Veteran's Stories, or Real Complaints

[the 48th regulator]

Hi All,


I have been noticing that the last little while other threads have been taken over by some good discussions regarding our well being.   I figured that it was unfair to those seeking answers to their questions.  

With some advice (thanks MB) I decided to fire up this one.

Basically, I wanted to start a small forum regarding our experiences and how it has affected us, both Physically and Mentally.   If you have questions or advice on how to get the right treatment or compensation, I want to make this the thread.

The only thing that I ask is that we don't make this a ***** session. I don't want to hear about â Å“ the guy I once heard about who had a boil on his bum because he counted too many canisters of pipe cleaners soaked in CLP and now collects thousands of dollars and was able to get a university degree at Harvard....â ? You get the idea.

Ask questions, offer answers, and lets have some good fun.

Tess

[Moderator Edit:  Title re-worded to more accurately reflect intent of thread]

 

[gun plumber]

What kind of stories are you looking for?
Is it the ole"One time,at recruit camp...."type or is it more than that?

 

[the 48th regulator]

Your own, a parents, a relative. I am looking for stories that we can help one another.

Maybe you suffered an injury, had to battle through a heck of a lot of red tape, and want to offer advice where some of us can avoid the b.s

Maybe your father never did seek therapy or compensation for the injury he received while overseas, and you want to help him go in the right direction to find that.

Or maybe you have a question, or even a statement that you were not able to find the right venue to voice that.

 

[the 48th regulator]

hmm

okay, thought that this thread could help.

tess

 

[Acorn]

Give it time Tess.

And define a "real" veteran.

Acorn

 

[elizabeth]

I don't know if this is what you wanted here but I have been looking for somewhere to post this. I am not a real vetern per se. I did my bmq and sq (reserves) this last summer and find that I am having a tough time readjusting to civvie society. It's more than just my mannerisms have changed (walk fast, in step, 3min showers, ect). I don't really have a lot to talk about to my civvie friends because they don't understand. I don't know. It's weird. Like am I supposed to be totally reintegrated into civvie society or not? I would imagine that it's hard. I know that in the big scheme of things my little problem is nothing in comparision to what some of you guys have seen/heard/done but it really is begining to bother me. I spent eight weeks there and week seven was the worst for me because of the mine awareness classes. I did request to talk to a padre but that never materialised (although the warrent did do his best). I haven't actually talked to anyone about this since nor have I been to church although I used to be a semi-religious person. I don't know how or if anyone here can help me with this but I just thought I'd post it to, if nothing else, make myself feel better. Thanks.

 

[gun plumber]

I found the same thing happened to me when I first joined the reserves in 94.Just roll with it.Eventually you'll find a happy medium and you'll be fine.You never really find out how much the military actually changes you until you see it for yourself.Insted of trying to talk to your friends about it as if thier on an equal footing with you,educate them.You never know,one of them might decide to join!
When I joined,I was still in high school.Talk about culture shock!Try having your school population hold rallys for peace,talking about how stupid the military is,and how important it is that we donate food,money and medical supplies to dictator controlled,war lord run countries across the world and being one of the only people who stands on the other side of the fence.Let's just say my last years in high school were not my favorite ones,but my first years in the military allowed me to find out who I was and gave me the confidence to express that.
I was lucky.Some of my friends joined with me so I always had someone to talk to about it.After I got to know people in my unit,I discovered people who went to my school and lived around me,so I even had more friends on civy street.
I never felt I totally fit in on civy street.I found that in my civy job that I was a different breed of employee.So,after kidding myself for 4 years.I finally joined the regular force.I have'nt looked back or regretted it since
Food for thought.
PS-what trade are you anyways?

 

[bossi]

And define a "real" veteran.

Not sure where that came from (maybe I missed something).
A little while ago (can't remember if MND was Cottonelle, or Eglinton Avenue ...) an announcement was made to the effect that "all" former members of the CF would hitherto be referred to as "veterans"
(sardonically, I wondered whether Veterans Affairs had finally realised they'd be obliterated from the face of the Earth once all the Second World War and Korea vets had ascended to the Pearly Gates ... or whether somebody had actually realised that peacetime "vets" could also have issues requiring attention ... hmmm ... ya don't suppose somebody realised that ignoring peacetime vets was slowly, inexorably creating an issue that would one day bite them in the butt ... ?)

So, I suppose for the context of this thread it might be useful to consider veterans with operational experience, and veterans without (who still experience problems of some sort, with a view to being inclusive vice exclusive).

I do, however, note an eery silence with respect to this thread ...
On one hand, I wonder whether serving members still fear recrimination (vis-a-vis admitting they've got a problem, but are afraid they'll only be viewed as "weak" ...).
On the other hand, I simply wonder whether members truly view their "personal problems" as being too personal to discuss ... or whether it's the old story of veterans feeling isolated and alone, not realising they're experiencing the same difficulties as their fellow vets ... ?

As for me - I've never experienced the degree of difficulties that I'm presently experiencing.
Is it related to an operational tour?  IMHO, yes - I didn't volunteer for Afghanistan with the intent of returning and being told I'm no longer advantageously employable ... (and, yes - I'm mindful of recriminations from higher-ups, thus I have to bide my tongue ... admittedly, something I'm less and less capable of doing ... ha!)

Sum up?
There are more stories out there, but people seem reluctant to discuss them here.
Perhaps that, in itself, is symptomatic of a larger problem ...
(but, what do I know?  As I've recently been informed, certain people with two whole years in their lofty rank would rather leave a position vacant than hire me ... geez - sure am glad I volunteered for Kabul ...)

 

[buzgo]

I deployed to Bosnia in 1995 as a reservist, with 79 Comm Regt. I was in Visoko, Canbat 2. During the 6 months I was there, we were shelled multiple times, had grenades thrown over the wall, witnessed multiple battles and even watched the air strikes that preceded the Dayton Peace Accord. When I came home, I was sent back to my reserve comm unit, with no support from anyone. Luckily my father had served on UNEF 1 in the 60's as an 8th Hussar and had experienced some of the same things, so at least I had someone to talk to. I still spent WAY too much time drinking away my UN pay with friends...

Looking back now, I realize that I was screwed up, and I know of other reservists who deployed in the early to mid 90's who came back with issues too. There was no support and it would have been good to have something. And I never said anything to anyone, because I didn't want to be 'weak.' 

Now last year, I got deployed to Afghanistan as well. I too didn't want to go, and had some good reasons, but at EVERY stage of my DAG process I was stamped GREEN. So I don't think that the military has changed all that much, they just want bodies and they don't really care what they do to people's psyche, family, spouse, life whatever...  I came home with no real problems, and I got the hell out of Petawawa shortly after my return, hopefully I won't have to deploy ever again (or at least not for a VERY long time!)

 

[Acorn]

My point Bossi, what does Tess mean by "real?" Does it include reservists who have difficulty adjusting to civvy society after a few weeks of BMQ? Or did he mean those with operational experience? I can guess, from what little I know of The 48th Regulator, that it includes the latter, and excludes the former. I just wanted to be clear.

On the other hand, the lack of traffic may just be a case of lack of desire to tell "real" war stories. It's a reluctance I've seen in WWII vets as well.

Acorn

 

[bossi]

My point Bossi, what does Tess mean by "real?"

My mistake - I didn't realise the word "real" was in the title of this thread.

On the other hand, the lack of traffic may just be a case of lack of desire to tell "real" war stories. It's a reluctance I've seen in WWII vets as well.

Yup - "still waters run deep", as the saying goes.

 

[the 48th regulator]

hey lads,

sorry if the title is causing more of a debate as opposed to bringing on a discussion of our experiences.  Next time I will get a finer filter to block out the fly poop when I pour the pepper when picking titles....

tess

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Sorry for not jumping in earlier. Was in Bosnia 94-95 at Visoko and Roto 0 Athena. I had two good tours with a couple of little bumps of my own making, but all in all, no great complaints. Just didn't think I had a lot to add is all.

 

[SHELLDRAKE!!]

There are those that would argue but IMHO things have gotten considerably better for tours.My first tour in Cyprus 92/93 when we dagged we were pushed through at an amazing pace where most if not all the dag process was done for us and all we did was get our needles.Progressively other tours started bringing in questionaires but they still lacked thoroughness exne questionaire from bosnia asked "do you suffer from night terrors or suicidal thoughts" to which if you checked yes, you would then have to bring in the form on your own to your unit.Afghanistan atleast offered pre tour briefings, mid tour briefings, and end tour briefings.Its not a perfect system but now with an ombudsman and variouse outreach agencies there is some help for those in need after a tour, that doesn't always mean your friends/unit have to know.

 

[Acorn]

Tess, it wasn't meant as a criticism, however thanks for clearing it up. I've found from my time on various internet fora that it can be easy to mis-understand someone's intent. It's better, IMO, to have a short discussion to clairify intent, than a long argument based on a mis-understanding.

That being said, I just picked up a copy of Trusted Mole by Milos Stankovic. I missed it's publication when it first came out in 2000. I actually met the guy in Sarajevo when I was in Gen Rose's HQ. Now I can see why he seemd to be wound so tightly. The book is interesting to me as a different view of events I was experiencing myself.

Acorn

 

[the 48th regulator]

Signals guy

I know how you mean, I finally took the step and found support.   I suggest you visit this website, in fact any of you that has been on operations, and you feel that you need some advice. PTSD is real and it is serious, adn if you need the help or a way to find the help, these peeople have the answers.

http://www.osiss.ca/

tess
pm me if you have any specific questions on the group.