2/503d VIETNAM Newsletter - August 2009, Issue 2

2/503d VIETNAM Newsletter 2 August 2009 / Issue 2 __________________________________________________________________________________________ The Contract Some time ago my wife and I were visited by one of our Sky Soldier medic buddies, whom I’ll call Doc Bob. Bob and his wife were down here in Florida specifically to meet with one of the civilian gurus on PTSD. In fact, this guru, Dr. Scott Fairchild, did much of the early research on PTSD for the army at Walter Reed and is a recognized authority on the illness. He has and continues to help many Sky Soldiers and other vets from across the country, and their wives, with his PTSD evaluations and ongoing treatment. Doc Bob originally received a 10% rating years ago for PTSD. The VA later upped him to 30% then 50%, almost without argument. There, he hit a brick wall; even his DAV rep told him there’s no opportunity to improve on the rating, even though Doc Bob is clearly a candidate for 100% disability. Now Doc Bob is a bright guy, but the VA doesn’t like bright guys. If you display any normalcy to them they will simply shoot down your PTSD claim. It’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it is. Doc has a tendency to sit in front of the VA pysch and engage him in intellectual conversation. The VA must think, “If this guy can talk he must not be sick” . Consequently, Doc Bob is stuck at 50%, even though I suspect the PTSD assessment of the medic will indicate otherwise. Doc Bob and I would sit on the patio here until the early morning hours talking about our war and his illness. Our record was to 3:30 a.m. one morning. Although the VA essentially threw a 50% PTSD disability rating at him, Doc continues to struggle with denial, even though his wife is abundantly aware of his illness and how it has negatively impacted and continues to impact their lives together as well as his relationships or non- relationships with others. I know about his denial, I had it for over 30 years and it is a common trait amongst our ranks. Another PTSD related trait I personally experienced and one which may keep Doc Bob from receiving his just, due and earned disability rating and its concurrent benefits of treatment and compensation is his belief “I’m not deserving of anything from the government ( VA ). I see those kids coming home from the Middle East without arms and legs, they are the deserving ones. I don’t want to take anything away from them.” I understand Bob’s thinking, but he’s entirely wrong. And, this self- imposed hurdle can be difficult to overcome but is essential to overcome when pursuing one’s PTSD or other claim with the VA. Bob has yet to understand the government has passed laws and established benefits and compensation specifically for him and others like him, and he is not taking anything away from anyone. Doc Bob simply believes he 1) joined the army, 2) went to war and fulfilled his service obligations, and 3) nothing is due him for it. This heroic and sick medic would repeat this mantra to me many times over the week he was here. One night I asked him about the contract he signed. You know, that contract we all signed at some enlistment office when a sergeant in pressed fatigues gave us the paper and pen to affix our names. We knew we might go to war and we knew we might die or be maimed for life. That was acceptable to us. But, that’s all we knew, and that starched-fatigues sergeant didn’t tell us about the other conditions of the contract. I asked Doc Bob if he were aware of those other conditions of the contract. He said he was not. I then began to cite some of those conditions to him and asked him would he have signed that contract knowing they existed. Just some of those unwritten conditions I rattled off to Doc included: Page 1 of 6