troops return home with $ to burn

[medeak]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SOLDIER_SPENDING_SPREE?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

found this hard to believe...but my cousin who is VA administrator in GA just confirmed.. they are buying cars like crazy and have had more deaths from car accidents than the war. (blowing off steam she said) That should be counted as war loss in my book.


Troops Return From Iraq With Money to Burn

By RUSS BYNUM
Associated Press Writer

HINESVILLE, Ga. (AP) -- One short test drive and Army Spc. Todd Strange is gushing "Oh, sweet! I love it!"

He's been home from Iraq a little over 30 hours and already he's trading in his little 2001 Dodge Neon for a muscle car - a 2006 Mustang GT, V-8 engine, price tag $26,320.

"I'm buying the car to show off, pretty much," admits Strange, 26, of St. Louis.

[Selatius]

1. He's gonna regret that purchase with rising gas prices n/t

[arcane1]

2. Tell that to Rick Clasen

http://www.clevescene.com/issues/2006-01-18/news/feature_print.html

-much snippage-

Each situation boils down to the most minute details of his experience in Iraq, from how to park a Humvee properly to the subtle sound of a bullet rushing by his ear.

Still, getting to the root of his stress doesn't solve one of Clasen's biggest issues -- finding work.

Thanks to his injury from the crash on Route Irish, he can't find a job. He's skilled in drywall, construction, and painting -- work made impossible by the pain in his shoulder. He tried a stint as a truck driver hauling steel, but the 12-hour shifts induced flashbacks, forcing him into paralyzing anxiety.

The brunt of the bills has ended up with Miriam, who is not only eight months pregnant, but working 40-hour weeks as a receptionist -- all while beginning her doctorate in English literature. Clasen helps as much as he can by doing odd jobs at the Cleveland Armory for $60 a day.

He understands that his reactions to "civilian life" aren't normal, which only adds to his depression. "You can't live a civilian life as a soldier, but how do I deprogram myself? How do I stop these feelings from surging back? How do I erase these memories?"

These are questions that Veterans Affairs should be answering. But trying to get the VA's help has become his biggest battle yet.

-snip

[medeak]

3. for certain

immediate glee and then horrible depression...these kids need a lot of counseling

[arcane1]

5. I have this recurring fear of 100,000 former soldiers...

suddenly snapping into a real-life Grand THeft Auto game :(


that's not a dig against the troops, just a fear of the psyche after-effects of war

[formercia]

10. and a couple of years later

he's divorced and homeless on the street suffering from untreated PTSD. He's too proud to as for help because a good soldier never complains. hey buddy, pass me that spike, I just got my comp check and I want you to share this Mexican tar with me....you're my friend, right?

[medeak]

4. they have to return in a year

my cousin just told me. Well.. hell... think I would be doing more than buying a car.

[Gatchaman]

6. There's a name for this condition

but I can't remember what it is. It has something to do with an inability to readjust to a lifestyle without danger. They're finding an increase in ATV accidents due to reckless recently returned veterans too.

[Balbus]

7. They're still not paid enough, in my opinion.

[DemoTex]

8. Viet Nam redux ..

The car lots in Hinesville, Daleville, Lawton, Columbus, Leesville, etc., loved the returning Viet Nam GIs. But like the man sez, "E-Z come, E-Z go." I bought a used VW Beetle, but many of my buds went for the exotic foreign and muscle cars. One even bought a new $7500 Porsche 912!

[AX10]

9. It really is all that much money when you look at it.

They need money to live on too. They would be smart to not go out and buy such expensive cars but plan for their futures.

[jmowreader]

11. And sometimes they spend more than they planned

These guys are getting off the plane with an Agenda:

First thing to do: Get wife pregnant.
Second thing to do: Take rucksack off.
Third thing to do: Go buy new car with some of the money they saved in Iraq.

Okay, so check this shit out: I had four GIs, with their wives, parked out in my parking lot a couple of weeks ago. One of them was in an SUV. The other three were in low-set cars--not dropped, just normal-height vehicles. They all parked against the curb. About ten seconds after they parked, these huge puddles of green shit started coming out the bottom of their cars. They parked the way you park a Humvee at basecamp, which is to pull up until your wheels hit the parking bumper...and they knocked the bottom of the radiator off every one of those cars and destroyed the plastic nosepieces. Fortunately, they still had lots of money left, so I told 'em to go get new radiators and lots of antifreeze and we'd help them change them out. Quite a few of us can fix cars and it was boring then, so we got them back on their way.

[Mogvet1]

12. not hard to understand...

it takes a long time to adjust from theater- I can't remember much of anything that I did the first couple of months back from a place I deployed to once...