Indictment
By Mitch Berg
Over at MPR’s NewsCut, Bob Collins – who seems to have become the online conscience of Minnesota Public Radio News – ably sums up the Travis Hafterson story
If the news media here had treated Pvt. Travis Hafterson like a dog, it would’ve been an improvement.
Hafterson – a 21 year old Marine from Circle Pines – came to Minnesota to seek treatment for crippling post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) contracted, the story goes, while on one of his two tours of duty in Iraq. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have included the Corps in his plans – and so after a crew of volunteer mental health professionals and lawyers got him certified for commitment, a group of Marine Military Police caught up with Hafterson virtually at the door to the treatment center, arresting him for desertion.
The alternative online news sources around here who fancy themselves the future of journalism — MinnPost, The Uptake, and City Pages, for example — proved that they can shrug their shoulders as well as the big boys. Of all alternative online sources of news, only Rick Kupchella’s new Bring Me the News “covered” the story.
Kupchella – a former Channel 11 anchor – has indeed covered the story (Here, here and here).
And there’s a lot to cover, if you are indeed a discerning, curious news organization.
PTSD is not something the services like to talk about – especially combat-focused, infantry-heavy services like the Marines. But PTSD and warfare go hand in hand – and the services have always had a hard time walking the line between denial and treatment; George Patton’s infamous slapping incident first illustrated the military’s schizophrenia on the subject; in the great scheme of things, it’s hard to tell how much the military has improved its approach (UPDATE: Although, as noted in the comments, they certainly have improved it).
Beyond the obvious? One factor of PTSD is that it seems to occur far less often in troops that see themselves as being in control of their situations. Highly-trained elite troops – like SEALS, Deltas, SAS/SBS troopers and the like – that tend to be in situations where they control the initiative of their battles, who tend to be “in control” of their combat situations, are observed to be less prone to PTSD than regular troops. On the other hand, troops whose situations don’t ooze control have been observed to be more susceptible to PTSD; American “replacement” infantrymen in World War 2, who joined their units alone, usually in the dead of night with no orientation to combat, had frighteningly high psychological as well as physical casualty rates (which was a big part of the reason the US Army dispensed with that system of replacing casualties).
Given that – does it say something about the nature of the war we’re fighting today? That perhaps just “sending more troops” isn’t the whole answer to Obama’s gathering quagmire in Afghanistan?
Much more later.
October 6th, 2009 at 7:59 am
A lot of PTSD is really undiagnosed brain injury. Especially in this war, the troops are in a much more concussive environment – cement walls, hard sand, and many have been exposed to multiple blasts. It makes it even harder to cope when you have something physically wrong with your brain, and people tell you it is just a psychological problem.
My husband was injured by a blast 4 1/2 years ago, in a training exercise while working as the commander of the Mpls Bomb Squad. We have been battling ever since – first to get a proper diagnosis (they blamed most of the symptoms on ptsd), and then to get brain injury treatment. Now we are battling for financial and emotional support. Mayor Rybak has made it very clear that not only will he not advocate for us, but he will not even talk to us to hear our side. We didn’t sue – just filed for work comp – and apparently, we will be the city’s enemy forever as a result.
Our country in general does a lousy job of protecting the protectors. People say they care, but then just assume that “the system” is taking care of people. From my contacts in the military (I am also a veteran and a blue star mom) they are trying to do better, but if even one wounded soldier or cop falls through the cracks, that is one too many.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Just the slightest bit off-topic, but Angryclown wishes to pay his respects to Twin Cities sports fans, who are on something of a roll at the moment. Angryclown will root for the Twinkies vs. Tigers today and against the Yankees. World Series preferences TBA.
October 6th, 2009 at 8:07 am
(Not so off-topic, by the way, as the topic is PTSD and Angryclown is a Mets fan.)
October 6th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Thanks, woo-hoo and heh, respectively.
Go Twins!
Heck, I could even root for the ‘queens this year (since Da Bearss seem to be rebuilding again).
October 6th, 2009 at 8:49 am
I read this article in News Cut and felt immediate sympathy for this guy’s plight. Appropriate treatment for mental illness isn’t easy to get in the civilian world and I imagine it’s more difficult in a highly bureaucratized and regimented environment like the one experienced by an active duty Marine. He isn’t a problem for them because he’s not a danger to others, just himself. And this guy is young but he’s seen a lot of action. That should count for something. If he can get his status situation worked out, he’s lucky to be from MN, where the VA hospital is one of the better ones in the country. Probably due to the proximity of other top notch care. And what Wendy says is right, about all wounded warriors (and the brain injury is interesting too). I only spent one day of my life in a “concussive environment” 3 miles from where a military base was getting pounded with mortars and automatic weapons fire in a coup attempt and I walked around with a weird buzz for days. I can barely imagine what it would be like to be up close and personal with that for days on end, training or no.
October 6th, 2009 at 9:10 am
I must take exception to your comments that the military does not take PTSD seriously. While true in the past they have made great strides in recent years and continue to do more as we learn more about the causes. As Wendy noted they have establish a clear link between PTSD and concussive blasts. We now pull troops after 3 blast. Treatment and counciling are no longer considered a failure by the soldier.
As with many past conflicts there has been great strides in medicine because of the need to treat our wounded warriors. We now know that a blast concussion is very different from a standard concussion which will hopefully lead to better diagnosis and treatment.
October 6th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Mitch, feel free to jump on the bandwagon of your choosing. Heh heh heh
October 6th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Dave H – I know that treatment for PTSD and head injuries has evolved a lot. I also know that psychology and psychiatry are moving targets, as it were. There’ve been big movements; there need to be more.
Krod – What on earth are you talking about?
October 6th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Krod – there’s no “bandwagon”. Collins is right; the local media expended tons of resources covering a woman’s battle to bring her adopted dog back from Afghanistan, but can’t be bothered to cover this story?
October 6th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Mental health will always be an issue in the military, it simply comes with the territory. There is just no way around the fundamental concept in the military that we have to go and do things that we wouldn’t ordinarily do.
Any leader in the military (or police, or fire department for that matter) have to strike a balance between pushing your men farther than they think they can go, and knowing when they need help. The Marines in particular are known for being hard and tough in battle, and you don’t get that way unless you push your men close to the edge of what they can stand.
If the reporting on this is accurate (and keep in mind that Kupchella relies almost completely on the mother’s story), then clearly the Corps needs to see to the welfare of their Marine. But before we start condemning the military for being hard on mental health issues, read the ABC story out of Afghanistan about wounded soldiers refusing to be medevaced to the rear because they wanted to keep fighting. Both stories are about medical care being denied because of what the military calls the warrior ethos. It cuts both ways.
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/10/05/rough-men-who-stand-ready-wounded-troops-refused-to-leave-afghanistan-firefight/
October 6th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Dave,
Yep. It does cut both ways. And I’m not condemning the military (at least, I dont’ think so) in general, so much as going after the media’s coverage of this particular case (and, perhaps, questioning the USMC’s treatment of the case by extension).
Reading David Bellavia’s book showed me the extent to which guys’ll go to stay in action. In an absolutely amazing book, that was one of the most permanent impressions.
October 6th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Just a single data point but here is an example of what is being done to help to soldiers or in this case Marines. It is no longer taken lightly or as a failure by the soldier.
http://castrapraetoria1.blogspot.com/2009/10/health-assessments-make-us-all-crazy.html#links
October 6th, 2009 at 11:26 am
uhh… Mitch, you are aware that the Bears are 3-1 this year right?
October 6th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Ben,
Heh. Following sports is one of those things that’s gotten squeezed out of my schedule.
But if the Vikes AND the Bears AND (fingers crossed) Twinks are contenders this year, that might change.
October 6th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Understood Mitch, I can understand being a Bears fan and just assuming they are going to be bad because more often than not they are. I’m not a Bears hater, in fact for what it matter I have family in that area (about an hour north) and my Uncle is a huge Bears fan. But I find it somewhat funny about how you mention the Bears are in rebuilding mode not knowing they are 3-1. Anyway as for the article I have a few friends that have come back from overseas and they seem fine enough. Interesting post that is sure to piss people off and make them think. PTSD is ugly from what I understand and readjusting to a “normal” life back at home must be tough. That being said it would be interesting to go back to the late 40’s and into the 50-60’s and see how big of a problem PTSD was for the WWII/Korean vets since it wasn’t “discovered” until Vietnam.
October 6th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Ben it was called many other things before being given the current title, things like shell shock, combat stress etc. Past vets used all sorts of coping tools from thrill seeking, self medication, to ending the misery via suicide.
As for the articles at the very end they have a sentence “Bradley said in an e-mail to a Marine liaison in Hafterson’s Wounded Warrior Battalion this afternoon.” which leaves me questioning the whole premise of the series. To be in the Wounded Warrior Battalion one must be wounded (including PTSD) and that is where you are placed until you get well. We are getting a very one sided description of the situation and from reading the series there seems to be no effort to get the other view.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I think I’m going to sign up to be a little brother for friends of the elderly. I want to get to know these people before its too late.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
What Dave said about PTSD. It just wasn’t called that. My grandmother was a psychiatric social worker in the 20s and 30s and worked with shell shocked WWI vets at St. Elizabeth’s’ Hospital in DC.
October 6th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Hey Bergy, it sounded like you was jumpin’ on the SixKings band wagon:
“Heck, I could even root for the ‘queens this year (since Da Bearss seem to be rebuilding again).”
So hop on before it fills up, sounds like you might just root for which ever team is winning, eh.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
sounds like you might just root for which ever team is winning, eh.
Damn straight.
Life’s too short to waste loyalty on sports teams that aren’t packing the gear. Screw ’em all. I’m a fairweather fan, and not only am I proud of it, but I rain muted contempt on those who waste energy on endless drama over non-hacker teams.
I mean, it’s your choice; waste your energy any way you want. But if the Vikes ain’t packing the gear, I have better things to do.
The same is true for all of ’em.
Except the Bears and the Twinks, natch.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Berg, that’s what I meant by jumping on the bandwagon of your choosing.
NoDak doesn’t have anything to root for, so people don’t expect loyalty from y’all in the first place. 😉
We real fans love watching the game, but for me hunting comes first.
Hunting update:
1 grouse last Saturday.
http://stark-raving-sane-dont-go-in.blogspot.com/2009/10/blog-post.html
October 6th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
NoDak doesn’t have anything to root for,
Right – no hockey dynasties at UND or football juggernauts at NDSU or anything like that.
We real fans love watching the game
I’m happy to be a “fake fan”. It’s hardly the insult some claim it to be.
October 6th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
“hunting comes first.”
Hunting is a dangerous hobby.
October 6th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Amateur teams are fun to watch sometimes, even for fake fans like you, I suppose. 😉
We have plenty of amateur teams in MN.
Even a national championship football team.
But like I said, Mitch, no offense, but for me hunting comes first. 8)
From mouse to grouse, from duck to buck, from goose to moose, and from hare to bear. (Actually I haven’t been bear hunting, yet.)
October 6th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
K-Rod just *loves* to kill animals!
October 6th, 2009 at 10:22 pm
(Actually I haven’t been bear hunting, yet.)
Maybe Sequel’s available this weekend 😉
October 7th, 2009 at 9:51 am
mouse?
October 7th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
MoN, hunting and trapping. 😉
….
And remember, eat a beaver, save a tree.
….
Watch it AngryAssClown; don’t make me make you shun me. 😆