A drug called Seroquel is the military's choice for calming the mental haywire that PTSD vets are dealing with. Seroquel has been linked to suicide and depression and many other serious issues. Yet this is what the military has chosen to "treat" these soldiers with. Soldiers no longer able to handle the war in their minds turn to drugs, alcohol and suicide as a way of escaping. They come home with no knowledge of how to act or what to do to straighten their lives out and to have a "normal" life.
Well there is one group of Americans that are not sitting on their hands anymore and they have come together and formed the Farmer Veteran Coalition. According to the FVC, "The mission of the Farmer-Veteran Coalition is to mobilize our food and farming community to create healthy and viable futures for America's veterans by enlisting their help to build our green economy, rebuild our rural communities and secure a safe and healthy food supply." They are taking PTSD veterans and teaching them how to farm organically.
By: Merlyn Seeley
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Veterans not gone and not forgotten
It can be difficult to slice through the clutter of a three-day holiday weekend. Most of us are just content to have a moment to catch our breath and take stock of another school year that has passed. But Memorial Day is dedicated to one very specific thing: remembering the men and women who died in service, the ones who gave it all.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have created a new category, though: soldiers who are gone but still with us. Army Ranger Scot Noss is alive, but hasn't said a word in four years. Former Navy Corpsman Anthony Thompson is still alive, but he hasn't smiled or moved his limbs on his own since 2007. Both are barely conscious and have the signature wound of these modern wars: traumatic brain injury, or TBI. There are thousands of soldiers living with TBI now. Why? Because in other wars, these soldiers never would have survived. Because of more advanced field medicine and transport, they can now make it out of the theater of war alive, but just barely. The most extreme cases of TBI are soldiers in a minimally conscious state. They can live that way not just for months, but for years, and even decades.
Maria Hinojosa
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/29/ED5H1JM6MO.DTL#ixzz1O2DUXkCu
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have created a new category, though: soldiers who are gone but still with us. Army Ranger Scot Noss is alive, but hasn't said a word in four years. Former Navy Corpsman Anthony Thompson is still alive, but he hasn't smiled or moved his limbs on his own since 2007. Both are barely conscious and have the signature wound of these modern wars: traumatic brain injury, or TBI. There are thousands of soldiers living with TBI now. Why? Because in other wars, these soldiers never would have survived. Because of more advanced field medicine and transport, they can now make it out of the theater of war alive, but just barely. The most extreme cases of TBI are soldiers in a minimally conscious state. They can live that way not just for months, but for years, and even decades.
Maria Hinojosa
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/29/ED5H1JM6MO.DTL#ixzz1O2DUXkCu
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