PTSD is a bitch for some. It really is.
I was briefly rooming with another more senior NCO for a while. He was afflicted with it horribly. This was before it was diagnosed as what it is. Back then it was called shell shock or combat fatigue or whatever.
It really wasn't until after Vietnam had totally settled down that the government started to truly address this serious problem
This poor man would wake up under the bunk about three times a week when the demons visited him in the night.
He was hurtin' for certain and I never did find out what happened to him because he got sent overseas at his request. He liked duty overseas but I digress.
I had a talk with an old First Sergeant about it once. He said he would sometimes have a couple of recurring dreams from Korea but said they were not too bad. Another senior NCO said he slept like a baby which sort of surprised me. He had seen a lot of action in Vietnam.
Still, where there is no shame whatsoever in suffering from PTSD there is another side of the coin.
I'm watching a Nextdoor thread on fireworks. I really don't want to get into it too much but I do point out that fighting fireworks when the 4th comes around is going to be like fighting bees or shoveling the incoming tide back out to sea.
There's no real stopping it. Fireworks people gotta firework. It's simply the way it is. It's going to happen. especially now because we have been pretty much cooped u for too long.
Besides what do you really expect with everyone caged in during the Covid pandemic? People have to vent someway or another.
A couple of Karens screamed that they should be outlawed but it was pointed out that until recently they WERE outlawed and the 4th still happened anyway, fireworks were lit off and the usual din lasted for a few days before and on the 5th things petered down.
The big difference was that the state wasn't getting their piece of the action. The states nearby that sold fireworks were making a killing. The state figured they'd get their cut so they were allowed to be sold in PA again.
Actually it was somewhat worse when they were outlawed.
Anyway, a couple of the Karens that are screaming for peace in the valley did what a lot of Karens do. They dragged someone else into the fray.
"What about the veterans with PTSD?"they scream.
Of course some of these idiots think that PTSD is military issue. You get it in boot camp. They issue it with your uniforms.
Boots, combat, 2 each pairs.
PTSD, 1 case.
Shirt, dress, two each.
The truth is also that an awful lot of these nasty little bitches don't give a damn about some poor shell shocked veteran unless it's to their benefit and they can use them as a shield of some sort to hide behind.
The truth is that if they were living next to someone diagnosed with it they'd be terrified the person might 'go off' and attack them. They know nothing about it, really.
They'd tell their kids to stay away from Mr. Smith. He has PTSD! We don't want you to catch it! Or maybe She's afraid Old Smitty will pitch a PTSD fit and carve them up or something.
But for now we can speak up for Mr. Smith and drag him into the fray to gain sympathy for our side! Never mind that maybe he doesn't want to go along with it.
That very guy that woke up under the bunk next to me was always the first in line to go to the firing ranges and always took more than his fair share of pyrotechnics on field problems. He LOVED things that made a loud bang.
Another thing about PTSD is that it is a disability from the point of view of the VA. That means a disability check every month for life. The worse the PTSD the bigger the check.
It actually pays cash money to be diagnosed with it and I really can't blame a guy a whole lot for trying to hop on the bandwagon. While I wouldn't, I can easily see how a guy would want to over play or even fake the affliction. It's a slam dunk check for life.
It would be interesting to find out how many former GI payroll clerks and typists are collecting PTSD payments. I'm sure there are some that are collecting never saw combat if one digs deep enough.
There are also a few vets out there that hide behind PTSD to cover for outright poor behavior. Vets are not all saints.
There certainly are a number of vets out there that have been hit pretty hard by the affliction, there's no denying that. Everyone has their own breaking point and there's no shame in something one can't control. I'm not slighting the poor vet that honestly suffers from PTSD in any way.
What has been seen can not be unseen. Incidentally some people of both sexes should remember that when they go looking for swimwear.
It's also a shame that it wasn't diagnosed a long time ago and help offered to the WW2 and Korean guys that toughed it out for decades hiding it from everyone because they didn't want to be called weak. Many of them were jumpy until well into the late 50s and even after that.
It effects different people in different ways. While loud noises is the stereotype I've met people that suffer fearful dreams, one person I met that spoke of it said a type of metallic click would make him jump out of his skin. A bulldozer crossing pavement might trigger someone else as may an airplane passing overhead. It's different for everyone.
If one is afflicted they ought to seek help. No problem there. On the other hand I know of a number of sufferers that won't because during the Obama administration there was talk of taking gun rights away from people suffering from PTSD. What a slight! Serve your country to defend our rights and then lose yours!
One thing, though. PTSD is nothing for the Karens to use as a shield to hide behind. If a vet or anyone else for that matter doesn't like fireworks it's up to him to speak up.
On the other hand if he does like the racket of an Old Fashioned Fourth, he also ought to speak up and tell the Karens that his affliction is nothing for them to hide behind and to stop dragging him into it.
It's HIS personal affliction and is not there for someone else's personal gain.
While we're at it, stop dragging veterans in general into things. While we all served for our own reasons one thing we didn't serve for is to be used as pawns for someone else's personal political and/or social agenda.
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