British Vets Fight Back, Seek REAL Justice

[TimmyBoy]

This is a rather old article, but I wanted to post it anyway. Here is to fighting for REAL justice in the world and to showing caring, compassion for comrads who escaped the shells of war, but were still destroyed. My heart is with those who live homeless on the streets, in prison or who still carry the pain with them. To my comrads who know "the truth." I wish I could take their pain away. But treating PTSD is not the final solution. Our goal should be to build a world without tyranny, a world with freedom and a world without war. My heart is with them all:

British Vets Sue over Post-Traumatic Stress
By Mike Wendling
CNSNews.com London Bureau Chief
March 05, 2002

London (CNSNews.com) - Hundreds of former British soldiers are taking the Ministry of Defense to court in an attempt to win compensation and better treatment for victims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

More than 260 veterans of conflicts in the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and the Persian Gulf started proceedings Monday in the U.K.'s High Court, and about 1,600 former servicemen and women are ready to launch similar legal action.

The vets say their PTSD was not adequately diagnosed or treated while they were in the armed forces and claim they were never warned of the condition's possible effects at the time of their enlistment or discharge.

"Policemen, ambulance workers and people who have been in train crashes all get counseling and are followed up and monitored," he said Tuesday. "For former service members, this has not happened."

"A lot of our ex-servicemen are in mental institutions, prisons or living on the street," Moore continued. "The military have known about PTSD since World War I, when it was called 'shell shock.' We're looking for correct medical care and assurances that this cannot and will not happen again."

"We'll be presenting evidence on the fundamental issues surrounding PTSD and how the armed forces should have been treated," she said.

Linder Myers represents 800 of the veterans and the government could be forced to shell out more than $700 million in compensation if it loses the case. But Price said the firm's clients are more interested in proper medical care than in cash payouts.

"We're really hoping for more favorable treatment," she said. "There are people in their 30s and 40s who not only have been unable to continue their career in the services but have been unable to work outside the services. These people aren't bitterly looking for compensation because they can't work, they want treatment so they can eventually rejoin the labor force."

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPrint.asp?Page=\ForeignBureaus\archive\200203\FOR20020305b.html