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Lucinda Dutton
"Para's Girl"

Membership Level: Basic
Posts: 57
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Veterans & Combat Stress

Probably the wrong section but I don’t care as I have been stewing on this for a while now.

Why is it so bloody hard to get a single little bit of help from the MOD for veterans with CS and PWS? We’ve had to fight so hard to get 8 weeks of therapy for the bloke and it was down to his therapist to fight for the funding required to cover it.

We’re now back to fighting for the next bit and referrals through to the charity Combat Stress and a therapist who needs to see him. Issue is i am also fighting a private battle with the fiance, but I am the one who is still having to soothe his nightmares that are slowly creeping back in.

Why isn’t there more access to the specialist services the veterans need from the MOD, designated centres around the country they can access along with serving personnel, and where is the support for their partners and family?!

Sorry disjointed rant but needed to say it to a group who understand.

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01/03/2010 21:33:59

dennis shrubshall
"Poet –"

Membership Level: Full
Posts: 807
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Lucinda You have done exactly the right thing to put your worries into text that others can see on a site where mostly these problems are understood. What the average person doesn’t realise is that the people you mention mostly bear no outward scars but the internal demons deep within their souls may be with them for life and not heal like other injuries. I think that there is more understanding of this situation than there has ever been before but still a long way from ideal. The average soldier of today is trained in the art of killing but when he becomes a civilian again there is nothing in place to detrain him to return to normal civilian life and unfortunately there are many who never cope with these circumstances. Sadly if these people are left without help and treatment some may have tragic results. Let us hope that you and yours find the help needed to return to normal life .

Shrubby

"Images of Life in Rhyme" is available from me and all profits go to Havens Hospice Charity. Thebook is also available on-line from fast-print.net/bookshop and all major book retailers.

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01/03/2010 23:36:57

dennis shrubshall
"Poet –"

Membership Level: Full
Posts: 807
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Victims of Combat Stress

I’ve thought long and hard of the mind of a soldier
Returning from a theatre of war
No physical scars visible to the naked eye
But he’s not the young man he was before
The battles they fought they were many
Their colleagues they witnessed them die
Tho’ in their hearts they felt the emotion
But they would have never been seen to cry
The noise , the horror, the smell of cordite
The dreadful sound of a passing shell
The scream of a colleague detonating a mine
They were sights and sounds they knew too well
But for them now the war was over
These terrible memories they alone had to keep
Buried there deep within their souls
But coming to life as they tried to sleep
For it’s hard to explain that you are wounded
When no physical scars ever show
For they are the type that will heal , given time
But mental scars are too deep for others to know
Sympathy is ever at their doorstep
But understanding is their greatest need
To rid them of the demons deeply hidden within
And help them once again to succeed
To return to the life that they knew before
And live the life of an ordinary man
Although they are classed as War Veterans now
They were lads in their twenties when the battles began
So as they try to pick up the threads of their lives
To purge the memories and horror from their soul
For if it is left ignored and untreated
It may eventually take it’s dreadful toll
So if you should meet one of these victims of combat
And I personally have met one or two
Shake their hands and discretely look deeply into their eyes
And see if their injuries are visible to you

Dennis Shrubshall 14th February 2010
"

Last edited by dennis shrubshall

"Images of Life in Rhyme" is available from me and all profits go to Havens Hospice Charity. Thebook is also available on-line from fast-print.net/bookshop and all major book retailers.

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01/03/2010 23:41:39

Edward Bishop
"Borneo Veteran"
Moderator

Membership Level: Full
Posts: 1265
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Quoting: Lucinda Dutton
Probably the wrong section but I don’t care as I have been stewing on this for a while now.

Why is it so bloody hard to get a single little bit of help from the MOD for veterans with CS and PWS? We’ve had to fight so hard to get 8 weeks of therapy for the bloke and it was down to his therapist to fight for the funding required to cover it.

We’re now back to fighting for the next bit and referrals through to the charity Combat Stress and a therapist who needs to see him. Issue is i am also fighting a private battle with the fiance, but I am the one who is still having to soothe his nightmares that are slowly creeping back in.

Why isn’t there more access to the specialist services the veterans need from the MOD, designated centres around the country they can access along with serving personnel, and where is the support for their partners and family?!

Sorry disjointed rant but needed to say it to a group who understand.

Iknow only to well where your coming from Lucinda and theres still only one traumar unit in England though we have thousands of brave men fighting still today.

E. Bishop.

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03/03/2010 09:45:01

Murray Whyte
Add Forum Tag
Moderator

Membership Level: Full
Posts: 5496
Status: Offline

Quoting: Lucinda Dutton
Probably the wrong section but I don’t care as I have been stewing on this for a while now.

Why is it so bloody hard to get a single little bit of help from the MOD for veterans with CS and PWS? We’ve had to fight so hard to get 8 weeks of therapy for the bloke and it was down to his therapist to fight for the funding required to cover it.

We’re now back to fighting for the next bit and referrals through to the charity Combat Stress and a therapist who needs to see him. Issue is i am also fighting a private battle with the fiance, but I am the one who is still having to soothe his nightmares that are slowly creeping back in.

Why isn’t there more access to the specialist services the veterans need from the MOD, designated centres around the country they can access along with serving personnel, and where is the support for their partners and family?!

Sorry disjointed rant but needed to say it to a group who understand.

Lucinda,

Have you or do you use the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency.

There is loads of information on the site.

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03/03/2010 11:28:42

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