek Graner can scan a crowd of veterans and pick out those needing help.

The former Army sergeant developed post traumatic stress disorder in Iraq and knows the signs - the withdrawal, the restlessness, the distrust.

"Sometimes there is a certain look in their eye," he said.

Graner is one of 100 former service members hired nationally by the Department of Veterans Affairs as outreach specialists to help get Iraq and Afghanistan veterans into programs aimed at easing their transition back to civilian life.

(visit the link for the full news article)

The Veterans Administration has been in operation since World War II to help veterans returning from overseas with the G.I. Bill for education, VA loans for houses, etc. But returning veterans from Vietnam were not well served by either the government or civilians who did not understand the psychological trauma they had been exposed to.

It's good to see that the current returning vets will have better care and counseling, and a better understanding of the mental stresses they have undergone.

It looks like the new administration is paying better attention to the needs of the veterans as was promised during the campaign.

www.examiner.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is a fantastic policy!

Reduce veteran unemployment and help other veterans at the same time.

I always knew Shinseki would do well... one of the few Obama picks I liked.

The Vets could use any help that comes their way after Fuhrer Bush's benefit and medical-cutting schemes for Veterans were enacted in 2005.

Veterans with PTSD are able to identify those in the same shape anywhere they encounter them.... Even people that have family members with combat related PTSD will walk up and say," You're a Vietnam vet aren't you?" When asked, "How did you know?" the response is, "you've got the look", or something like that..... It really doesn't matter how we dress, wear our hair or where we are, people that are familiar with "the look" or the survival behaviours that we exhibit can tell. Others notice that we are different, they often appear to be uneasy in our presence or actually afraid of us.... I sometimes have to divert my eyes away from younger people to not scare them or they will not be able to make eye contact with me.... Going into a grocery store or anywhere else can be one hell of an uncomfortable experience.... There are a lot of old farts like us hiding out all over this country and some in other countries where they are more readily accepted, due to people seeing the difference more of a cultural thing..... Most of us don't wear garb that proclaim that we are war vets or that we have even been in the military, it is something that we don't want to identify with unless we are around other vets, but even that isn't therapeutic for a number of us.

reply to post by hypervigilant

Thank you for your service to us, my family, and the whole country.

reply to post by Sestias

Thank you. A lot of the guys that went to Vietnam went through hell and came back to be ostracised by there peers and the veterans that fought in Word War Two and Korea..... The guys that are in Afghanistan and Iraq are seeing even more action though I'd like to believe they are living under better conditions than those of us that were grunts on the D.M.Z.... So many f them have yet to feel the full force of what they have experienced and are running on hope that they will acquire the American Dream that won't be available to many of them..... Soon the bravado they proudly display will succumb to anger and depression that is complicated by anxiety and distrust of anything that is related to the system of beliefs that they bought into that caused them to want to or accept serving in the military..... They will devise coping mechanisms that will only mask the underlying mess of a person that is hiding inside what appears to be a normal being..... Some will do well for many years, before coming unglued, others will drink or drug, have endless relationships that won't work, be self destructive, and die young or ruin their health and languish for years in misery.....When we are young we use denial to not have to admit we are at a disadvantage. We use drugs or alcohol, religion, sexual conquest, fast cars and motorcycles or anything that can duplicate the rush of surviving death knowing that it is always in reach of you..... You know that you were lied to about why there was a war and it make you question the motives of everyone unless you decide to be the predator and be the one that they can't trust.... I think that the best thing that could be done would be to have Veteran Centers like President Carter had set up, in areas that have higher concentrations of War veterans and travel pay and lodging for those that live a great distance from them. there are quite a few older vets with P.T.S.D. and drawing disability that might be able to take what they have learned along with some counselling training that could work to assist these guys and gather information for the professional Psychiatrist, psychologist, social workers and other professionals to utilize in developing treatment programs and services that could improve the lives of these people and their families..... Things are pretty bleak for these guys now as far as they are concerned. Would you trust anyone after doing what they had to do and find out it was to put money into the pockets of the War Profiteers and Oil Companies, while we were being robbed by the financial industries.

reply to post by hypervigilant

I guess there must be thousands of others who have the same experiences you have had.

I would like to hear more ideas from other people, especially vets like yourself.

It sometimes seems that a thread like this one, which has a little good news at least, just doesn't draw the same attention as a really negative or outraged one.

But I'm posting this comment in the hopes that the thread will come back up on the first page and draw some more attention. There's much more to be said on the subject.