Vietnam veterans sue U.S. military for discharge upgrades over PTSD

[douglas9]

(Reuters) - Five Vietnam War veterans sued the U.S. military on Monday, saying they were denied some veterans services after receiving other-than-honorable discharges for actions that resulted from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The men, including one who was the victim of a poison gas attack on his first day in Vietnam and another whose duties included sorting through body parts of soldiers killed in combat, called on the military to upgrade the discharges of veterans of the conflict who suffer from PTSD.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Connecticut, seeks class action status for what it estimates are tens of thousands of veterans who can now be shown to suffer from PTSD, a condition not recognized by the military in the 1960s and early 1970s at the time of the U.S. war in Southeast Asia.

"The military gave these service members other than honorable discharges based on poor conduct such as unauthorized absence without leave, shirking, using drugs, or lashing out at comrades or superior officers," the lawsuit said. "These behaviors, however, are typical of those who have recently experienced trauma and were symptoms of the veterans' underlying, undiagnosed PTSD."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/03/us-usa-veterans-ptsd-idUSBREA2225S20140303

[Victor_c3]

1. This is something that I've always been bothered about

Soldiers go to war, come back, exhibit PTSD symptoms and are booted out of the Army as a result, then are denied services by the VA to treat the very conditions war and the military created.

Perhaps they should get rid of the requirement that your discharge be a favorable one when it comes to receiving help for service connected mental issues.

[RC]

2. It is well past the time our government recognizes the traumatic affect and trauma their wars have

on the men and women fighting in those wars, for the fun and profit of rich people.