The Empire 493

Iraq War Veteran on a Mental-Health Mission
Saturday 21 November 2009
by: Dahr Jamail, t r u t h o u t | Report

Chuck Luther, who served 12 years in the military, is a veteran of two deployments to Iraq, where he was a reconnaissance scout in the 1st Cavalry Division. The former sergeant was based at Fort Hood, Texas, where he lives today.

"I see the ugly," Luther told Truthout. "I see soldiers beating their wives and trying to kill themselves all the time, and most folks don't want to look at this, including the military."

Luther, who founded and directs "The Soldier's Advocacy Group of Disposable Warriors," knows about these types of internal problems in the military because he has been through it himself.

The Web site for the group explains his story:

"SGT Luther unknowingly suffered PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] after living in the combat environment. After weeks of suffering with sleepless nights/nightmares, headaches, bouts of anger, lack of focus, weight loss, depression, high stress and extreme exhaustion, SGT Luther sought out his Command for help. Knowing he was not able to perform his daily duties in this state of mind, he'd hoped to be sent for some form of treatment and sent back into battle. Unfortunately, this is not what happened. SGT Luther's chain of command responded with phrases such as, 'Drink water and drive on ...' and told he was 'malingering' and 'faking' his symptoms. After being belittled and stripped of his dignity, still, with no assistance from those in charge, he was then placed on suicide watch and held in an Aid Station for five weeks.

"Those sent to watch over him for potential 'suicide' spoke down to him, and he was not given meals or showers on a regular basis. Even prisoners receive better treatment. SGT Luther was told that if he continued in this manner, he would be discharged from the Army with a Chapter 5-13, Personality Disorder. Because SGT Luther would not give in to the demands of his command to 'drink water and drive on' - knowing he needed some form of treatment, he was brought back to Ft. Hood in July of 2007 where he was quickly discharged with a Personality Disorder. His 12 years of Military Service was ended abruptly with the brush of a Colonel's pen."

The Web site adds:

"After being immediately diagnosed with Combat Stress, Combat Exhaustion, and PTSD by the V.A., which is charged with treating our Veterans, SGT Luther knew he had not been 'faking' and had not been 'malingering' and was finally given a diagnosis - he knew there was a name for his symptoms - PTSD."

Since founding the group, Luther has been on a mission to help other soldiers who have suffered from being undiagnosed, misdiagnosed and mistreated in other ways by the military.

"We are an advocacy group that addresses soldiers' mistreatment and lack of treatment in the Army," Luther explains.

According to Luther, the tragedy at Fort Hood on November 5, when Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan allegedly went on a shooting rampage, killing 13 people and wounding dozens more, could have easily been avoided.

"The way things are set up right now in the military is that if a soldier gets a chance to go to mental health, which is something military commanders tend to try to prevent from happening in the first place, but if soldiers go, psychologists and psychiatrists address and diagnose their PTSD and write it up, but this does not mean that they will get treatment," Luther explained to Truthout, "The doctors then send it to command, but that doesn't mean the soldiers will get treatment. The soldier can push it up to the commander, but the commander can deny it and that's as high as it gets. Soldiers are listed as not being able to serve by a military doctor, but they are nonetheless medicated and sent out into combat anyway."

"Examples of how the military is treating soldiers like this are common," Kathleen Gilberd, co-chair of the Military Law Task Force, told Truthout. Gilberd says that the military is stretched so thin that it is downplaying severe medical conditions of soldiers to keep them eligible for service overseas.

"A lot folks who are under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed are being deployed second and third times," says Gilberd, "Barrier mechanisms that should prevent this from happening are being routinely ignored ... if someone is on psychotropic medication or is diagnosed with a fresh psychiatric condition, there should be a 90-day observation period and delay, under DOD [Department of Defense] policy."

Lees verder: http://www.truthout.org/1121091