This is one of the absolutely most chilling things I've heard during this campaign! This strikes me as obvious PTSD. Where is McCain? How can he be President when he is still stuck in Vietnam, in prison? This mis-speak of his should be automatic disqualification for the job. Pass this on, viral style.
Being a novice at posting Diaries here, I hope I'm doing this right. I just want to pass this on from vetvoice.com. (you can also catch it posted widely on youtube).
McCain's quote: "You and I together will confront the $10 trillion debt that the federal government has run up and balance the federal budget by the end of my term in office. (Applause) Across--across this country, this is the agenda I have set before my fellow prisoners. And the same standards of clarity and candor must now be applied to my opponent! You know, we've all heard what he's said, but it's less clear what he has done, or what he will do."
(go Jeff Merkley - our EENR endorsed candidate... - promoted by poligirl)
Since March of 2003, 4,113 soldiers have perished in Iraq and thousands have been injured. Hundreds of thousands of veterans are suffering from TBI and mental illnesses like PTSD and many are not seeking treatment. While I am heartened by the passage of the new GI Bill and Bush's willingness to sign it, we have a long way to go to fully honor our veterans.
It is Memorial Day Weekend and I've been thinking about what this holiday has meant to me in my life thus far. You know, when I was younger, I never really took to heart what Memorial Day meant. It's embarrassing to admit but as a teenager Memorial Day weekend was a weekend to hit the lake or attend barbecues and parties. Now that I'm a bit older and wiser, I finally see this holiday for what it is meant to be. It's a time to reflect the sacrifices of our service men and women and their families. We've lost 4,081 soldiers in Iraq and 507 in Afghanistan. There are other soldiers we are losing to this war and they're not included in the DOD's casualty numbers. Tonight I want to honor the men and women in uniform who have fallen victim to suicide. These soldiers are casualties of war and deserve to be honored.
Every member of Congress needs to know the story of Staff Sargeant Travis Twiggs. Travis did four tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq and lost a battle with PTSD. He did seek therapy for his PTSD and was on twelve different medications at one time. However, he kept getting sent back to Iraq or Afghanistan where his PTSD would flare up again when his tour was over. Here's a snippet from Raw Story about the Marine's own story about his battle with the illness:
When he came home, "All of my symptoms were back, and now I was in the process of destroying my family," he wrote. "My only regrets are how I let my command down after they had put so much trust in me and how I let my family down by pushing them away."
Kellee Twiggs said her husband was "very, very different, angry, agitated, isolated and so forth," upon his return. "He was just doing crazy things."
She said her husband was treated in the psychiatric ward of Bethesda Naval Medical Center and then sent to a Veterans Administration facility for four months.
Most recently, Travis Twiggs was assigned to the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory at Quantico, a job he said helped him "get my life back on track."
"Every day is a better day now," he wrote in the Marine Corps Gazette. "...Looking back, I don't believe anyone is to blame for my craziness, but I do think we can do better."
Twiggs urged others suffering from similar problems to seek help. "PTSD is not a weakness. It is a normal reaction to a very violent situation," he wrote.
Kellee Twiggs said she can't understand why her husband was not sent to a specialized PTSD clinic in New Jersey.
"They let him out. He was OK for a while and then it all started over again," she said.
They let him out. Sadly, Travis Twiggs ended up stealing a car with his brother and attempting to drive off into the Grand Canyon. By the time the cops caught up to the vehicle, Travis Twiggs had killed his brother and then himself.
