I uncovered a sad story....

[policerevolvercollector]

While doing some research on a police issued revolver that I just bought, I found the roster of officers from the gun's agency that covered the period from 1917-1920. This provided the info that I was looking for on the officer who carried my new acquisition and others who worked there.

Another one that has stuck in my mind is an officer who went into the military in WWI as many of them did. He finally returned home and got his old job back w/ the PD in 1919. According to what I read, he fatally shot himself after being back at work for about 3 weeks. I guess PTSD is not a new concept. We are constantly hearing about soldiers returning from Iraq & Afghanistan etc. w/ PTSD related mental and physical illnesses. All this begs the question, have we made any progress in transitioning our troops back to the civilian world in all this time?

 

[shouldazagged]

When I was a kid there was a late-middle-aged man in our neighborhood whom we called "the Crazy Man". Being little pre-humans with all the heedless cruelty of childhood, we'd see him loping along with his odd gait and we'd taunt him. He would then wave his arms wildly, shaking and rolling his eyes, and pretend to chase us, which we found exciting and funny.

He was a combat veteran of World War I.

The term then was "shellshock".

I'm still ashamed when I think of how we tormented him. Even at nine or ten years old we should have known better and been kinder.

 

[rwsmith]

Yep....

The term then was "shellshock".
.

Yep. They have films of WWI vets, one who couldn't stand up to walk though there was nothing physically wrong with them.

And yeah. Kids can be mean as hell. I never was a 'mean' kid but I remember hurting some people's feelings by not thinking about what I was saying.

 

[Joe Kent]

The errors we made in our youth can never be changed. We can ,however , learn from them and go forward and be better men and women and do and teach what is right and good. Be kind and friendly to each person you interact with and both you and they will have a better day. All my very best, Joe.

 

[lonejacklarry]

All this begs the question, have we made any progress in transitioning our troops back to the civilian world in all this time?

The short answer is no. The current VA situation is a perfect example. There will be a lot of hand wringing and finger pointing but, in the end, it will probably be the same.

The care in the Kansas City VA is outstanding once you get into the system. What is not outstanding is the bureaucracy that makes up the administration of the VA. This is not meant to be a political statement but a short history lesson--this is the way it has been since I came back from my two tour senior trip in 1969.

This government run health care system (actually, it is the first "single payer" system) is huge with hundreds of facilities and thousands of employees and millions of patients. The problem is that the system is set up for bonuses. If you make your quota, then you get the bonus. If a whole department makes its bonus, then the manager gets his/her bonus. If you need to alter the situation to get your bonus, then it systematically seems to be allowed. Then veterans get shuffled off into never never land. Again, this is not a new phenomenon.

The disability end of the VA is pretty bad too. I just received a decision regarding hearing loss that took 4 1/2 years from start to finish. You make up your own mind on those lag times.

Society has taken better care of the newer generation of veterans and it is certainly the right thing to do. The government, on the other hand, has not and does not give a rat's patoot. Never has and probably never will.

 

[bamabiker]

It's a terrible thing and the country should be ashamed of not doing a better job with this. It also has far reaching effects.
A while back I ran into the sister of an old girlfriend from high school. I asked how Linda was doing. The sister told me how Linda's oldest son had joined the Army and went to Iraq a couple of times. He ended his life by hanging himself.
Linda could not deal with his death. She used a handgun.

 

[feralmerril]

I still wish I knew the background of a incident I had in 1965. I had just hired in as a lockheed guard when they were still in burbank california. It was a quiet sunday morning and I was at the main gate. I seen this guy walking towards me from quite a distance down the street. Even at a long distance away I knew this guy had a problem. He was maybe in his mid late 40`s, tall, thin with a military haircut with a clean white dress shirt and slacks. He carried himself very military and obvisely had no vehicle as I had spotted walking from almost a quarter mile away.
He came up to my gate and said, "I am here to see General Eisenhower!" I said do you mean ex president Eisenhower? He didnt know his General had made president! I said what makes you think he is here? He pointed at one of our factory buildings and said, "Someone had told him he was in that building and demanded to see his General! Somehow even though I was still young and he was almost double my age I figured him instantly for a "shell shocked" vet that must have been locked up for the last 20 years and just released and wanted to report some grievance to "his general". How do you handle that? It probley was in my first month or so on the job.

 

[explorer13421]

Kipling wrote a relevant poem about the British Tommy. Google it.

A Roman wrote twenty or more centuries ago that if you want peace you must prepare for war. Human nature does not evolve very quickly. They will fight others for food, and I think you can trace most wars to economic sources, ultimately about food.

If you want to have fighters for the next war, it is prudent to take care of the fighters in the last war. If, on the other hand, you are committed to avoiding the next war, then you don't. If you think being strong is a challenge to the others that results in war, then you weaken yourself and are willing to appease the others. History shows that only emboldens the others.

I have never been to war. However, one does not have to have been to war to know war is a terrible thing, nor to know that war is not necessarily the most terrible thing. We just recognized the 70th anniversary of D-Day when the terrible instrument of war was unleashed on Western Europe to lift something worse off the back of occupied Europe.

Every man and woman who takes the oath upon entering military service puts himself and herself at risk. They have earned our respect and the veteran's benefits promised them. Our country has a duty to respect that service and guarantee those earned benefits. It appalls me that the costs of entitlements skyrockets while veterans wait for health care.

 

[lowriderfxr]

I'm not trying to turn this political, I'm really not. I'm trying to be civil, but it truely amazes me how as a country, we are so willing to give nothing to those who have sacrificed everything, and everything to those who have sacrificed nothing. It's really sad.

 

[the ringo kid]

When i was much younger--several of us neighborhood kids hung around all the time. There was this guy--who had always bee nice to everyone--even when someone wasnt to him. His "thing" ws that he loved riinga bike all day long around town--never bothered anybody. Well, one of the kids in our group taunted himwhen he would see the guy coming and even threw a water balloon at him once--once.

The kid called him: "the retarded guy." This kid thought it funny tolob and hit the guy with the balloon.The rest of us knocked the **** out of that kid. The gent riding the bike-had been in the Army Air Corps in WWII--was a crewmember on a B-17. He was the only one who survived being shot down in that bomber--as well as surviving the PW camp he was in. I never knew the full story but--he had it bad when he was reminde of th war. My Dad made it a personal thing to be friends with him and invited himover early Saturday mornings about 6am--to have Coffee and breakfast. This guy was a church-going guy and belonged to our Church.

Anyway, sometimein the early 70s, he stopped showing up at our house. We found out afew months later that he committed suicide--thanks to being taunted by people who knew better--but did so anyway. They found his body in his home--after being reported(by my Dad) that he was "missing" for a few months.

Im sad to say, I no longer remember this guys name.

 

[ibewbull]

My son [BM2] was at Camp Leatherneck Sept. 15, 2012
Two Marines lost their lives s that day. It was also our sons birthday.
He had a close call when a round passed close enough to his face feel to r feel the wake of air.
He told me he thanked his this team mate for pulling him aside just in time.
His partner replied, " Hey man I never touched you."
Adam was armed with the best thing we could give him and it worked. A strong faith in God. He is back stateside now after going through USN classes for decompression. He is fine now.
The USN took care of its sailors.
The USMC, I was told tells their Marines to suck it up. You are a Marine.
ALL of our services need to be treated as people. Not machines.

 

[Badger Matt]

[quote/]Be kind and friendly to each person you interact with and both you and they will have a better day.[/quote]

You nailed it. I'll misquote someone else who shared that sentiment -- "Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

 

[amazingflapjack]

***22 a day***

 

[Practical]

Kipling wrote a relevant poem about the British Tommy. Google it.

A Roman wrote twenty or more centuries ago that if you want peace you must prepare for war. Human nature does not evolve very quickly. They will fight others for food, and I think you can trace most wars to economic sources, ultimately about food.

If you want to have fighters for the next war, it is prudent to take care of the fighters in the last war. If, on the other hand, you are committed to avoiding the next war, then you don't. If you think being strong is a challenge to the others that results in war, then you weaken yourself and are willing to appease the others. History shows that only emboldens the others.

I have never been to war. However, one does not have to have been to war to know war is a terrible thing, nor to know that war is not necessarily the most terrible thing. We just recognized the 70th anniversary of D-Day when the terrible instrument of war was unleashed on Western Europe to lift something worse off the back of occupied Europe.

Every man and woman who takes the oath upon entering military service puts himself and herself at risk. They have earned our respect and the veteran's benefits promised them. Our country has a duty to respect that service and guarantee those earned benefits. It appalls me that the costs of entitlements skyrockets while veterans wait for health care.

A lot of words most of them meaningless.

Politicians and the VA will provide the MINIMUM standard of care they have to. NOT the best. The Rich and the political class will get the best. That is why a cheap shoes politicians leaves Washington with 100x the networth what he entered politics with.

He earns money on private information and connections and kickbacks for a life of favors.

Look at Chelsea Clinton who gets paid over $26,000 per minute as a NBC special correspondent. All payback for past favors of her parents.

 

[meaves]

My dad, born in 1924, remembers a Spanish American war veteran that had some issues. He would sit on the front porch of his house drinking and would try to shoot the neighborhood kids kites down with a .22. Would cuss at them when they would pass by.



PTSD probably goes back to to the Roman Empire....

 

[gm272gs]

I feel that the country on the whole, seems to treat our guys and gals coming back from oversees, rather well.

I cannot imagine how bad it must have been to come back from Southeast Asia in 1975 and be spat upon and told that you were a scumbag for doing your duty, though. Those guys and gals had it rough.

 

[carpriver]

I returned from my Senior Trip in December 1968. I was one unfortunate Air Force Air Freight guy that spend his year in the Central Highland and saw combat on a routine bases.

My return to the States was met with rotten tomatoes, and insults to my service. For the next 17 years I buried my fear, and my anger. After I retired from the Air Force I had a melt down. I was close to killing myself, I was having trouble coping with civilian life.

A close friend got me into a early VA PTSD treatment group that help me cope and understand what I saw and what I had done. I still have nightmares and flash backs once in awhile. I returned to collage and got a degree in Social Work. I worked with a lot of Viet Nam vets and helped them return home again. I feel that most time vet have to help other vets because we all have to heal.

 

[teesur]

Well said explorer13421, very well said!
teesur.

 

[BCDWYO]

I remember as a kid, my great uncle Wendall having what my parents called shell shock. He saw some pretty horrific duty in the South Pacific during WWII and never really was the same. I just remember him as very quiet and withdrawn, but I suspect there was a lot more to it than we knew.

 

[charlie sherrill]

When I was a kid we had "The Walking Man." He was a WWII Navy vet who had a couple of ships shot out from under him. When he came back home he wouldn't get in or on anything that moved. He would get up at daylight and walk all over town until dark and he would go back to his mother's house. After she died I never saw him again. Someone told me they put him in a veterans home. Nobody ever bothered him that I knew of and if you spoke to him you would get a friendly reply.