Property Is Robbery
30th May 2011, 22:43
http://www.pslweb.org/liberationnews/news/soldiers-speak-out-on-memorial-day.html
The following is a statement from veterans and active-duty troops in the organization March Forward! (http://www2.answercoalition.org/site/R?i=JMI3Ike11AKMct4-2BfL6g..), an affiliate of the ANSWER Coalition.
On Memorial Day, we are asked to remember those who have died in Washington’s wars. Of course, we’re only asked to remember the lives of U.S. troops; the lives of civilians killed in the current wars are supposed to not exist. As veterans, we know the human toll all too well, and cannot forget the more than one million innocent Iraqis, and the tens of thousands of Afghans, including an entire home just obliterated yesterday by NATO that killed ten children—cut from life before it had even begun.
In the United States, there are many families who will be mourning a loved one this Memorial Day: over 6,000 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past ten years. That number is climbing by the day as casualties hit record numbers in the hopeless Afghanistan war, and troops continue to be killed in the “ended” Iraq war.
Donate today to March Forward! Support a movement of anti-war veterans and service members. (http://www2.answercoalition.org/site/Donation?ACTION=SHOW_DONATION_OPTIONS&CAMPAIGN_ID=2441)
But what this government doesn’t want us to remember is the record number of troops who have lost their lives to suicide. They, too, are victims of the U.S. military's wars. Over the past two years, more active-duty troops have killed themselves than have been killed in combat. Outside the military, veterans commit suicide at a rate of 18 per day.
This epidemic is the result of criminally negligent mental health care from the U.S. military and Veterans Affairs—but no matter how much the mental health care system is improved, it doesn’t stop the constant flow of thousands of young people who are sent to be traumatized in the first place in two imperial wars. A recent study found that now 80 percent of soldiers and Marines have witnessed a friend killed or wounded in combat. Morale is down the drain.
Under these conditions, the wave of suicides can only get worse.
Active-duty troops are standing up and fighting back. This Memorial Day, let’s remember those killed by the U.S. government’s actions, and honor those who are memorializing a fellow soldier by speaking out and fighting to punish those responsible for his death.
Sgt. Derrick Kirkland, from 4-9 Infantry at Fort Lewis, Wash., deployed to Iraq twice. He was rated a “low risk” for suicide after three consecutive suicide attempts, was publicly ridiculed for seeking help by his superiors, then placed in a barracks room alone in violation of Army regulations. Days later he killed himself, on March 19, 2010.
Kirkland’s mother, Mary Corkhill, told March Forward!: “the Army has massively failed him … I am very angry at the Army and I feel they killed my son.”
Click here to read the powerful interview with Sgt. Kirkland’s mother. (http://www.answercoalition.org/march-forward/statements/mother-of-sgt-kirkland.html)
March Forward! members in 4-9 Infantry immediately sprung into action upon his death to expose those responsible. They have been heroically organizing and speaking out. They are still working today to expose Sgt. Kirkland's case and the criminal treatment given to all troops, and to organize against the wars.
You can help their voices be heard by signing their petition and circulating their statements widely.
Click here to sign the petition demanding justice for Sgt. Kirkland. (http://www2.answercoalition.org/site/Survey?ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&SURVEY_ID=8441)
Help build the campaign to win justice for Sgt. Kirkland, to hold the government accountable for their mistreatment of traumatised soldiers, and to end the wars!
http://www.answercoalition.org/march-forward/statements/justice-for-spc-kirkland.html
^:crying::crying:
The following was written by anonymous members of March Forward!, following a suicide in the barracks of 4-9 Infantry at Joint Fort Lewis-McChord. They distributed hundreds of leaflets with this statement in the barracks where the suicide took place just days ofter the incident.
“All the clinicians up here are being pressured to not diagnose PTSD”
-Fort Carson Mental Health doctor
On March 17, 2010, Spc. Kirkland returned home from his second deployment to Iraq. Three days later he was dead—killed by the Army.
Spc. Kirkland was sent home from Iraq because the burden of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder became too great—so much so that he wanted to take his own life. Many of us also struggle with the effects of PTSD, which is a completely natural, human response to what we are exposed to overseas. It is not a sign of weakness or cowardice, but the inevitable result of serving in combat. It is a burden we all share, and we all deserve adequate treatment and understanding for the sacrifices we have made.
Upon returning home, Spc. Kirkland was not more than three steps into the barracks before the acting 1st Sergeant publicly ridiculed him, calling him a “coward” and a “pussy,” knowing full well that Kirkland was suffering from severe depression and anxiety. He was then carelessly assigned to a room by himself, and like every other soldier with PTSD, given sub-standard care by Army mental health doctors. 48 hours after he was in the care of 4-9, he was dead. Spc. Kirkland had a wife and a young daughter.
Before his blood had even dried off the floor, our respected leadership was already mocking his death.
Spc. Kirkland did not kill himself. He was killed by the Army. The Army inadequately treats PTSD, while it reinforces a culture of humiliation for the soldiers who suffer from it. Spc. Kirkland was accused of faking his trauma.
PTSD is a legitimate medical condition that is unavoidable in a combat zone. As soldiers who lay down our lives everyday, we deserve adequate treatment for the wounds we receive in combat. We deserve to be treated for PTSD just like we would for a bullet wound or shrapnel. Spc. Kirkland received the opposite.
But what happened to Spc. Kirkland is not an isolated incident. This is happening at such a high rate in the Army that it is becoming an epidemic. Now, more active duty soldiers commit suicide than are killed in combat. Every year, the number of suicides far surpasses the year before, and 2010 is already dwarfing last year’s numbers.
How has the Army responded? Scandal after scandal has broken out about Army officers ordering doctors to not diagnose PTSD; to instead deny veterans the care they deserve, pump them full of pills, and return them to combat. It has become Army policy to do everything possible to avoid diagnosing PTSD. And when it is diagnosed, the care is inadequate. Throughout the Army, soldiers are having to fight for simple medical care. The Army doesn’t care at all about us, our lives, or our families—and hundreds of us are dying because of it. We are denied care because the Army needs bodies to throw into two quagmires, and because the VA doesn’t want to pay us the benefits we deserve.
Maj. Keith Markham, Executive Officer of 4-9, put it very clearly in a private memo to his platoon leaders: “We have an unlimited supply of expendable labor.” That’s what we soldiers are to the Army and the officer corps: expendable labor. Spc. Kirkland was expendable. All of us are expendable, and we witness that fact everyday.
But soldiers all over the Army are standing up. At Ft. Hood, the base with the highest number of suicides, protests have been held both outside the base and in the hospitals, consisting of active duty soldiers demanding better treatment. All over the country, soldiers are organizing in their units to fight for adequate care.
The Army will never give us the care we deserve unless we force it to do so. As soldiers, we have rights. Mental health care is a right for the job we were made to do. We have the right to be adequately treated and compensated for PTSD—but the Army is not doing that, so we have the right to collectively organize and demand proper treatment.
Actual defense spending in the U.S. is over 1 trillion dollars a year. Most of that money goes into the pockets of defense contractors, while only a tiny fraction is allocated for mental health care. There are hundreds of billions of dollars for new fighter jets, or to open Burger Kings and KBR facilities overseas, but when extra resources are needed to combat a suicide epidemic, we only get scraps from the table.
If you’re angry about Spc. Kirklands death and about the Army’s criminal mistreatment of our brothers and sisters with PTSD, you can be part of the solution. Join the growing movement of soldiers who are demanding the care we deserve. (http://pep.pub30.convio.net/march-forward/join.html)
The following is a statement from veterans and active-duty troops in the organization March Forward! (http://www2.answercoalition.org/site/R?i=JMI3Ike11AKMct4-2BfL6g..), an affiliate of the ANSWER Coalition.
On Memorial Day, we are asked to remember those who have died in Washington’s wars. Of course, we’re only asked to remember the lives of U.S. troops; the lives of civilians killed in the current wars are supposed to not exist. As veterans, we know the human toll all too well, and cannot forget the more than one million innocent Iraqis, and the tens of thousands of Afghans, including an entire home just obliterated yesterday by NATO that killed ten children—cut from life before it had even begun.
In the United States, there are many families who will be mourning a loved one this Memorial Day: over 6,000 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past ten years. That number is climbing by the day as casualties hit record numbers in the hopeless Afghanistan war, and troops continue to be killed in the “ended” Iraq war.
Donate today to March Forward! Support a movement of anti-war veterans and service members. (http://www2.answercoalition.org/site/Donation?ACTION=SHOW_DONATION_OPTIONS&CAMPAIGN_ID=2441)
But what this government doesn’t want us to remember is the record number of troops who have lost their lives to suicide. They, too, are victims of the U.S. military's wars. Over the past two years, more active-duty troops have killed themselves than have been killed in combat. Outside the military, veterans commit suicide at a rate of 18 per day.
This epidemic is the result of criminally negligent mental health care from the U.S. military and Veterans Affairs—but no matter how much the mental health care system is improved, it doesn’t stop the constant flow of thousands of young people who are sent to be traumatized in the first place in two imperial wars. A recent study found that now 80 percent of soldiers and Marines have witnessed a friend killed or wounded in combat. Morale is down the drain.
Under these conditions, the wave of suicides can only get worse.
Active-duty troops are standing up and fighting back. This Memorial Day, let’s remember those killed by the U.S. government’s actions, and honor those who are memorializing a fellow soldier by speaking out and fighting to punish those responsible for his death.
Sgt. Derrick Kirkland, from 4-9 Infantry at Fort Lewis, Wash., deployed to Iraq twice. He was rated a “low risk” for suicide after three consecutive suicide attempts, was publicly ridiculed for seeking help by his superiors, then placed in a barracks room alone in violation of Army regulations. Days later he killed himself, on March 19, 2010.
Kirkland’s mother, Mary Corkhill, told March Forward!: “the Army has massively failed him … I am very angry at the Army and I feel they killed my son.”
Click here to read the powerful interview with Sgt. Kirkland’s mother. (http://www.answercoalition.org/march-forward/statements/mother-of-sgt-kirkland.html)
March Forward! members in 4-9 Infantry immediately sprung into action upon his death to expose those responsible. They have been heroically organizing and speaking out. They are still working today to expose Sgt. Kirkland's case and the criminal treatment given to all troops, and to organize against the wars.
You can help their voices be heard by signing their petition and circulating their statements widely.
Click here to sign the petition demanding justice for Sgt. Kirkland. (http://www2.answercoalition.org/site/Survey?ACTION_REQUIRED=URI_ACTION_USER_REQUESTS&SURVEY_ID=8441)
Help build the campaign to win justice for Sgt. Kirkland, to hold the government accountable for their mistreatment of traumatised soldiers, and to end the wars!
http://www.answercoalition.org/march-forward/statements/justice-for-spc-kirkland.html
^:crying::crying:
The following was written by anonymous members of March Forward!, following a suicide in the barracks of 4-9 Infantry at Joint Fort Lewis-McChord. They distributed hundreds of leaflets with this statement in the barracks where the suicide took place just days ofter the incident.
“All the clinicians up here are being pressured to not diagnose PTSD”
-Fort Carson Mental Health doctor
On March 17, 2010, Spc. Kirkland returned home from his second deployment to Iraq. Three days later he was dead—killed by the Army.
Spc. Kirkland was sent home from Iraq because the burden of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder became too great—so much so that he wanted to take his own life. Many of us also struggle with the effects of PTSD, which is a completely natural, human response to what we are exposed to overseas. It is not a sign of weakness or cowardice, but the inevitable result of serving in combat. It is a burden we all share, and we all deserve adequate treatment and understanding for the sacrifices we have made.
Upon returning home, Spc. Kirkland was not more than three steps into the barracks before the acting 1st Sergeant publicly ridiculed him, calling him a “coward” and a “pussy,” knowing full well that Kirkland was suffering from severe depression and anxiety. He was then carelessly assigned to a room by himself, and like every other soldier with PTSD, given sub-standard care by Army mental health doctors. 48 hours after he was in the care of 4-9, he was dead. Spc. Kirkland had a wife and a young daughter.
Before his blood had even dried off the floor, our respected leadership was already mocking his death.
Spc. Kirkland did not kill himself. He was killed by the Army. The Army inadequately treats PTSD, while it reinforces a culture of humiliation for the soldiers who suffer from it. Spc. Kirkland was accused of faking his trauma.
PTSD is a legitimate medical condition that is unavoidable in a combat zone. As soldiers who lay down our lives everyday, we deserve adequate treatment for the wounds we receive in combat. We deserve to be treated for PTSD just like we would for a bullet wound or shrapnel. Spc. Kirkland received the opposite.
But what happened to Spc. Kirkland is not an isolated incident. This is happening at such a high rate in the Army that it is becoming an epidemic. Now, more active duty soldiers commit suicide than are killed in combat. Every year, the number of suicides far surpasses the year before, and 2010 is already dwarfing last year’s numbers.
How has the Army responded? Scandal after scandal has broken out about Army officers ordering doctors to not diagnose PTSD; to instead deny veterans the care they deserve, pump them full of pills, and return them to combat. It has become Army policy to do everything possible to avoid diagnosing PTSD. And when it is diagnosed, the care is inadequate. Throughout the Army, soldiers are having to fight for simple medical care. The Army doesn’t care at all about us, our lives, or our families—and hundreds of us are dying because of it. We are denied care because the Army needs bodies to throw into two quagmires, and because the VA doesn’t want to pay us the benefits we deserve.
Maj. Keith Markham, Executive Officer of 4-9, put it very clearly in a private memo to his platoon leaders: “We have an unlimited supply of expendable labor.” That’s what we soldiers are to the Army and the officer corps: expendable labor. Spc. Kirkland was expendable. All of us are expendable, and we witness that fact everyday.
But soldiers all over the Army are standing up. At Ft. Hood, the base with the highest number of suicides, protests have been held both outside the base and in the hospitals, consisting of active duty soldiers demanding better treatment. All over the country, soldiers are organizing in their units to fight for adequate care.
The Army will never give us the care we deserve unless we force it to do so. As soldiers, we have rights. Mental health care is a right for the job we were made to do. We have the right to be adequately treated and compensated for PTSD—but the Army is not doing that, so we have the right to collectively organize and demand proper treatment.
Actual defense spending in the U.S. is over 1 trillion dollars a year. Most of that money goes into the pockets of defense contractors, while only a tiny fraction is allocated for mental health care. There are hundreds of billions of dollars for new fighter jets, or to open Burger Kings and KBR facilities overseas, but when extra resources are needed to combat a suicide epidemic, we only get scraps from the table.
If you’re angry about Spc. Kirklands death and about the Army’s criminal mistreatment of our brothers and sisters with PTSD, you can be part of the solution. Join the growing movement of soldiers who are demanding the care we deserve. (http://pep.pub30.convio.net/march-forward/join.html)