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JOE “RAGMAN” TARNOVSKY: PTSD, IF WE HAD ONLY KNOWN ABOUT AUDIE MURPHY
By Joe “Ragman” Tarnovsky for Veteran Today
For years Vietnam Veterans had to listen to SOME World War 2 Veterans say, “I was in WW2, the big one, and I do not have any problems from my war.” Well, that was simply not true and many times those making such a statement saw very little combat if any combat at all. For combat soldiers from any war, the horrendous sight and smell of death and having to participate in the taking of human lives, will leave mental and emotional wounds known as PTSD, and if not treated will lead to chronic PTSD and the combat veteran living with the aftermath of war for the rest of his/her life. If a veteran/victim has a good support system before, during and after war/traumatic event, the aftermath of the PTSD can be diminished. PTSD from war or any traumatic experience in life has been recognized as a legitimate psychiatric disorder since 1980 but the military has been aware of the condition long before that time.
Hori, an Egyptian combat veteran wrote about what he felt before he was to go into battle. He spoke of shuddering and the hair on his head standing on end and he felt as though his soul was in his hand. Greeks, Romans and Egyptian soldiers broke and ran during combat and were just as scared of dying as young American soldiers are today and those of us that have fought in this nation‘s past wars. No one wants to die for their country, as General Patton said, “No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.”
The Spartans at Thermopylae experienced PTSD and I could go on and on but my point being, Vietnam Veterans did not invent PTSD nor did we use the condition to get money on a fraudulent basis from our government, but we were the first generation of combat veterans from the United States to admit to having problems from being in war. We, and our supporters, were ridiculed by society and veterans from previous conflicts, made to feel as though we had premorbid dispositions by the Veterans Administration, that we hated our mothers and had bad childhoods, but through it all we stood tall, took the abuse and made the government and society recognize PTSD!
We, Vietnam Veterans and our supporters, paved the way to make it easier for future combat veterans and victims of trauma to come forward and admit to having problems and to get the professional help that is needed and available. Even though decades have passed since the issue of Vietnam Veterans and PTSD went to the forefront of society, many returning combat veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq are not receiving the help that they so desperately needed.
It has been stated, see newspaper article attached, that returning combat veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq are not being treated fairly by the legal system when facing criminal charges. Now I am not saying that anybody that commits a crime and has PTSD should get a “free pass” but their time in the military should be taken into consideration, especially if they have been in combat. One thing is for sure, they should not be penalized for having had the courage to go to war when so many others in our country enjoy the freedoms we have and do nothing but sit at home and enjoy the good life in the United States.
This seems to be happening now when Afghanistan and Iraq combat veterans face the legal system at the present time. These men and women seem to be penalized for having worn the military uniform of the United States. It seems progress is being made to help combat veterans that suffer from PTSD in some areas of the country and in the United States Army, but this help should be nationwide for all veterans that have gone to war and made to deal with life and death on a daily basis and had to grow up way before their time.
I never knew Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier during World War 2, went public and admitted to having PTSD in hopes that Korean and Vietnam War Veterans would get more help (see attachment). Murphy’s exploits during World War 2 were brought to the big screen in the movie, “To Hell And Back” where he played himself in the movie. A recipient of the Medal of Honor and numerous other medals for valor, Murphy suffered in silence for many years after he came home. Watching the Biography Channel about his life one day, I never realized that he went through what he did as a civilian with PTSD because it was never made public information. I was just a young kid back in the 60′s but I do not remember any news about Audie Murphy coming “out of the closet” so to speak, about his PTSD and the emotional upheavals that he was experiencing because of his combat experiences in World War 2. Matter of fact, I do not remember anything about Audie Murphy speaking out when going for treatment to the Wade Park VA Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio for my treatment of PTSD.
If that information had been available and disseminated, it would have been so much easier for Korean and Vietnam War Veterans at that time to get the help needed, and it would have definitely made it easier for men like Dr. Knake who was constantly fighting the system at Wade Park to give us the treatment we needed. If Audie Murphy’s woes from PTSD had been made public to Dr. Knake in the 80′s, maybe that would have made it easier for him and all the men and women he was treating at that time to deal with the effects of combat and war. To know that the most decorated American soldier had once faced a murder charge, he was acquitted, slept with a loaded gun by his bed and once held his first wife at gun point, maybe those of us with PTSD would have felt we were not crazy and even heroes can be affected by their combat experiences.
In closing, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will not last forever, and when our brave troops come home and our country is at peace for awhile, veterans had better be aware of potential cuts in veteran’s entitlements by politicians and bureaucrats looking to make a name for themselves with the non-veteran populace voting block. It has been proven time and time again by those in power in Washington, DC, that after veterans give their all and are guaranteed certain entitlements when signing their enlistment contract with the United States government, when the last shot of the war is fired it is then those on capitol hill that never served like to start slashing what has been promised to veterans in the form of entitlements.
The gutless politicians and bureaucrats that talk so much about patriotism and wrap themselves in the American flag but failed to go down and enlist when their country needed them and they were of military age, will start to carve up what has been promised to veterans and change the rules after they have used us for the dirty work of killing. When we are 18, 19, 20 and 21 years of age and can don the military uniform and do the filthy work of war, we are an asset, when we are older and making the government compensate us for disabilities and a loss of our quality of life, we are a liability. In our local paper out of Elizabethtown, KY, the following article was written and published today, June 13, 2010 by Dave Jarrett a veteran service officer for the Disabled American Veterans (see second attachment).
I did not read the original letter to the editor on June 1st calling the badly needed veteran’s nursing home in our area a “pork-barrel” project but it is this type of attitude all veterans will be fighting sooner than we think. Don’t forget, this anti-veteran letter to the editor about a veteran’s nursing home being a “pork-barrel” project came from a town that is next to Fort Knox and home to many active duty military and veterans and their families. In closing, do not forget one thing fellow veterans, we get nothing for nothing and we served our country when so many others chose not to and in times of peace, those that did not serve want to diminish our service and sacrifices by trying to take away what we have earned! Be prepared when the current wars end to take up the fight for what we have earned by not allowing non-veterans to “sucker punch” us and steal what has been promised and paid for by us on the battlefields for America!
Joe ‘Ragman’ Tarnovsky
Vietnam Combat Veteran
In-country 28 August 68 to 22 Oct 70
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=36291
The views expressed herein are the views of the author exclusively and not necessarily the views of VT or any other VT authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors or partners. Legal Notice
Posted by Joe "Ragman" Tarnovsky on Jun 15 2010, With 0 Reads, Filed under Veterans Affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Posted by Joe "Ragman" Tarnovsky on Jun 15 2010, With 0 Reads, Filed under Veterans Affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Excellent, excellent post, Duffster.
T.
http://snippits-and-slappits.blogspot.com/2010/06/oil-gate-new-facts-diabolical-new-facts.html
Death rain in Panama City Florida.
http://www.rense.com/general91/acid.htm
No wonder Betrayus is passing out.
It is disheartening to learn about the hurdles our veterans have to go through–when they finally come home alive after putting themselves through such truama–which many people cannot even imagine to go through. The gutless and deceitful politicians and bureaucrats mistreat them by robbing their benefits–after agreeing to pay them–at the time of signing the contracts. Who are these people who want to see our veterans being cheated and whose vote the deceitful politicians are seeking? We as a society should be generous to our veterans [and even police and fire fighters] who have sacrified the most[specially combat veterans] and should demand that their wages and other benefits be not compromised under any circumstances.
Politicians, buraucrats, college and university presidents and professors, head masters of private high-schools and other similar professionals should be made to give up some of what they are having–for these people are over paid–and the society will be better off without them–and most of these people actually have been harmful to our society. Here are some examples” Woodrow Wilson, Ben Bernanke, Robert Gates, Larry Summers, Caas Sunstein, Zbignew Brzezinski [a very devious and dangerous man with a complicated name[, Newt Gingrich, Condolezza Rice. These people have been university professors and administartors. Imagine the world if these people were garbage collectors instead of having had their degrees! Our world would have been much better. A dangerous man/woman become more dahgerous to the society when they receive a degree which gives them more power.
Most of the people who have gotten together to destroy our constitution or deceive us through scams like global warming are similar people. Presidents of all Ivy Leagues are over paid and these people are sociopaths whether it be Yale, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Brown, Harvard [where Larry Summers was]. The people who have given the most [veterans] are given the least, robbed the most and harmed the most.
It is up to the people of this nation to stand up for what is right and demand that society’s sociopaths be observed and their activities monitored by people who fund them even if they are hiding behind universities, air-condition officers in various government buildings, in congressional offices in the capital, white house or other high places–and we tell them in simple easy to understand language that veterans are not pawns to exchange for votes and that the contracts they have signed must be honored, their lands must not be stolen etc and not to forget those who are fighting wars for Israel. Yes all troops must come home and no more opium business, their remains not be contaminated with opium in the body bags or not be mislabeled and misplaced either because the criminals involved in this horror [and others] did not care about them whether they came home alive or dead. And it is time to mind our own business, stop policying the world–stop aid to Israel–and take care of our own–and first and foremost the people who were willing to give their lives–on behalf of America–although they were deceived to believe so–when they were so young–and so many of them were killed,maimed or injured mentally and physically or both.
I thank the author Joe Tarnoysky for this excellent article and Gordon Duff for posting it.
Israeli terrorists [Mossad and IDF] are the ones killing our soldiers [through IEDs and crashing of their helicopters as well as shooting them] in Iraq and Afghanistan–while spreading false propaganda that Muslim terrotists are killing them. There are people who like to keep on implicating Muslims–after believing the media liars–in order to continue illegal wars and the opium trade–on behalf of Israel and banker gangsters. Unless a majority of people wake up to the truth America cannot be saved. Sarah Palin [selected by Henry Kissinger, Lieberman, Krystol] is not going to save us. This is a powerhungry greedy and heartless woman who will escalate war on behalf of Israel. This woman is not a true Christian, she is only a Zionist shill who will obey the criminal Kissinger like a slave. She will put the lives of our young soldiers in harms way–and they will be her pawns. So please understand the truth.
We need to have Ron Paul/Jessie Ventura or Jessie Ventura/Chuck Baldwin for America in 2012. These people are not in the pocket of Zionists like Sarah Palin is. Another man to watch is Scott Brown.
“Thanks to the terrible power of our International Banks we have forced the Christians into wars without number. Wars have a special value for Jews since Christian massacre each other and make more room for Jews. Wars are the Jews’ Harvest, the Jew banks grow fat on Christian wars. Over one hundred million Christians have been swept off the face of the earth by wars and the end is not yet”— Rabbi Reichorn at the funeral of Rabbi Simeon Ben-Iudah in 1869–Taken from the website: I am the witness.
Henry Kissinger is responsible for destroying many lives of our soldiers and this is what this warmonger has said about them: “dumb stupid beasts to be used as pawns for foreign policy”.
On behalf of all soldiers and veterans living and dead I condemn the above utterances of the war criminal Kissinger and those of Rabbi Reichoran and I also condemn all warmongers whose words and actions have led to the illegal wars which America has been fighting on behalf of Israel.
“Israel is Our Ally”
Submitted by Windcharmer on Mon, 06/14/2010 – 10:31
in Daily Paul Liberty Forum
How many times have we heard these words spoken by US public officials and media talking heads? It seems the more it is said the more we should believe it. This reminds me of the Nazi dictum of ‘telling the big lie ad infinitum until people believe it.’
Here’s a link to the Yale University Avalon Project. The project is designed to compile and provide access to the important documents of history. It seems like a pretty inclusive list.
Can someone point out the document that makes Israel out ally? I can’t find it.
http://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/20th.asp
Thank you windcharmer and Daily Paul
An ally is supportive with soldiers, money and diplomacy and can be trusted. Israel has done none of this for us and can’t be trusted at all. In fact they take our money, use our troops and are a diplomatic disaster. By any objective criteria they are not an ally and are in fact the worst kind of enemy – the one that pretends to be a friend.
In contrast, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are our allies.
Watch out for Zionist shills who infiltrate this site from time to time and right now I am dealing with one. I see that this Z. shill never post a comment about articles of this nature. Let us hesr what this Zionist shill has to say about the information in this article. Let us check how interested this person in issues that affect our veterans. Penumbra what is your opinion, please post your comments on this page.
Many of our young people are ruined for life by these wars, but nobody in power really cares. We even hide the arrival of the caskets from the public and the press, unlike all other countries that make a solemn ceremony of their veterans bodies coming back home. Our leadership is a sin against man and God – by their actions they show their disrespect for all of us and I do believe that many of our leaders actually hate and loath working Americans.
I went to Russia in 1990 and I was awed by their reverence for the war dead and the veterans. It was a daily living experience for the Russians. Prominently displayed in the lobby of many buildings were the photos of every single person, which had died in combat and that had lived or worked in that particular building. Some lobbies had hundreds of photos. The Russian people remember and cherish their war dead.
So should we.