Random Thoughts

So, I've found two new print ads.  And while they are not as striking as the first, they still make their mark.  I also found an article about the Marlboro Marine in the April 3, 2008 issue of Rolling Stone. And while the article has little to do with my quantitative research, it does have to do with this nation, the war and how little people in general know about the lasting effect war has on the human body, mind and soul.  

Reading the article about Lance Corporal James Blake Miller is emotionally exhaustive.  Reading about the unimaginable events he was witness to, the events that lead him home and the life he has forged out of necessity for survival is mind-boggling.  

Imagine being so overwhelmed by rage that you blackout, not knowing where you are when you come to or the events that lead up to it.  Imagine suffering from such profound Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome that you fall deeper into a pit of despair to find you've awoken to live another day.  Imagine knowing you need help, accepting it, in the form of psychotropic prescription drugs and finding that the medications made everything worse, especially the nightmares.  Imagine a government so warped with bureaucratic bullshit that you can't fight your way into a therapist unless your geographically desirable.  (Small town life makes it difficult for many Veterans to receive the aid they need on a consistent basis)  

It all makes you wonder.  How did America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, come to be a land that has forgotten many of it's heros?  How did we come to forget the countless men and women who have sacrificed their lives, literally and figuratively, for the freedoms we hold so dear?  Why do Americans fight so hard and so willingly for a country that does not fight for them as Veterans?

Do you remember the days (or remember seeing the footage) of when soldiers, home from war would be treated like royalty?  Parades, fanfare, streets blocked off for miles, thousands of people straining to see their loved ones as they returned home?  Where did that go?  Where did America go?  

Has it disappeared because the wars we have recently fought have not been so honorable or clear as to the right and wrong of it all?   Have we become so numb to the media images played for hours on end by 24 hour news outlets that we have forgotten that there are REAL people in those images?  Has "reality tv" replaced real tv in our heads?  Do we no longer see the images broadcast?  Are we not hearing or reading the stories being told?  Is no one listening?  Is there anybody out there who gets it?

When American soldiers, OUR soldiers, come home, regardless of your position on a war, they should be honored and treated with the utmost respect.  That includes being sure that they are provided with the BEST treatment possible for any and all ailments they may have.  Including, and especially, PTSD.  

I remember the government trying to cover up PTSD storied during Desert Storm.  It was nothing, a figment of their imaginations.  It couldn't be seen or physically documented, so, it wasn't real.  Tell that to the thousands of men and women living with it today.  I dare you...

This country and its Veterans need help.  Lots and lots of help.  And the government has disappeared behind its large fences, digging its way deeper and deeper away from its people.  Blinding itself from the needs of its people and the needs of the many who are brave enough and strong enough to defend the rights they hold so close to their hearts.  

So, what does it take?  What does it take for the government to be held accountable for its actions, or in this case inactions?  Who will stand up and be not afraid to point towards the government and say "You, sir/madame, should be ashamed of yourself for allowing this to happen to your people.  You're fired!"

Just as a side note, an election is just around the corner.  Every vote counts.

IF YOU DON'T VOTE, YOU CAN'T COMPLAIN!!!