Back from Iraq, they're yesterday's trash

I am too angry to trust myself to say much about the story you will see excepted below, and the accompanying video link.

I will say that ABC's Bob Woodruff and crew have done yeomen's work in reporting the latest outrage heaped upon our fighting men and women by a "grateful" nation. Apparently, it goes something like this: After dealing with one too many IED or rocket attacks, a soldier develops Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and/or traumatic brain injury, with all the symptoms that entails.

Then, when the soldier is no longer fit for duty or seeks medical help -- either before or after a PTSD diagnosis -- he or she is pushed into an immediate discharge due to a heretofore undiagnosed "personality disorder."

The military is rid of a "problem" soldier. The military health-care system is rid of another damaged combat veteran. The overwhelmed VA health system picks up another damaged combat veteran.

And the military sends the "unfit" soldier a bill for thousands in bonus money he or she no longer can pay off with via military service.

Pretty swift system, huh?

Here's a small bit of the story from ABC News:

It is known as a "Chapter 5-13" — "separation because of personality disorder." The Army defines it as a pre-existing "maladaptive pattern of behavior of long duration" that interferes with the soldier's ability to perform his duties.

In practical terms, this diagnosis means the personality disorder existed before military service, and therefore medical care and disability payments are not the military's responsibility. But some veterans and veterans' advocates have been vocal in their belief that personality disorder is being misdiagnosed in combat veterans.

"A significant percentage of the ones who are discharged with personality disorder truly have it, but there is another percentage that are put out simply to eliminate them from military service. … It's done maliciously or as some sort of a policy," said Russell K. Terry, founder of the veterans' advocacy organization, Iraq War Veterans Organization.

Since 2001, more than 22,000 servicemen and women from all branches of the military have been separated under the personality disorder discharge, according to figures provided by the Department of Defense.

(snip)

Donald Louis Schmidt of Chillicothe, Ill., was being treated for post traumatic stress disorder after his second combat tour in Iraq. His commanders at Fort Carson later decided he was no longer mentally fit and discharged him with personality disorder.

"They just slapped me with that label to get me out quicker," Schmidt said. He said superiors told him "'Everything will be great. Peachy keen.' Well, it's not."

The discharge left Schmidt ineligible for disability pay and benefits. He was also required to return more than $10,000 of his $15,000 reenlistment bonus, but he said no one explained that to him until it was too late.

"If I didn't have family, I'd be living on the sidewalk," Schmidt said.

"It's not right that they would do this to him after him going to war for us," Schmidt's mother, Patrice Semtner-Myers, said. "They threw him away. They're done with him. He's no use to them anymore so they say, 'We're done. … Thanks for nothing.'"

Schmidt and Town say Army doctors misled them about the consequences of the personality disorder discharge. Town said he was told he would receive his benefits and it would be like a medical discharge, only quicker.

In the course of reporting this story, ABC News spoke with 20 Iraq War veterans who believe they were misdiagnosed with personality disorder.

A Marine who preferred not to be named said, "Most docs won't diagnose you with PTSD [post traumatic stress disorder] because the military has to treat you for the rest of your life."

IT OCCURS TO ME, having seen this story on Nightline tonight, that the Culture of Death -- as the late Pope John Paul II called it -- only begins with abortion. It comes into full flower with the sheer expendability of our fellow human beings in every facet of our corporatist, dysfunctional American society.

You are a mere cog, worth jack s*** only so long as you're of some worth to your betters.

I am in the same leaky boat. And our fighting men and women -- the ones in the boat with Old Faithful gushing through the hull -- are the most expendable of all, good for cannon (or, in this war, IED) fodder but as worthless as yesterday's trash once the cannon (or IED) finds them.

And what do you do with yesterday's trash? You give it a Chapter 5-13 discharge, that's what.

This president, this Congress, this military and this country are wholly unworthy of "the last full measure of devotion" so willingly offered by young men and young women we send off to a pointless war in a meat grinder called Iraq.

I would say "God have mercy on us all," except that I expect He will have about as much mercy on our spoiled, selfish, SUV-driving selves as we've shown to those kids thrown away because they're no damn good to us now.

See the video report here.