Testifier Camilo Mejia speaks about moral injury at PTSD Symposium
Testifier Camilo Mejia Speaks about Moral Injury at PTSD Symposium\”
Camilo Mejia, Iraq war veteran and conscientious objector, spoke at the PTSD symposium April 23, 2011 in Portland Maine presented by Maine Veterans for Peace. He speaks about PTSD treatment and Moral Injury. He is also the author of Road From ar Ramadi: The Private Rebellion of Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia, an Iraq war memoir.
Testifier/expert witness Camilo “Mac” Bica on “The Hidden Wounds of War”
Testifier/expert witness Camilo \”Mac\” Bica on \”The Hidden Wounds of War\”
“In this article I will consider what has been accurately termed the “invisible wounds of war” and three perspectives on healing, e.g., the Clinical Model as set forth in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which views the invisible wounds of war as mental illness; the Normal Response Model as elucidated by Paula J. Caplan, in her new book , When Johnny and Jane Come Marching Home: How All of Us Can Help Veterans, which views a veteran’s “disturbed and lasting emotional response” to war as a normal response to an abnormal situation; and my C ombat Injury Model, where such injuries and veteran readjustment difficulties are regarded as the wounds of war, specifically Combat Related Psychological, Emotional, and Moral (PEM) Injuries. I will begin, however, by providing some background and relate an account of my coming home from war, which though personal, is, I am confident, not unlike many others who shared the experience.”
“On the arts as a resource for healing and reintegration” – Video Interview with Jeremy Begbie
\”On the arts as a resource for healing and reintegration\” Video Interview with Jeremy Begbie
“Part of an interview series with Duke University Divinity School faculty looking at the hidden wounds of war and the Church’s resources that can help those in recovery.
Created for the After the Yellow Ribbon event:
Veterans today commit suicide at the highest rate in our nation’s history, have startling rates of prescription drug and alcohol abuse, and are often thought of as “damaged goods.” Our society must accept the responsibility of acknowledging and confronting the moral fragmentation that our service members suffer as a result of their experiences in war. After the Yellow Ribbon at Duke Divinity School is an opportunity for the ecclesial, academic, and martial communities in particular to listen to and learn from those who endure the burden of doing violence in our name.”
After The Yellow Ribbon Conference At Duke University Divinity School inspired by testifier Logan Mehl-Laituri
After the Yellow Ribbon Conference at Duke Divinity School“How do we promote healing of the hidden wounds of war in our communities and in our lives – what do we do After the Yellow Ribbon?
November 11 & 12, 2011 at Duke University
An emerging student group at Duke Divinity School in Durham, NC is convening the conference After the Yellow Ribbon in order to develop tools that church, military and academic communities can use in order to approach service members and veterans as human beings, and to understand and heal the unseen wounds of war (including PTSD and moral injury). After the Yellow Ribbon is an opportunity for these communities in particular to listen to and learn from those who endure the burden of doing violence in our name.
Veterans today suffer from the highest rate of suicide in our nation’s history, have startlingly high rates of prescription drug and alcohol abuse, and are often thought of as “damaged goods.” Our society must accept the responsibility of acknowledging and confronting the moral fragmentation that our service members suffer as a result of their experiences in war. We are Milites Christi, a newly forming Duke University student group. We invite practitioners of all disciplines, from music and the arts to theology and mental health, to respond to the challenge presented by the plight of soldiers and veterans in our midst. We want to work together to improve our efforts at prevention and reconstitution, and overcome this tragic epidemic.”
Vermont Public Radio: “Returning Vets”
by Bill Mares
Originally published 9/30/10 at VPR.net
Recently, in the basement of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Colchester, three dozen people gathered to learn how to help returning National Guard veterans re-adjust to a society at peace they left to go to war. The group also included clergy, social workers, National Guard personnel, one parent of a deployed soldier and members of the parish, I among them.
This was the seventh of ten workshops around Vermont led by chaplains from the Veterans Administration and the Vermont National Guard. Rev. Joseph O’Keeffe of the V.A. called the re-adjustment process a chair with four legs – physical, mental, social, and spiritual.
He said, “Over 200 years we have trained solders to fight against fearsome foes. We have not learned how to de-program them to live again in a peaceful world.”
National Catholic Reporter: The Weight of Violence
ncronline.org: The Weight of Violence
by Brandon Frazier
Originally published 8/05/2010 at ncronline.org
A former Marine Corp infantryman, Brandon Frazier, describes the violence he experienced in Iraq and its enormous consequences. In this short essay, written for a class he is currently taking at the School of International Service at American University, Frazier recalls an assignment on Thanksgiving Day, 2004 in Fallujah: to join fellow Marines in re-tracing ground covered during the prior three weeks to show a “body snatcher” team the remains of dead bodies requiring disposal.
What I did not expect, however, was the emotional toll this would take on me. The things I saw can only be described as something from a terrible nightmare or a gruesome war movie. The bodies were barely human. … This was the first time I had seen the results of my violence up close. It made me feel disgusted with myself, that I was able to do such things to another living being. I was not quite sure what this meant, because being a Marine means that you make no mistakes and you are always justified.
Frazier then describes later watching a close friend be machine gunned to death. He reacted by shooting wildly into the room from which the machine gun had been fired.
The story of this day is important. … The act of killing, in these years, was as simple as three pounds of pressure on a trigger, and that’s how we were trained. What I realize now … is that … killing another living being is far more complicated than three pounds of pressure on a trigger. … Today I feel terrible for what I have done. … I am actively trying to learn about being a nonviolent person … Will I revert to the instincts that were drilled into my head while in the military? … It has and will continue to be a learning process for me …
Full Article: http://ncronline.org/news/peace/weight-violence
The Nation: Disposable Soldiers
TheNation.com: Disposable Soldiers:
by Joshua Kors
Originally published 4/26/2010 at TheNation.com
A discussion of military doctors’ discharge of wounded soldiers based upon the diagnosis of personality disorder, rather than traumatic brain injury and/or post-traumatic stress disorder.
The mortar shell that wrecked Chuck Luther’s life exploded at the base of the guard tower. Luther heard the brief whistling, followed by a flash of fire, a plume of smoke and a deafening bang that shook the tower and threw him to the floor. The Army sergeant’s head slammed against the concrete …
“I remember laying there in a daze, looking around, trying to figure out where I was at,” he says. “I was nauseous. My teeth hurt. My shoulder hurt. And my right ear was killing me.” The sergeant was seven months into his deployment at Camp Taji, in the volatile Sunni Triangle, twenty miles north of Baghdad. …
Then came the headaches. “They’d start with a speckling in the corner of my vision, then grow worse and worse until finally the right eye would just shut down and go blank,” he says. “The left one felt like someone was stabbing me over and over in the eye.”
Doctors at Camp Taji’s aid station told Luther he was faking his symptoms. When he insisted he wasn’t, they presented a new diagnosis for his blindness: personality disorder [PD]. …
PD is a severe mental illness that emerges during childhood and is listed in military regulations as a pre-existing condition, not a result of combat. Thus those who are discharged with PD are denied a lifetime of disability benefits, which the military is required to provide to soldiers wounded during service. Soldiers discharged with PD are also denied long-term medical care. …
According to figures from the Pentagon and a Harvard University study, the military is saving billions by discharging soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan with personality disorder.
Full Article: http://www.thenation.com/article/disposable-soldiers
Muslim Soldier Says He’s Conscientious Objector – Pfc. Naser Abdo To Refuse Deployment
From WSMV.com:
Muslim Soldier Says He’s Conscientious Objector
Pfc. Naser Abdo To Refuse Deployment
Originally posted on August 29, 2010. Reporter Carley Gordon contributed to this story.
A U.S. Army soldier wants to leave the military service as a conscientious objector based on his beliefs as a Muslim, but he said he’s concerned he may be deployed to Afghanistan anyway.Pfc. Naser Abdo, a 20-year-old infantryman assigned to the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., said Monday that if the military orders him to deploy, he will refuse to go despite the fact that it may result in a military charge against him.”We have two things that I believe make us American: That’s freedom of religion and freedom of choice,” Abdo told Channel 4 News. “I’ve come to the conclusion that the consequences I would face of refusing deployment are a lot less than the consequences I would face should I go. I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if I deployed.”
Full story:
PFC Nasser Abdo seeks CO status as a Muslim and refuses deployment
From freenasserabdo.org: Nasser’s Story
US Army Private First Class (PFC) Nasser Abdo (age 20) is seeking a discharge from the military, because he deeply believes that his religious belief as a Muslim forbids him from fighting in any war as a member of the U.S. Military. He applied for conscientious objector status on June 7, 2010, and if granted would be discharged from the military according to the provisions of AR 600-43.
http://www.freenasserabdo.org/2010/08/story.html
Updates:
From CNN.com: Muslim Soldier Refuses Deployment
Originally posted on August 25, 2010
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/08/25/muslim.soldier.refuses.deployment.wsmv?hpt=C2
From washingtontimes.com
Originally published on August 25, 2010
Full story:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/25/inside-the-ring-992088881/print/
NYTimes.com: Taking Calls From Veterans on the Brink
by James Dao
Originally published 7/30/10 at NYTimes.com
A profile of the VA’s Suicide Prevention hotline, sharing stories of success and tragedy on the front lines of counseling suicidal veterans.
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — Melanie Poorman swiveled in her chair and punched a button on the phone. The caller, an Iraq war veteran in his 30s, had recently broken up with his girlfriend and was watching a movie, “Body of War,” that was triggering bad memories. He started to cry.
Read more
Military.com: Services Tackle Rising Suicide Rates
Knight Ridder
Originally published 6/23/10 at Military.com
While the Army is reporting a decline in suicides among active-duty Soldiers, suicides among reservists who have returned home and aren’t on active duty totaled 53 this year through mid-June, up 26 percent from the comparable period last year. Suicides among active-duty Army dropped 30 percent through mid-June from a year earlier, to 62.
Suicides overall increased by 26 percent from 2008 to 2009, while suicides among Marines have more than doubled since 2005.
The ability to properly diagnose mentally ill troops will require a more fundamental shift beyond mere medical practice, officials concluded.
Full article: http://www.military.com/news/article/services-tackle-rising-suicide-rates.html
A Gold Star Mother’s Testimony and the True Intent of Mother’s Day
by Valerie Elverton Dixon
Originally published 5/7/10 at Tikkun Daily Blog
When Celeste Zappala’s son, Sherwood Baker, decided to join the Pennsylvania National Guard, he assured her that the most violent duty he would have to perform would probably be to confront his parents at a peace rally that got too rowdy. Zappala has always opposed violence and war. She taught these values to her son.
He was a social worker. However, after Sherwood started to have some financial trouble, the National Guard seemed to be an opportunity to earn extra money. He could pay off his college loans and make a down payment on a house. He and his wife were starting a family. They had a young son. It was also an opportunity to serve in a branch of the nation’s armed forces whose primary mission was to help people in times of trouble. “The National Guard never goes to foreign war,” Zappala thought. “Nine-eleven changed everything.”
Full article: http://www.tikkun.org/tikkundaily/2010/05/07/a-gold-star-mothers-testimony-and-the-true-intent-of-mothers-day/#more-12821
“How Do We Repair the Souls of Those Returning from Iraq?”
\”How Do We Repair the Souls Of Those Who Come Back from Iraq?\”
by Rita Nakashima Brock and Gabriella Lettini, truth Commission on Conscience in War organizers
“The hidden wounds of war do not heal when left unattended; instead, they may fester for years in depression, homelessness, addiction, and a half-lived existence finished by suicide, which doesn’t end the suffering for those who knew and loved the one who died. Unattended, moral injury will linger for generations. Understanding moral injury is a necessary first step in a much longer societal healing process. We should begin that process today.”