The Iraq War part 4

For the fortunate vets that arrive home still vertical life is anything but normal, after months of constantly having to watch their backs soldiers tend to find themselves on edge able to be set off by the most common of things. Take for example the soldier who came home from Iraq and during a new years celebration was thrown into complete and utter fear, the reason for this was the explosions and bright lights of the fireworks sent her back into combat mode however she was not under attack. What this soldier experienced was known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD for short and it is more common than you think. PTSD is nothing new after Vietnam it was referred to as Shell Shock, but in a recent report published it is estimated that 1in every 5 vets returning will suffer from PTSD. Beyond the mental scars left are the emotional and in a large number of cases physical many troops return home missing a leg or arm add in the fact that many will have lost their jobs while they were serving over in Iraq. Living under an interstate overpass is no place for any human to have to live but it is most certainly no place for a war vet to live, these men and women gave their lives to protect us and the best we can do for them is give them a pat on the back and say good job and leave them to their own devices. The troops that don't kill themselves while in combat likely will do it when they come home. I served my country proudly and if asked to do so again would gladly do it, but I will say that the system for taking care of our vets is broken and it needs to be fixed. Our hospitals need to recognize that PTSD is real and if left untreated could lead to a person killing themselves or at the very least severe mental scarring. I have heard stories of troops coming home just to learn that their wife left them while they were gone, or coming home to find out that their home that they worked hard to provide is in foreclosure. The same government that was so eager to send these men and women into combat also when troops ask for assistance get tangled up in the fifteen miles of red tape just to get benefits that are due them. We as a nation need to come together and take care of our own they went into a foreign country and attempted to bring freedom to a suppressed people now it is our turn to take care of them.