SBAND Seminar Materials 2013 Free Ethics: Echoes of War The Combat Veteran | Page 11

"People  aren’t  designed  to  be  exposed  to  the  horrors  of  combat  repeatedly.    And  it  wears  on   them,"  General  George  Casey,  then-­?Army  Chief  of  Staff,  stated  in  a  2008  press  conference.36   General  Casey  was  announcing  the  results  of  a  recent  Army  study,  which  found  that  levels   of  PTSD  climb  significantly  with  repeated  combat  deployments.37         Evidence  indicates  that  combat  operations  in  Iraq  are  very  intense.    According  to  a   2004  study  conducted  by  the  Walter  Reed  Army  Institute  of  Research,  which  surveyed   combat  infantrymen  just  back  from  Iraq:   -­?  94  percent  reported  receiving  small-­?arms  fire;   -­?  86  percent  reported  knowing  someone  who  was  injured  or  killed;   -­?  68  percent  reported  seeing  dead  or  seriously  injured  Americans;   -­?  51  percent  reported  handling  or  uncovering  human  remains;   -­?  77  percent  reported  shooting  or  directing  fire  at  the  enemy;   -­?  48  percent  reported  being  responsible  for  the  death  of  enemy  combatants;   -­?  28  percent  reported  being  responsible  for  the  death  of  a  noncombatant.38     Note  that  the  above-­?study  was  conducted  in  2004,  early  in  the  war  and  the  troops  surveyed   in  that  study  had  only  completed  one  combat  tour.    Many  of  those  same  troops  have  now   likely  served  two,  three,  four  or  more  tours  and  the  statistics  cited  above  would  certainly   be  much  higher  today.   Unfortunately,  the  Veterans’  Administration  (VA)  was  not  initially  provided   sufficient  additional  funding  to  handle  the  large  influx  of  Iraq  and  Afghan  vets  seeking   PTSD  treatment.    Several  highly  publicized  scandals,  one  of  which  involved  a  Minnesota   Marine  who  killed  himself  after  reportedly  being  turned  away  from  a  VA  hospital,  have   forced  the  government  to  significantly  increase  resources  toward  necessary  psychological   care.39    Today,  care  for  our  psychologically  injured  veterans  is  improving.     Greg  Zoroya,  Findings  of  Army  Health  Study,  Fifth  of  Soldiers  at  PTSD  Risk,  USA  TODAY,  Mar.  6,  2008,   http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2008-­?03-­?06-­?soldier-­?stress_N.htm?csp=34.   37  Id.  (citing  Mental  Health  Advisory  Team  (MHAT)  V,  supra  note  3).   38  Charles  W.  Hoge  et  al.,  Combat  Duty  in  Iraq  and  Afghanistan,  Mental  Health  Problems,  and  Barriers  to  Care,  351   NEW  ENG.  J.  MED.  13,  18  (2004).   39  Kevin  Giles,  This  Marine’s  Death  Came  After  He  Served  in  Iraq:    When  Jonathan  Schulze  Came  Home  From  Iraq,   He  Tried  to  Live  a  Normal  Life,  But  the  War  Kept  That  From  Happening,  MINNEAPOLIS  STAR  TRIB.,  Jan.  26,  2007;   Charles  M.  Sennott,  Told  to  Wait,  A  Marine  Dies:  VA  Care  in  Spotlight  after  Iraq  War  Veteran’s  Suicide,  BOSTON   GLOBE,  Feb.  11,  2007;  Dan  Ephron  &  Sarah  Childress,  How  the  U.S.  Is  Failing  Its  War  Veterans,  NEWSWEEK,  Mar.  5,   2007.   36 11