Get Yer Sorry Ass Back to Iraq
by expatbrian
An Iraq veteran suffering from bipolar disorder, alchoholism and homicidal tendencies, and who voluntarily checked himself into a hospital after attempting suicide, was forcibly removed by his commanding officer to be sent back to Iraq.
The 28 year old specialist had been returned to Fort Carson from Kuwait after health care professionals had made that diagnosis. His treatment was supposed to end Dec. 10 but his commanding officer showed up Nov. 29 and ordered him back to base for deployment.
Soldiers from Fort Carson and across the country have complained they were sent to combat zones despite medical conditions that should have prevented their deployment. Late last year, Fort Carson said it sent 79 soldiers who were considered medical "no-gos" overseas.
The brigade surgeon, says the 3rd Brigade Combat Team had "been having issues reaching deployable strength" and that some "borderline" soldiers were sent overseas.
This soldier was prescribed three drugs and was told that he was non-deployable while taking them. But his commander had a different idea. He was given 3 months worth of the drugs, Lamictal for treatment of bipolar disorder; Seroquel, an anti-psychotic; and Klonopin for anxiety and mood disorders and sent back to Iraq.
Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, was outraged.
"If he's an inpatient in a hospital, they should have never taken him out. The chain of command needs to be held accountable for this. Washington needs to get involved at the Pentagon to make sure this doesn't happen again. "First, we had the planeload of wounded, injured and ill being forced back to the war zone. And now we have soldiers forcibly removed from mental hospitals. The level of outrage is off the Richter scale."
Read the whole story, but here is my favorite quote, from Col.B.Shannon Davis, chief of staff at Fort Carson.
An Iraq veteran suffering from bipolar disorder, alchoholism and homicidal tendencies, and who voluntarily checked himself into a hospital after attempting suicide, was forcibly removed by his commanding officer to be sent back to Iraq.The 28 year old specialist had been returned to Fort Carson from Kuwait after health care professionals had made that diagnosis. His treatment was supposed to end Dec. 10 but his commanding officer showed up Nov. 29 and ordered him back to base for deployment.
Soldiers from Fort Carson and across the country have complained they were sent to combat zones despite medical conditions that should have prevented their deployment. Late last year, Fort Carson said it sent 79 soldiers who were considered medical "no-gos" overseas.
The brigade surgeon, says the 3rd Brigade Combat Team had "been having issues reaching deployable strength" and that some "borderline" soldiers were sent overseas.
This soldier was prescribed three drugs and was told that he was non-deployable while taking them. But his commander had a different idea. He was given 3 months worth of the drugs, Lamictal for treatment of bipolar disorder; Seroquel, an anti-psychotic; and Klonopin for anxiety and mood disorders and sent back to Iraq.
Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, was outraged.
"If he's an inpatient in a hospital, they should have never taken him out. The chain of command needs to be held accountable for this. Washington needs to get involved at the Pentagon to make sure this doesn't happen again. "First, we had the planeload of wounded, injured and ill being forced back to the war zone. And now we have soldiers forcibly removed from mental hospitals. The level of outrage is off the Richter scale."
Read the whole story, but here is my favorite quote, from Col.B.Shannon Davis, chief of staff at Fort Carson.
posted by Libby Spencer at 7:55 PM
3 Comments:
disgusting. astaghfirullâh (god forgive them)
I have read that during WW I, "shell shocked" troops were often returned to the front and when some inevitably freaked out again they were shot as "cowards."
The idea that one's body and soul can be taken away by the military for as long as they see fit makes the whole idea of liberty a disgusting joke. More disgusting are the "support the troops" slobs who support this sort of thing.
If we as a country truly valued our veterans, gave them special treatment ie lower house loans, better positioning in the job competition, earlier social security retirement, etc (like was done after WWII)people might take a serious and close look at joining the military, thus solving an expensive recruitment problem. But the evidence shows that once they have served their purpose, assuming they are still alive, our vets are cast aside and left to fend for themselves, often without any period of critical debriefing and managed return to civilian life.
Who the hell wants to join up and be treated like that?
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