Printer Friendly Page

VIETNAM VETERANS A NEW CASUALTY OF THE IRAQ

WAR -- "It never leaves us. Anything can trigger us --

A movie. A date. It's very difficult to talk about."

 

 

For more about Vietnam veterans, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/ses
search.php?q=vietnam&op=and

Story here... http://www.northjersey.com/
page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFl
ZUVFeXk1JmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeX
k3MjA1MjczJnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3Z
xZWVFRXl5Mw==

Story below:

-------------------------

Vietnam vets seek treatment

By HEATHER HADDON
HERALD NEWS

As the war in Iraq grinds on, a related casualty has emerged: veterans, especially those from the Vietnam War era.

As the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledges, the war and the greater global fight against terrorism has retriggered overwhelming emotions among veterans about their own military experiences.

Between 2001 and 2006, the number of Vietnam vets seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder nearly doubled to 200,000, according to the Veterans Benefits Administration.

Several factors contribute to the spike of Vietnam veterans in need of treatment, counselors say.

News and TV images of the war have rekindled trauma in some.

Many veterans have children old enough to go to war, or have other loved ones serving in the military.

Some are struck by the parallels between Vietnam and Iraq: the duration, the civilian deaths, the unexpected attacks, the growing unpopularity on the home front.

"It's the same thing," said Tony Vancheri, 59, a lifelong Paterson resident who was a combat medic in Vietnam. "It's the same thing as us."

The renewed trauma led more veterans into counseling, said Dr. Alfonso Batres, head of readjustment counseling services for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Washington, D.C. Some are in treatment for the first time; others have struggled for years.

"For the most part, it's not something combat veterans tend to bring up," said Jonathan Popovich, an Iraqi veteran and counselor with the Vet Center in Bloomfield. Many of his 50 clients have suffered quietly for decades.

Vancheri recently started attending a veterans support group where, for the first time, he is talking about his war experiences among strangers.

The group provides him with a new community of people who understand what war is really like.

"It never leaves us," said Vancheri, who held injured and dying soldiers in his arms. "Anything can trigger us: A movie. A date. It's very difficult to talk about."

Reach Heather Haddon at 973-569-7121 or haddon@northjersey.com.

-------------------------

Larry Scott  --