I think that I’d be more impressed with Time’s entry into PTSD articles ( The Hell Of PTSD – TIME ) if it wasn’t so late in the game and it delivered a bit more detail.  If you read Time and haven’t heard of PTSD this isn’t going to do much for you.  And of course they have the obligatory paragraph about the criminal actions of a few, even if there isn’t a definitive PTSD diagnosis there.  Nice overview Time, couple years late.  This is a great graph though:.
America has found ways to distract itself from the fact that it has dispatched 1.6 million service members to two wars and kept them fighting for far longer than the duration of World War II. This struck Waddell while he was at a mall, when a shopper asked him how he broke his leg. “Iraq,” Waddell answered. The reply: “Was it a car wreck or a cycle wreck?”
Here is an excellent editorial by a person that really cares for our troops with his eyes open.  I especially appreciate that he focuses on the Fort Hood community and its strains, not just one maniac:
Despite the conventional wisdom, there is no medical evidence that combat stress and post-traumatic stress disorder lead people to commit mass violence. Thus the second part of Starr’s statement rings true as well: Soldiers need help without stigma. The stigma comes from the image that a veteran’s advocate I know calls “the crazy vet”  the soldier who commits uncontrolled violence at home after doing or suffering violence on orders abroad. Troops, vets and military spouses are keenly aware of the danger and ambiguity of the stereotype, even as they invoke it to convey their feelings of anxiety, empathy and urgency. It is unfortunate that the “crazy vet” is the image that our culture furnishes for talking about the connection between the horrors of war and the mental anguish that follows. It means that complex challenges confronting those struggling with trauma are expressed in terms that reduce soldiers to helpless victims or potential monsters.
One of the most balanced articles I’ve read about the effect of donating locally to support operations elsewhere. If everyone was donating when they could, the blood supply (and money supply to helping organizations) would be fat and easy on all.
Perhaps few assumed their blood donations would arrive in Killeen, Texas, but realized the trickle-down effect of stepping up during a time of national crisis. Any donations locally would relieve the stress of transporting and supplying blood to the affected region.
National disasters can, then, impact local supplies.
Being the largest military base in world can bring some interesting issues to the fore. Because of the size and diversity of the place, the commanders are strong willed and influential. When LTG Rick Lynch was the commander, he had the time that Retreat and To the Colors is played each Thursday changed to reflect his 3:00 p.m. Phantom Family Time schedule.
And so, the first responders to last Thursday’s shooting found themselves in the very odd position of instinctively stopping their efforts to secure the crime scene and make sure that all were safe to render honors as the flag was lowered.
