Which Way Home for War Weary Troops?
The way home for war weary troops is a revolving door between the States, Iraq and Afghanistan. MSNBC recently reported the tragedy of Major Jeff Hall's and Joe Callan's multiple deployments to war torn zones with brief breaks at home in the United States. For many U.S. vets, life becomes a revolving door of war, home, then back to combat — where they again face the same dangers and stresses.
Nearly 300,000 troops have served, three, four or more tours of duty in Afghanistan or Iraq. The signs, symptoms and consequences of multiple blast injuries to the brain and PTSD show up when soldiers come home and too often are misunderstood and neglected.
With two long wars — Afghanistan is in its ninth year and Iraq just entered its eighth — the U.S. military finds itself straining to maintain a steady flow of troops. More than 2 million men and women have been deployed to serve in both conflicts, and more than 40 percent of them have served at least two tours, according to military records.
For these men and women, life becomes a revolving door of war, home, then back to combat — sometimes within months — as they face the same dangers, the same stresses and the same agonizing separation from family. Some soldiers are gone so often, they're more comfortable being away.
The article looks deeper into the issues surrounding these military men and women.
