Did you know mild to moderate brain injuries can cause anxiety, depression, headaches, and sleep and memory issues?

RallyPoint News — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 11:11:24 -0400

Comprehensive treatment is available at the SHARE Military Initiative at Shepherd Center in Atlanta. The program provides care at no cost to post-9/11 active duty service members and veterans with mild to moderate brain injury, or concussions, along with post-traumatic stress or other mental health concerns.

Response by SSG Michael Noll made Oct 15 at 2019 11:12 AM

SSG Michael Noll — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 11:12:39 -0400

Thank you for the share

Response by SP6 Christopher Haydon made Oct 16 at 2019 4:03 PM

SP6 Christopher Haydon — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 16:03:03 -0400

I served with the 1/92 Field Artillery in Vietnam. The unit was in Vietnam from March 1967 until October 1971. During that period we fired 508,653 155mm howitzer rounds, with each muzzle blast causing an mTBI for the gun crew of 6, and for anyone who happened to be in the range of the blast wave. We fired single round H&I missions, and 4-8 round per minute fire missions in close support of ground actions. Often after intense fire missions the gun crews would stumble around the FB in a daze. We have observed the effects of repeated exposure to muzzle blasts in ourselves and our battery mates over the years - we have reunions every two years - and they are not comforting to witness. These effects of Post-Concussive Syndrome (PCS) will send many of us into Dementia and Alzheimer's before our time, and eventually into Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy - all of which are fatal. Blast overpressure injuries such as these need to be recognized as a battlefield injuries, treated as such and compensated. That this protocol is only available to post 9/11 active duty service members and veterans is an insult to all who have served before...and especially to our wives who have stood by us through all of our trials, and who will receive nothing when we die early from hidden wounds suffered during active duty. The reason recognition has been slow in coming is obvious to me - if the VA, the DOD and Congress recognized all of the troops injured in this manner they could no longer afford to operate - it would bankrupt the system as it is structured presently. This injury is the very description of WWI "shell shock", and battle fatigue from WWI, WWII and Korea, and those soldiers are being denied benefits and treatment just like me and my brothers from Vietnam because of the "post 9/11" appellation to the legislation.

Many of my brothers-in-arms are diagnosed with PTSD, yet the symptoms of PCS and PTSD overlap, and where they overlap the conditions are exacerbated. I was under a 175mm howitzer in a bunker the first night I was in my new unit and got thrown out of my bunk at 2 AM by two guns firing simultaneously, and likely suffered a mid-brain stroke at the time (there are no other explanations in my medical history for the damage that is displayed in my MRI). To handle this as an outpatient issue, and to refuse to recognize it as a battlefield injury is doing all of us a great disservice.

I have suffered through listening to the claims of brain injuries by highly paid sports stars and college athletes, and have been working with a former Marine and his family who is also caught up in the discriminatory language that excludes servicemen who served prior to 9/11 but are dying from brain tumors, just like one of my battalion brothers did last February just the same. The Marine's family has lost everything - house, car, jobs - and there is not much that can be done.

It is time to change this dynamic and recognize these injuries as the true cost of war, and own up to the responsibility of caring for the warriors. We served - now serve us!

Response by SPC Nancy Greene made Oct 17 at 2019 9:37 PM

SPC Nancy Greene — Thu, 17 Oct 2019 21:37:14 -0400

Great information!

Response by HA Shirley Symon made Oct 23 at 2019 5:37 PM

HA Shirley Symon — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 17:37:19 -0400

Yes a concussion for any reason can cause these symptoms so observation and ongoing treatment may be needed. Why only post 9-11 military? This has been an issue since the American military existed.