In February, the Washington Post’s Dana Priest and Anne Hull literally stunned the nation with an investigation of the outpatient services at Walter Reed. Americans simply couldn’t believe the treatment veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were receiving. The ensuing scandal led to three major resignations among top Army officials.
Today, Priest and Hull add to the story with a devastating report on the treatment veterans with post-traumatic stress receive — or in too many cases, don’t receive. Take, for example, Army Spec. Jeans Cruz, who helped capture Saddam Hussein and who received a hero’s welcome upon returning to the Bronx.
In public, the former Army scout stood tall for the cameras and marched in the parades. In private, he slashed his forearms to provoke the pain and adrenaline of combat. He heard voices and smelled stale blood. Soon the offers of help evaporated and he found himself estranged and alone, struggling with financial collapse and a darkening depression.
At a low point, he went to the local Department of Veterans Affairs medical center for help. One VA psychologist diagnosed Cruz with post-traumatic stress disorder. His condition was labeled “severe and chronic.” In a letter supporting his request for PTSD-related disability pay, the psychologist wrote that Cruz was “in need of major help” and that he had provided “more than enough evidence” to back up his PTSD claim. His combat experiences, the letter said, “have been well documented.”
None of that seemed to matter when his case reached VA disability evaluators. They turned him down flat, ruling that he deserved no compensation because his psychological problems existed before he joined the Army. They also said that Cruz had not proved he was ever in combat. “The available evidence is insufficient to confirm that you actually engaged in combat,” his rejection letter stated.
This despite the abundant evidence of his year in combat with the 4th Infantry Division.
Cruz has trouble working, but even more trouble fighting the VA and the Army to correct his medical records and his personal file so that he might qualify for aid. “I’m pushing the mental limits as it is,” Cruz said. “My experience so far is, you ask for something and they deny, deny, deny. After a while you just give up.”
Of course, Cruz’s case is not unique — as many as one-in-four American troops return from Iraq “psychologically wounded.”
Unlike the Walter Reed debacle, which was largely a matter of breathtaking neglect, a variety of factors have created the mental-health problems for war veterans, including:
* Bureaucratic delays — Massive backlogs prevent efficient treatment and make it easier for troops in need to fall through the cracks.
* Lack of trained professionals — Licensed psychologists are leaving the military at a fast clip, in part because of the stress associated with treating pained soldiers. Troops who qualify for care end up with inexperienced counselors, who use “therapies better suited for alcoholics or marriage counseling.”
* Stigma of mental-health problems — Only 40 percent of the troops who screened positive for serious emotional problems sought help. Lt. Gen. John Vines, who led the 18th Airborne Corps in Iraq and Afghanistan, said countless officers keep quiet out of fear of being mislabeled, and many believe they will be denied future security clearances if they seek psychological help.
* Disability qualifications — “To qualify for compensation, troops and veterans are required to prove that they witnessed at least one traumatic event, such as the death of a fellow soldier or an attack from a roadside bomb, or IED. That standard has been used to deny thousands of claims.” The VA’s chief of mental health explained, “One of the things I puzzle about is, what if someone hasn’t been exposed to an IED but lives in dread of exposure to one for a month? According to the formal definition, they don’t qualify.”
It’s a painful and sobering piece about veterans who deserve a lot better than what they’re receiving. Take a look.