Vets deal with physical, mental wounds

CELINA - More U.S. military servicemen and women are surviving the kinds of brutal attacks in war zones that would have claimed the lives of previous generations' warriors.

But they will live out the rest of their lives dealing with the disabling effects of severe physical and mental wounds and ailments.

"What we're seeing today with these kids is they are surviving what would have been fatal in previous wars, from numerous reasons - body armor, vehicle armor, things like that, equipment that they have," Mercer County Veterans Service Officer Tom Risch told Grand Lake Rotarians on Thursday morning.

Many return home with either post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries, Risch said, pointing out the U.S. has been at war for the last 28 years.

"We are creating combat veterans, wartime veterans on a daily basis. We have seen a higher incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder than we've ever seen before from any other war," he said.

What was known as shell shock in World War I and combat fatigue in succeeding wars was eventually recognized by Veterans Affairs and the U.S. government as a real issue - PTSD, Risch said.

Though Risch said he has no way of tracking just how many veterans in Mercer County are suffering from PTSD or traumatic brain injuries, he estimates filing up to 50 claims each year on their behalf.

Risch spoke of a young local veteran, married with two children, who had suffered a traumatic brain injury when the vehicle in which he was riding was hit by the blast from a 500-pound improvised explosive device set off by a cellphone.

"If you can imagine putting a BB in a tin can and shaking it up, that's about what happens with the brain inside the skull when that happens, and it causes permanent injury," he said. "It causes short-term memory loss. It causes migraine headaches and a lot of other things."

The young veteran drives the same truck route every day of work for a man aware of his condition, Risch said. The veteran's short-term memory loss, though, is so severe that if he pulls over to a rest stop, he has difficulty knowing in which direction to go.

"That's the kind of thing we see happening now, and the experience of being blown up by a 500-pound bomb, as I said before, would have been fatal in previous wars," Risch explained. "We are having a lot more veterans who are living with injuries for the rest of their life and are being compensated by the VA (Veterans Affairs) for those injuries. Money doesn't make them well, but it does make their life a little easier."

Moving on to an earlier generation, Risch said Vietnam War veterans are getting older - and more likely to face a litany of diseases. Veterans who served the country in Vietnam are presumed by the Department of Veterans Affairs to have been exposed to Agent Orange, a carcinogen, Risch said.

The presumptive list of diseases for Vietnam veterans includes diabetes mellitus type 2, ischemic heart disease and numerous cancers.

Those veterans suffering from any of the diseases on the list are eligible for services and compensation on a monthly basis, Risch said.

"I hope that every Vietnam veteran everywhere in this country, if they are ever diagnosed with any of these illnesses, has the opportunity to file for compensation and get VA health care," he said. "If a veteran actually served in-country, boots-on-ground in Vietnam, they're automatically into the VA health-care system without having to report any income because of this exposure that they were presumed to have."

Millions of dollars in total benefits continue to flow into Mercer County each year for veterans and their spouses and dependents, according to Risch.

"Last year, 2017, my office was responsible for bringing $14.3 million in VA benefits into Mercer County. Now that's a very impressive figure. It's not something a lot of people are aware of," Risch said. "That kind of money coming into a county our size makes a huge difference not only in the economy but more so in the lives of the people who received those benefits."

Those dollars go toward compensation for service-connected disabilities and pension benefits, including medical care, education and insurance, for those who have served during a period of war, Risch said. The county, according to VA, has about 2,700 veterans, he noted.