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A soldier’s biggest battle |
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A soldier’s biggest battle sometimes occurs
after he or she returns home.
As American service members continue to fight
and die in Iraq and Afghanistan, many men and
women in uniform come home profoundly changed.
Some discover they suffer from post traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD). Others struggle with
depression, anger and/or substance abuse and
find it difficult to readjust to civilian life.
A few can’t deal with the pain they feel. They
commit suicide.
There have been four suicides among South Dakota
National Guard members in the past four years.
Two Guard members killed themselves last year in
the state but had never been deployment
overseas. Another took his life during a
deployment to Iraq in 2004. A fourth killed
himself in early 2006, more than 11 months after
returning from a deployment to Iraq.
The two combat veterans who took their own lives
were members of a South Dakota Army National
Guard unit that served in Iraq from February
2004 to February 2005. It is unknown if they
witnessed the previous death of a fellow soldier
who was killed by an improvised explosive device
in April of 2004, according to Maj. Orson Ward,
a Rapid City-based spokesman for the state
Guard.
Ward, who has had to deal with his own PTSD-related
issues, said the Guard is very aware of the
mental health concerns that soldiers and airmen
face in and out of combat.
Maj. Gen. Steven R. Doohen, who commands the
South Dakota Air and Army National Guard, said
he has learned that the “big tough men” and the
women he commands can be very vulnerable.
When soldiers and airmen come off the plane as
they complete an overseas deployment, the
general greets them with a handshake — and a
card advising them of counseling available to
them. “I strongly encourage them to go,” Doohen
said.
He said going to counseling with a family member
can be useful. A soldier may not be aware, at
least consciously, of changes he or she has
undergone. But a loved one can often spot the
pain they are feeling.
Taking suicide, depression and PTSD seriously is
a priority for the state Guard, Doohen said.
“I’ve had it hit pretty close to home,” he said.
“There is nothing more devastating than
suicide.”
He said the idea that a person is so lost that
they saw no other option — “it’s the only out
they see,” Doohen said — is agonizing to
contemplate. It gnaws away at survivors, Doohen
said.
The Guard has decided to “do everything we can”
and to “take the stigma away.”
Part of the problem is that for many Guard
members, talking about their pain or weaknesses
is difficult. They’re tough, Midwestern guys and
gals who often lock their emotions inside. “I
think men have an issue with that, definitely,”
Doohen said.
They feel they can overcome the pain, confusion
and mental anguish, he said. They repress it,
ignore it, and hope it will go away.
But through counseling efforts and with the
general leading the way, positive steps are
being made, Doohen said. “I think it’s changing
and it’s changing for the better,” he said.
“(We) get them to seek help early.”
People suffering from PTSD pull back, the
general said. They isolate themselves from
family, friends and co-workers. “That’s what
makes it really hard to reach them,” he said.
South Dakota’s vast size and many small towns
add to the problem. Some Guardsmen and women
return home to a community with no health-care
options.
But the Guard will send counselors to soldiers’
homes, he said. “If they want help, we can give
them help,” Doohen said. |
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