Gran Torino, PTSD & Clint Eastwood (VIDEO)

Phillip Leveque has spent his life as a Combat Infantryman, Physician, Pharmacologist and Toxicologist.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - Gran Torino and Clint Eastwood have put together one of the best depictions of War Veteran PTSD. For my fellow combat PTSD Veterans tell non-victims such as rear-echelon sob’s this movie is a good example of what PTSD is!

Courtesy: obsessedwithfilm.com

Clint shows survivor guilt, paranoia, total irascibility, hate of all enemies and even a death wish which are all symptoms of PTSD.

For his survivor guilt he earned a Silver Star Medal as the survivor of an Infantry attack on an enemy strong point in the Korean War.

He was presumably a Veteran of 2 or 3 tours. His survival is hard to believe. He hated "gooks" with an obsessive passion which even extended to Asians which were our allies in Vietnam.

He was quick to grab his M-1 Garand Rifle or 45 Pistol for any intrusion into his “space”. Even in the face of overwhelming violent adversity.

In other words he was a “Real Dogface” ready to fight and defend his space regardless of the danger, which is an admirable but very dangerous and frequently lethal aspect.

Clint obviously had lung cancer (coughing up blood) from too many cigarettes but that is what killed millions of our veterans of recent wars.

Severe PTSD victims are frequently inclined to be solitary as depicted in this film. This may not be understandable to non-victims.

Plenty of PTSD Vets have lost so many of their Army/Marine Infantry buddies that nothing or nobody can replace that close camaraderie of battle Veterans.

Even Clint’s sons did not understand his wish for being solitary and tried to push their non-understanding on him. It revolted him.

He was finally brought closer to earth and civility by one of the once hated gook young ladies who obviously had gone through her own Hell of PTSD.

He eventually even went to some of the 'gook' celebrations like a fish out of water.

The Army language of this movie is pure Army and will repel some – tough – get over it. There are no plaster saints in an Army barracks. We are brainwashed to be coarse & killers.

The final scenes demonstrate his “death wish”. With lung cancer he must have felt his time was up anyhow. He usually carried and Army 45 but he faced 8 defensive, combative gooks with Uzis and pistols. When he reached for his cigarette lighter he was shot to pieces.

Many war Veterans were in the audience. I didn’t dare make any comment to any. Most of us PTSD Vets don’t want to be reminded of the Hell we went through.

More information on the history of Dr. Leveque can be found in his book, General Patton's Dogface Soldier of WWII about his own experiences "from a foxhole".
Order the book by mail by following this link: Dogface Soldier

Watch for more streaming video question and answer segments about medical marijuana with Bonnie King and Dr. Phil Leveque.

Click on this link for other articles and video segments about PTSD and medical marijuana on Salem-News.com:
Dr. Leveque INTERVIEWS & ARTICLES

Salem-News.com Marijuana Coverage

Where and How to Smoke Legal Marijuana without Fear of Arrest in the U.S.

Eulogy of a Great Warrior: Hoss Plourde

The Ripple Effect How Marijuana Laws Are Impacting Society

Audit the Audit

Welcome Home, Tom

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ChrisJones January 17, 2009 3:08 pm (Pacific time)

Amen Mungai!

Myron Kenfield January 17, 2009 10:20 am (Pacific time)

As a WWII veteran with the 82nd Airborne Division maybe this writer should go talk to some fellow combat veterans at one of our veteran's organizations like the VFW or the American Legion and get informed that his views on many of the previous subjects he has written on are in fact minority views.

Q Madp January 16, 2009 4:09 pm (Pacific time)

I told everyone on my notice list to watch this movie. IT'S GREAT!!!! Q www.myspace.com/qfocal

Joseph A. Mungai, RN January 16, 2009 11:42 am (Pacific time)

Abominable that the tortured minds of our soldiers aren’t receiving the most effective treatment for their wounds. Many of our soldiers are returning from war with PTSD and prescribed atypical antipsychotic meds like “seroquel”, which substantially increases risk of weight gain and diabetes by 389 percent according to Bloomberg News (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601202andsid=av_Gg66oOeWAandrefer=healthcare) Zyprexa, Risperdal and Seroquel are among the 10 most commonly prescribed medications and they are just as likely as older antipsychotic drugs to cause a fatal heart attack according to a study mentioned in the LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-schizodrugs15-2009jan15,0,3295418.story) Certainly medical marijuana doesn’t pose these side effects, hazards and risks. Yet the corporate drug pushers, with help from the FDA, continue marketing their atypical antipsychotic products causing even more suffering. Our elected and appointed officials are willing to pour our money into a banking system without any accountability to we the taxpayers. Yet, eons of war and thousands of years using marijuana to treat some of the afflictions of battle are discarded by too many in leadership roles. Of course history also taught us that fraud and corruption has been endemic to the banking system too. Sometimes I wonder what medications our elected officials are taking or which ones should be prescribed.

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