Troops Deployed to and Kept in Iraq despite PTSD Diagnosis, Not Receiving Care They Need When They Return, says Military Families Speak Out

WASHINGTON - May 14 - Servicemen and women suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder related to their combat experiences are routinely re-deployed to combat, and/or kept in combat, according the Military Families Speak Out (MFSO), a nationwide organization of 3,500 military families who have been speaking out in opposition to the war in Iraq. Recent reports, including a story in the New York Times regarding lack of mental health care at Ft. Carson in Colorado, have highlighted the issue of inadequate diagnosis, treatment and care for troops suffering from PTSD and related mental health ailments.

“Senators now reviewing the situation of care for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at Ft. Carson should expand the scope of their investigation to include all military bases in the United States, Germany and in Iraq,” stated Nancy Lessin, a co-founder of Military Families Speak Out. “We hear regularly from military families about loved ones diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder who are given enough medication to last them their deployment and sent back to Iraq; or those who are given medication in Iraq and sent back out on combat missions.”

“There are a growing number of families like ours who have suffered the ultimate tragedy of this war, because our loved ones did not get the care they needed,” said Military Families Speak Out member Kevin Lucey of Belchertown, Massachusetts, whose son, Cpl. Jeffrey Michael Lucey took his own life on June 22, 2004 after being released from a Veterans Administration hospital in western Massachusetts without receiving proper care. Cpl. Lucey served with the Marine Reserves in Iraq in spring and summer, 2003.

AVAILABILITY OF FAMILIES FOR INTERVIEW
Members of Military Families Speak Out and Gold Star Families Speak Out whose loved ones have experienced inadequate care for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and related mental health ailments are available for interview. Contact Ateqah Khaki, Riptide Communications, 509-301-5282; Nancy Lessin, Military Families Speak Out, 617-320-5301.

Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is a national organization of 3,500 families who are opposed to the war in Iraq and have loved ones in the military. Gold Star Families Speak Out (GSFSO) is a chapter of Military Families Speak Out, made up of families whose loved ones died as a result of the war in Iraq.

For more information about Military Families Speak Out, please visit: mfso.org
For more information about Gold Star Families Speak Out visit gsfso.org


Source: Common Dreams NewsCenter