Dr. Phil Highlights CBS Investigation
(CBS/The Early Show)
Dr. Phil Show Dec 19, 2008 “Beyond the Front Lines”
“They come home and have no help, no voice,” said the show’s host, Dr. Phil McGraw, of veterans who often feel mistreated and neglected when they return to the U.S. after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The system is broken,” he added.
Video: Congressman Bob Filner, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, appeared on the show along with the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, Tammy Duckworth, and Paul Rieckhoff, the executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA).
Filner said the U.S. government was not prepared for the aftermath of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He said the current crisis in the Middle East has generated almost a million veterans and the federal agency charged with taking care of them, the Department of Veterans Affairs, is struggling to keep up with physical and mental wounds. He said there have been cases where suicidal veterans have been turned away from the VA and then kill themselves. And, he said the VA currently has a backlog of approximately 800,000 benefits claims that need to be processed.
During the show, a clip was also shown of the CBS News story that aired in November of 2007. The report, done by Keteyian, exposed for the first time just how widespread the issue of suicide is among vets. CBS News discovered that young veterans in their twenties commit suicide at a rate that is up to four times what it is for civilians the same age. Keteyian was shown questioning the VA’s head of mental health, Dr. Ira Katz, who was, at the time, downplaying the risk.
Dr. Phil said the VA declined his invitation to appear on the show. He ended the program by telling veterans: “you are not forgotten.”
The pain of losing a loved one to suicide.
Paul Sullivan, a former VA analyst who is now the executive director of the advocate group Veterans For Common Sense, shares his insight.
The families of veterans speak out.
For eight plus years, I worked with incarcerated veterans. They ranged from WWII to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
None of them believed they had any problems or issues needing a little help, despite being in jail and homeless or at risk of becoming homeless; and, having issues with alcohol and or drugs.
I developed and wrote a two page Trouble Spots For Some Veterans, and gave it to them. On their own, they were able to read about issues experienced by other veterans. During my next visit with them, nearly all of them were anxious to tell me about the things they recognized.
That was the first step in helping them, having them know there were some possible issues.
However, because I do not have Ph.D. behind my name, my simple, user-friendly helping tool, means nothing.
However, I find comfort in the fact that I was able to help several hundred veterans, including those who had expressed suicide ideation.
What matters is having an effective program available to help those veterans who recognize they could use some help.
We have had instance after instance where it has been shown in grapic detail how we are not taking care of our veterans and wounded military. Each time, the politicians swear that the situation will be cleared up and each time, after the publicity dies away, things go back to the way they were. I really hope that the Obama appointees do much better than the Bush administration.
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Posted by RowdynTex at 05:42 PM : Dec 20, 2008
Congratulations, Rowdy. You just described the Iraqi People.