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Goin' home today... woot!
So, I've noted before during this silly season that the Presidential choices were choosing which Democrat we wanted in charge, the one in the open or the one in the closet. Turns out, regardless of who we choose, we'll be living under the thumb of a lefty. Of course, you live under the thumb of a lefty here, too. H/t, CAPT H.
A sad ending to a sad story, and a sign we've still got a long ways to go in treating PTSD. We've got to find a way to bring everybody home. Because even when they're back in the states, they aren't always back home.
These are the colors that fly from the Castle staffs this day. 
This is why. (Update - link fixed). -the Armorer
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A term of art from the artillery. Harassment and Interdiction Fires. Back in the day, when you could just kill people and break things without a note from a lawyer, they were pre-planned, but to the enemy, random, fires at known gathering points, road junctions, Main Supply Routes, assembly areas, etc - to keep the bad guy nervous that the world around him might start exploding at any minute. Not really relevant to today's operating environment, right? But, it *is. The UAVs we fly over Afghanistan and Pakistan looking for targets of opportunity are a form of H&I fires, if you really want to parse it finely. We just have better sensors and fire control now. Of course, now I have to call them UAS's, because someone got a Legion of Merit for the name change.Anyway, I call the post H&I Fires because it's random things posted by me and people I've given posting privileges to that particular topic. Another term of art that might be appropriate is Free Fire Zone.
The ultimate volunteer doesn't let a little thing like "Your military obligation's done -- go home" keep him out of the fight he signed on for...
I can't get into the link about the flags.
'tis just as glorious this year.
Jim
It might be easier for those with an intense sense of pride and self-sufficiency to talk about war, in war, rather than during peacetime or when the yare State side.
If this Army medic joined the military after 9/11, he may have been fighting before such practices to prevent or treat PTSD became common. Peacetime armies don't tend to talk about PTSD nor are they focused on treating it.
With some trepidation I will pick up where Ymarsakar left off because PTSD has been mentioned on this blog and is an important health problem to solve.
I read about Pfc. Joseph Dwyer death on 7 July 2008 but remained silent so to think it out.
I think the case could have been handled better but there are still a lot of unknown facts. I will not blame anyone.
First, I will say that Dwyer was a compassionate man who saw combat and did his best to perform his job. He was photographed in battle and made somewhat famous around the world.
He certainly had a fair amount of reason to be paranoid of someone trying to kill him. And, some guys feel even less safe when they leave the military.
But, it now appears that his use of certain substances contributed to his mental condition.
In fact, the military medical persons may have not completely gotten his case diagnosed correctly. Dwyer may have had a hidden substance abuse problem that could have complicated his mental health treatments.
In general, when doctors discovers a substance abuse problem coupled with violence they be reluctant to use the full range of drugs available for fear of making the problem worse (accidentally prescribing medications which could cause an overdose or increase violence).
I read that Dwyer inhaled Dust Off which contains Difluoroethane to make him sleep because his meds were not doing the job.
“He complained that prescribed drugs were ineffective. They say he turned to sniffing Dust-Off computer cleaner to drug himself to sleep. Pinehurst police said abusing that aerosol contributed to his death…”
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-lisold0706,0,814136,print.story
See: Pfc. Joseph Dwyer
Difluoroethane has rapid on set which cause an ether/alcohol intoxication for a short period of time. Once dependant on it he would have to use ever increasing amounts to achieve the desired affect – and which probably caused brain deterioration and possible increased his hallucinations.
From Googling the Dust Off abuse problem, it hard to detect and only causes death when used in fairly high dosages – although I assume the poison accumulates in the body and eventually kills.
“Most health care practitioners will never see the acute effects of inhalant use, but not because problems do not occur. Quite the opposite. The most important acute health effect of inhalant abuse is death (sometimes called “sudden sniffing death“), and victims almost never reach a health care facility alive. Death usually results from either sudden cardiac arrest, or suffocation. The best current evidence suggests that certain inhalants, (for example, fluorocarbons, butane) “sensitize” the heart so that deadly irregular heartbeats (ventricular fibrillation) can be triggered by events which would normally be harmless. When this occurs, the normal release of adrenaline into the bloodstream which happens after things like excitement, exertion, or fear may trigger lethal heart rhythms in users, so that sudden death occurs without any warning.”
http://web.archive.org/web/20060825210657/www.caresproject.org/docs/ed/drug/inhalants.htm
See: Effects of inhalants: dangerous health effects
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/dustoff.asp
See: Dust Off death case
He probably should have been properly treated for that type of substance abuse and given proper medication for sleep.
But, its likely Dwyer, who wanted to go into law enforcement, hid his problems from his doctors. And, then both his true PTSD and his substance abuse spiraled out of control.
That is a bad situation because then his family must make the decision to commit him to a mental institution. This would probably have precluded Dwyer from a job in law enforcement.
To make things worse, most states require two to three immediate families to sign the commitment papers and other evidence which may not have been feasible.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/military_suicidedwyer_070308w/
Medic in famous photo dies after PTSD struggle
I guess Dwyer then starting using heavily and was hardly able to care for himself until death. It’s a tragic story.
If any of you have any ideas on how to handle a similar case please speak up.