Texas Labor Against the War

http://www.underthehoodcafe.org/news/nr20091110.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 10, 2009
CONTACT: (254) 449-8811

IN WAKE OF DISASTER, OBAMA SNUBS
FORT HOOD SOLDIER WITH PTSD

Fort Hood (TX) After one of the worst on-base massacres in U.S. history and the day before Veteran’s Day, President Barack Obama visited soldiers at one of the barracks at Fort Hood, only to ignore a soldier that stated that he had concerns he’d like the president to address.

SPC Michael Kern, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and an active-duty soldier battling with post-traumatic stress disorder handed the president a letter and stated “Sir, IVAW has some concerns we’d like for you to address.” Mr. Obama then dropped his hand and went on to speak to the next soldier. The secret service took possession of Kern’s letter. (see below for a complete transcript of Michael Kern’s letter to President Obama)

In contrast to the president’s public statements, this simple act brings to light the true lack of concern and respect for individuals in the military, particularly those struggling to deal with post-traumatic stress.

Transcript of the letter handed to President Obama:

President Obama:
In your recent comments on the Fort Hood tragedy, you stated “These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk and at times give their lives to protect the rest of us on a daily basis. It’s difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil.” Sir, we have been losing these brave Americans on American soil for years, due to the mental health problems that come after deployment, which include post-traumatic stress disorder, and often, suicide.

You also said that “We will continue to support the community with the full resources of the federal government”. Sir, we appreciate that-but what we need is not more FBI or Homeland Security personnel swarming Fort Hood. What we need is full mental healthcare for all soldiers serving in the Army. What happened at Fort Hood has made it abundantly clear that the military mental health system, and our soldiers, are broken.

You said “We will make sure that we will get answers to every single question about this terrible incident.” Sir, one of the answers is self evident: that a strained military cannot continue without better mental healthcare for all soldiers.

You stated that “As Commander-in- Chief, there’s no greater honor but also no greater responsibility for me than to make sure that the extraordinary men and women in uniform are properly cared for.” Sir, we urge you to carry out your promise and ensure that our servicemembers indeed have access to quality mental health care. The Army has only 408 psychiatrists — military, civilian and contractors — serving about 553,000 active-duty troops around the world. This is far too few, and the providers that exist are often not competent professionals, as this incident shows. Military wages cannot attract the quality psychiatrists we need to care for these returning soldiers.

We ask that:

1. Each soldier about to be deployed and returning from deployment be assigned a mental health provider who will reach out to them, rather than requiring them to initiate the search for help.
2. Ensure that the stigma of seeking care for mental health issues is removed for soldiers at all levels-from junior enlisted to senior enlisted and officers alike.
3. Ensure that if mental health care is not available from military facilities, soldiers can seek mental health care with civilian providers of their choice
4. Ensure that soldiers are prevented from deploying with mental health problems and issues.
5. Stop multiple redeployments of the same troops.
6. Ensure full background checks for all mental health providers and periodic check ups for them to decompress from the stresses they shoulder from the soldiers they counsel to the workload they endure.

Sir, we hope that you will make the decision not to deploy one single Fort Hood troop without ensuring that all have had access to fair and impartial mental health screening and treatment.

You have stated on a number of occasions, starting during your campaign, how important our military and veterans are to this nation. The best way to safeguard the soldiers of this nation is to provide ALL soldiers with immediate, personal and professional mental health resources.

Iraq Veterans Against the War

Excerpt from Amy Goodman’s interview on Democracy Now! today (Nov. 9, 2009) with journalist Dahr Jamail and with Michael Kern, Active-duty veteran of the Iraq war stationed at Fort Hood. He is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

To watch video of the interview and to read the entire transcript, go to http://www.democracynow.org/2009/11/9/when_the_war_comes_homes_iraq

. . .AMY GOODMAN: Well, I’m joined now by two guests. Private Michael Kern joins us on the phone from Fort Hood, Texas, where he’s an active-duty veteran of the Iraq war. He’s with Iraq Vets Against the War and returned from Iraq earlier this year. He’s been diagnosed with PTSD; that’s post-traumatic stress disorder.

Also with us via Democracy Now! video stream from California is independent journalist and author Dahr Jamail. His latest book is called The Will to Resist: Soldiers Who Refuse to Fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. His article for IPS, published just after the shootings, is called “The War Comes Home.” His latest article, at TomDispatch.com, “Where Will They Get the Troops: Preparing Undeployables for the Afghan Front.”

Michael Kern, let’s begin with you at Fort Hood. You were familiar with Major Hasan, the Army psychiatrist?

MICHAEL KERN: Yes, he was not my particular psychiatrist, but he did work in the building that I go to pretty much weekly. And, you know, the only conversation that we had was, you know, basic greeting: “Good morning, sir. How are you doing, sir?”

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about the unit that he works in, where you were being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.

MICHAEL KERN: He works in a unit called the Medical Evaluation Board, where he basically sees soldiers, diagnoses soldiers with PTSD and other things like that, before they get out of the military, when they’re applying for an evaluation board to be medically retired from the United States Army.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what you saw in Iraq, what it means to be treated for PTSD? You said he was not your psychiatrist, but you have commented on what he was hearing from his many patients, soldiers who had returned from the front.

MICHAEL KERN: Yeah, I mean, imagine just having a job where, you know, every soldier comes in and tells you the most horrible tragic stories about what happened in Iraq and what they’ve done in Iraq. And you have to deal with all these things, and then all of a sudden you get orders to deploy? That’s going to screw with anyone, mentally.

AMY GOODMAN: Talk about what happened to you in Iraq, Michael Kern.

MICHAEL KERN: Numerous things happened to me in Iraq. I actually engaged and shot and killed a child, believing at the time that it was a legitimate kill. That still troubles me to this day. You know, anything—we got hit with mortars, IEDs, EFPs, small arms fires, RPGs, anything you can think of. I lost a lot of good friends out there for a, you know, immoral and an unjust war. . . .