Coping With War

SPOKESPERSON:

Throw it to daddy. Good job.

SPOKESPERSON:

Good throw.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Since coming home from Iraq last April, 23-year- old Donald Dills has been living on the edge. He's able to fill his days by taking care of his two-year-old son, Robert. But his nights are something else.

DONALD DILLS:

You have bad dreams. Some of them… some of them are stuff that you saw, just kind of reliving it. Some of is just like you're being chased kind of thing.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Dills has horrific nightmares, constant unpredictable outbursts of anger, and is afraid to be in crowds. Doctors have diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, resulting from his experiences in the war. Although he was a decorated soldier who served as a gunner for a year in Iraq, when he came home, he was kicked out of the army with a dishonorable discharge after he was arrested in Mississippi. Dills' lawyer has advised him not to talk about the incident, except to say it was related to his PTSD. He and his wife, Elicia, say adjustment to life after the war has been almost unbearable.

DONALD DILLS:

Being around other people is real hard, especially if it's more people than you can keep your eye on. It's best just to avoid interaction with other people because if you get into a situation where your mind is supposed to just tell you to, you know, step away, you know, just walk away and calm down, your brain just doesn't kick in and tell you, "Hey, look, that's enough. You need to just walk away."

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

How are things different for you now?

ELICIA DILLS:

I watch a lot of what I do. I don't want to use words to, like, set him off. But I try to fit into his routine, try to help him remembering where things are so that it doesn't get to a frustrating point. You know, I don't ever try to sneak up on him, awake or asleep. (Laughs) I don't ever do that because… you know, he's jumpy.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Dills is far from alone. A study published last summer in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 17 percent of the soldiers who returned from Iraq suffered from PTSD, anxiety or depression, a rate similar to that suffered by troops when they came home from Vietnam. Bobby Muller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, says he's not surprised.

BOBBY MULLER, Vietnam Veteran of America Foundation: The nature of the War in Vietnam, as it is in Iraq, is fundamentally different from, let's say, what Americans traditionally had thought of in war. We don't have front lines — we didn't in Vietnam, we don't in Iraq. We don't have the clarity of who the combatants are, as opposed to the civilian populations. So you wind up in the situation where you really are engaging all too often civilians. And that moral ambiguity, that confusion when you wind up killing civilians and having the population that theoretically you're there to liberate and assist actually rising up against you, that plays with your head.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Muller said that during the Vietnam War little was known about PTSD; he finds it very worrisome that now, when there's so much more information about the illness, military attitudes haven't changed much. For example, the Journal study found that 63 percent of soldiers with PTSD said they were reluctant to seek professional help because they thought their unit leaders would treat them differently; 50 percent thought it would harm their careers. (Playing guitar) Michael Lemke served in Iraq with a National Guard military police unit from Colorado. He said he knew early on he was suffering PTSD, but feared reporting it.

MICHAEL LEMKE:

I was afraid of the stigma. You know, the military environment often doesn't view mental health issues as a medical issue, which is really, really sad and behind the curve. In the military their most famous quote is: "Suck it up." So you're supposed to defy anything physically that's going wrong with you and still just grin and bear it, and it's hard to drive on with mission.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Pentagon officials insist much has changed in the way the military handles PTSD. Dr. Bill Winkenwerder is the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

DR. BILL WINKENWERDER, Department of Defense: Educate, educate, educate. That's what is needed. And that's what's happening. And I believe we're well into a cultural shift on this whole issue. We're working hard to reduce the stigma. And through messages that we provide to our leadership, and that our leadership within the services provides on down the line, we're trying to make it clear that what we believe is that it's important for people to be able to come forward. And we're trying to make it easier for people to do this in confidential ways.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

One of the biggest challenges is identifying soldiers with PTSD symptoms. Currently, the army has returning soldiers fill out an evaluation form just hours before they are to be reunited with their families. Many soldiers told us that they didn't want to reveal any problems then, for fear it would delay the homecoming. Col. James Polo, medical director at Ft. Carson in Colorado, says that's also the wrong time to look for signs of the illness. He has begun assessing soldiers four months after their return, which is when symptoms of PTSD usually start appearing.

COL. JAMES POLO, U.S. Army:

We found a relatively high rate of people who reported, "Hey, I'm still having difficulties with sleep." Decreasing performance, absenteeism, increased rates of alcohol related-type problems, soldiers reporting difficulties with their families.

SPOKESMAN:

And I'm glad that you actually were able to verbalize, "you know what? That's pissing me off." That's good. That's great.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

To help these soldiers, Fort Carson offers eight weeks of group therapy sessions.

COL. JAMES POLO:

If we give them the treatment that they need early, we're more likely to help them recover faster and with less of an impact to their overall life. And consequently, we are more likely to restore them to being that full, capable solder quicker. It's our goal with every solder that has a problem to retain them.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

But the soldiers we talked to said that's not the goal of most army commanders. This woman, who wanted her identity concealed, says she was forced out of the Army after she told her boss about the emotional stresses she was experiencing.

WOMAN:

A lot of people making that mistake and then getting dishonorably discharged for minor stuff because the chain of command wants them out.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Do you think because of that there are a lot more people that are having problems with PTSD that are just toughing it out and not getting any help?

WOMAN:

Yes ma'am. I know a couple… they won't go because… I know a couple in my own unit that won't go because they see what it's done to me.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

And they're afraid?

WOMAN:

Damn right terrified, ma'am.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

She says the army wouldn't acknowledge that her mental problems were a result of her service in Iraq. Vietnam vet Muller says that's just what happened to the soldiers of his era.

BOBBY MULLER:

We've fought this issue for years with Vietnam veterans, where all too often the military and the Veteran's Administration would say, "Oh, you have preexisting personality disorders." Or "these problems are not related to your wartime experience. We're not going to compensate you," and say, you know, "You're out of here."

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

But Dr. Elspeth Ritchie, one of the army's top psychiatrists who has spent time with army units in Iraq, says commanders have a tough balancing act.

COL. ELSPETH RITCHIE, U.S. Army:

My experience is that line commanders care a lot about their troops, and they care about their medical needs and they care about their psychological needs. For one thing, they need to have soldiers who are mentally fit in order to do the mission. Now, sometimes how that gets translated, given that there's a real-world mission in front of you to do, and sometimes the needs of the mission come first, and other times they're able to tend to their soldiers and other service members individual needs.

DONALD DILLS:

Look at that train. What color is that train?

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Elicia Dills says the army did not care about her husband's needs, and she especially resents the way he was treated by his commanders.

ELICIA DILLS:

He was a really strong soldier. He was an excellent, honorable soldier.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

What's been the hardest part of all of this for you?

ELICIA DILLS:

Watching them think that he was not an honorable soldier.

CHILD:

One, two, three.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Donald says at this point he just tries to focus on the positive: The support from his wife and the professional help he is getting for his PTSD

CHILD:

Bye, train.

DONALD DILLS:

Bye, train.

SPOKESPERSON:

Throw it to daddy. Good job.

SPOKESPERSON:

Good throw.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Since coming home from Iraq last April, 23-year- old Donald Dills has been living on the edge. He's able to fill his days by taking care of his two-year-old son, Robert. But his nights are something else.

DONALD DILLS:

You have bad dreams. Some of them… some of them are stuff that you saw, just kind of reliving it. Some of is just like you're being chased kind of thing.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Dills has horrific nightmares, constant unpredictable outbursts of anger, and is afraid to be in crowds. Doctors have diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, resulting from his experiences in the war. Although he was a decorated soldier who served as a gunner for a year in Iraq, when he came home, he was kicked out of the army with a dishonorable discharge after he was arrested in Mississippi. Dills' lawyer has advised him not to talk about the incident, except to say it was related to his PTSD. He and his wife, Elicia, say adjustment to life after the war has been almost unbearable.

DONALD DILLS:

Being around other people is real hard, especially if it's more people than you can keep your eye on. It's best just to avoid interaction with other people because if you get into a situation where your mind is supposed to just tell you to, you know, step away, you know, just walk away and calm down, your brain just doesn't kick in and tell you, "Hey, look, that's enough. You need to just walk away."

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

How are things different for you now?

ELICIA DILLS:

I watch a lot of what I do. I don't want to use words to, like, set him off. But I try to fit into his routine, try to help him remembering where things are so that it doesn't get to a frustrating point. You know, I don't ever try to sneak up on him, awake or asleep. (Laughs) I don't ever do that because… you know, he's jumpy.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Dills is far from alone. A study published last summer in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 17 percent of the soldiers who returned from Iraq suffered from PTSD, anxiety or depression, a rate similar to that suffered by troops when they came home from Vietnam. Bobby Muller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, says he's not surprised.

BOBBY MULLER, Vietnam Veteran of America Foundation: The nature of the War in Vietnam, as it is in Iraq, is fundamentally different from, let's say, what Americans traditionally had thought of in war. We don't have front lines — we didn't in Vietnam, we don't in Iraq. We don't have the clarity of who the combatants are, as opposed to the civilian populations. So you wind up in the situation where you really are engaging all too often civilians. And that moral ambiguity, that confusion when you wind up killing civilians and having the population that theoretically you're there to liberate and assist actually rising up against you, that plays with your head.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Muller said that during the Vietnam War little was known about PTSD; he finds it very worrisome that now, when there's so much more information about the illness, military attitudes haven't changed much. For example, the Journal study found that 63 percent of soldiers with PTSD said they were reluctant to seek professional help because they thought their unit leaders would treat them differently; 50 percent thought it would harm their careers. (Playing guitar) Michael Lemke served in Iraq with a National Guard military police unit from Colorado. He said he knew early on he was suffering PTSD, but feared reporting it.

MICHAEL LEMKE:

I was afraid of the stigma. You know, the military environment often doesn't view mental health issues as a medical issue, which is really, really sad and behind the curve. In the military their most famous quote is: "Suck it up." So you're supposed to defy anything physically that's going wrong with you and still just grin and bear it, and it's hard to drive on with mission.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Pentagon officials insist much has changed in the way the military handles PTSD. Dr. Bill Winkenwerder is the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

DR. BILL WINKENWERDER, Department of Defense: Educate, educate, educate. That's what is needed. And that's what's happening. And I believe we're well into a cultural shift on this whole issue. We're working hard to reduce the stigma. And through messages that we provide to our leadership, and that our leadership within the services provides on down the line, we're trying to make it clear that what we believe is that it's important for people to be able to come forward. And we're trying to make it easier for people to do this in confidential ways.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

One of the biggest challenges is identifying soldiers with PTSD symptoms. Currently, the army has returning soldiers fill out an evaluation form just hours before they are to be reunited with their families. Many soldiers told us that they didn't want to reveal any problems then, for fear it would delay the homecoming. Col. James Polo, medical director at Ft. Carson in Colorado, says that's also the wrong time to look for signs of the illness. He has begun assessing soldiers four months after their return, which is when symptoms of PTSD usually start appearing.

COL. JAMES POLO, U.S. Army:

We found a relatively high rate of people who reported, "Hey, I'm still having difficulties with sleep." Decreasing performance, absenteeism, increased rates of alcohol related-type problems, soldiers reporting difficulties with their families.

SPOKESMAN:

And I'm glad that you actually were able to verbalize, "you know what? That's pissing me off." That's good. That's great.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

To help these soldiers, Fort Carson offers eight weeks of group therapy sessions.

COL. JAMES POLO:

If we give them the treatment that they need early, we're more likely to help them recover faster and with less of an impact to their overall life. And consequently, we are more likely to restore them to being that full, capable solder quicker. It's our goal with every solder that has a problem to retain them.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

But the soldiers we talked to said that's not the goal of most army commanders. This woman, who wanted her identity concealed, says she was forced out of the Army after she told her boss about the emotional stresses she was experiencing.

WOMAN:

A lot of people making that mistake and then getting dishonorably discharged for minor stuff because the chain of command wants them out.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Do you think because of that there are a lot more people that are having problems with PTSD that are just toughing it out and not getting any help?

WOMAN:

Yes ma'am. I know a couple… they won't go because… I know a couple in my own unit that won't go because they see what it's done to me.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

And they're afraid?

WOMAN:

Damn right terrified, ma'am.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

She says the army wouldn't acknowledge that her mental problems were a result of her service in Iraq. Vietnam vet Muller says that's just what happened to the soldiers of his era.

BOBBY MULLER:

We've fought this issue for years with Vietnam veterans, where all too often the military and the Veteran's Administration would say, "Oh, you have preexisting personality disorders." Or "these problems are not related to your wartime experience. We're not going to compensate you," and say, you know, "You're out of here."

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

But Dr. Elspeth Ritchie, one of the army's top psychiatrists who has spent time with army units in Iraq, says commanders have a tough balancing act.

COL. ELSPETH RITCHIE, U.S. Army:

My experience is that line commanders care a lot about their troops, and they care about their medical needs and they care about their psychological needs. For one thing, they need to have soldiers who are mentally fit in order to do the mission. Now, sometimes how that gets translated, given that there's a real-world mission in front of you to do, and sometimes the needs of the mission come first, and other times they're able to tend to their soldiers and other service members individual needs.

DONALD DILLS:

Look at that train. What color is that train?

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Elicia Dills says the army did not care about her husband's needs, and she especially resents the way he was treated by his commanders.

ELICIA DILLS:

He was a really strong soldier. He was an excellent, honorable soldier.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

What's been the hardest part of all of this for you?

ELICIA DILLS:

Watching them think that he was not an honorable soldier.

CHILD:

One, two, three.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Donald says at this point he just tries to focus on the positive: The support from his wife and the professional help he is getting for his PTSD

CHILD:

Bye, train.

DONALD DILLS:

Bye, train.

SPOKESPERSON:

Throw it to daddy. Good job.

SPOKESPERSON:

Good throw.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Since coming home from Iraq last April, 23-year- old Donald Dills has been living on the edge. He's able to fill his days by taking care of his two-year-old son, Robert. But his nights are something else.

DONALD DILLS:

You have bad dreams. Some of them… some of them are stuff that you saw, just kind of reliving it. Some of is just like you're being chased kind of thing.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Dills has horrific nightmares, constant unpredictable outbursts of anger, and is afraid to be in crowds. Doctors have diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, resulting from his experiences in the war. Although he was a decorated soldier who served as a gunner for a year in Iraq, when he came home, he was kicked out of the army with a dishonorable discharge after he was arrested in Mississippi. Dills' lawyer has advised him not to talk about the incident, except to say it was related to his PTSD. He and his wife, Elicia, say adjustment to life after the war has been almost unbearable.

DONALD DILLS:

Being around other people is real hard, especially if it's more people than you can keep your eye on. It's best just to avoid interaction with other people because if you get into a situation where your mind is supposed to just tell you to, you know, step away, you know, just walk away and calm down, your brain just doesn't kick in and tell you, "Hey, look, that's enough. You need to just walk away."

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

How are things different for you now?

ELICIA DILLS:

I watch a lot of what I do. I don't want to use words to, like, set him off. But I try to fit into his routine, try to help him remembering where things are so that it doesn't get to a frustrating point. You know, I don't ever try to sneak up on him, awake or asleep. (Laughs) I don't ever do that because… you know, he's jumpy.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Dills is far from alone. A study published last summer in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 17 percent of the soldiers who returned from Iraq suffered from PTSD, anxiety or depression, a rate similar to that suffered by troops when they came home from Vietnam. Bobby Muller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, says he's not surprised.

BOBBY MULLER, Vietnam Veteran of America Foundation: The nature of the War in Vietnam, as it is in Iraq, is fundamentally different from, let's say, what Americans traditionally had thought of in war. We don't have front lines — we didn't in Vietnam, we don't in Iraq. We don't have the clarity of who the combatants are, as opposed to the civilian populations. So you wind up in the situation where you really are engaging all too often civilians. And that moral ambiguity, that confusion when you wind up killing civilians and having the population that theoretically you're there to liberate and assist actually rising up against you, that plays with your head.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Muller said that during the Vietnam War little was known about PTSD; he finds it very worrisome that now, when there's so much more information about the illness, military attitudes haven't changed much. For example, the Journal study found that 63 percent of soldiers with PTSD said they were reluctant to seek professional help because they thought their unit leaders would treat them differently; 50 percent thought it would harm their careers. (Playing guitar) Michael Lemke served in Iraq with a National Guard military police unit from Colorado. He said he knew early on he was suffering PTSD, but feared reporting it.

MICHAEL LEMKE:

I was afraid of the stigma. You know, the military environment often doesn't view mental health issues as a medical issue, which is really, really sad and behind the curve. In the military their most famous quote is: "Suck it up." So you're supposed to defy anything physically that's going wrong with you and still just grin and bear it, and it's hard to drive on with mission.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Pentagon officials insist much has changed in the way the military handles PTSD. Dr. Bill Winkenwerder is the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs.

DR. BILL WINKENWERDER, Department of Defense: Educate, educate, educate. That's what is needed. And that's what's happening. And I believe we're well into a cultural shift on this whole issue. We're working hard to reduce the stigma. And through messages that we provide to our leadership, and that our leadership within the services provides on down the line, we're trying to make it clear that what we believe is that it's important for people to be able to come forward. And we're trying to make it easier for people to do this in confidential ways.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

One of the biggest challenges is identifying soldiers with PTSD symptoms. Currently, the army has returning soldiers fill out an evaluation form just hours before they are to be reunited with their families. Many soldiers told us that they didn't want to reveal any problems then, for fear it would delay the homecoming. Col. James Polo, medical director at Ft. Carson in Colorado, says that's also the wrong time to look for signs of the illness. He has begun assessing soldiers four months after their return, which is when symptoms of PTSD usually start appearing.

COL. JAMES POLO, U.S. Army:

We found a relatively high rate of people who reported, "Hey, I'm still having difficulties with sleep." Decreasing performance, absenteeism, increased rates of alcohol related-type problems, soldiers reporting difficulties with their families.

SPOKESMAN:

And I'm glad that you actually were able to verbalize, "you know what? That's pissing me off." That's good. That's great.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

To help these soldiers, Fort Carson offers eight weeks of group therapy sessions.

COL. JAMES POLO:

If we give them the treatment that they need early, we're more likely to help them recover faster and with less of an impact to their overall life. And consequently, we are more likely to restore them to being that full, capable solder quicker. It's our goal with every solder that has a problem to retain them.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

But the soldiers we talked to said that's not the goal of most army commanders. This woman, who wanted her identity concealed, says she was forced out of the Army after she told her boss about the emotional stresses she was experiencing.

WOMAN:

A lot of people making that mistake and then getting dishonorably discharged for minor stuff because the chain of command wants them out.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Do you think because of that there are a lot more people that are having problems with PTSD that are just toughing it out and not getting any help?

WOMAN:

Yes ma'am. I know a couple… they won't go because… I know a couple in my own unit that won't go because they see what it's done to me.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

And they're afraid?

WOMAN:

Damn right terrified, ma'am.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

She says the army wouldn't acknowledge that her mental problems were a result of her service in Iraq. Vietnam vet Muller says that's just what happened to the soldiers of his era.

BOBBY MULLER:

We've fought this issue for years with Vietnam veterans, where all too often the military and the Veteran's Administration would say, "Oh, you have preexisting personality disorders." Or "these problems are not related to your wartime experience. We're not going to compensate you," and say, you know, "You're out of here."

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

But Dr. Elspeth Ritchie, one of the army's top psychiatrists who has spent time with army units in Iraq, says commanders have a tough balancing act.

COL. ELSPETH RITCHIE, U.S. Army:

My experience is that line commanders care a lot about their troops, and they care about their medical needs and they care about their psychological needs. For one thing, they need to have soldiers who are mentally fit in order to do the mission. Now, sometimes how that gets translated, given that there's a real-world mission in front of you to do, and sometimes the needs of the mission come first, and other times they're able to tend to their soldiers and other service members individual needs.

DONALD DILLS:

Look at that train. What color is that train?

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Elicia Dills says the army did not care about her husband's needs, and she especially resents the way he was treated by his commanders.

ELICIA DILLS:

He was a really strong soldier. He was an excellent, honorable soldier.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

What's been the hardest part of all of this for you?

ELICIA DILLS:

Watching them think that he was not an honorable soldier.

CHILD:

One, two, three.

BETTY ANN BOWSER:

Donald says at this point he just tries to focus on the positive: The support from his wife and the professional help he is getting for his PTSD

CHILD:

Bye, train.

DONALD DILLS:

Bye, train.