NOW HEAR THIS: The Army VA Medical Service is broken almost beyond repair.
(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I have written that even medical/surgical personnel have PTSD as bad as Combat Infantrymen. I didn’t have any email responses which surprised me but this event is an example.
The fighting soldiers, sailors and marines with PTSD have complained bitterly about deplorable service and VA care. Now it makes the TV and newspaper headlines. BELIEVE IT!
There are several things about this whole episode which trouble me. First of all it indicates that the Army Medical Service can’t even take care of its own.
Certainly this is not the only example. Major Hasan had a poor performance record at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Why did they promote him and then send him to Fort Hood for transfer to a battle zone to treat battle stressed PTSD Victims??
Battle stressed soldiers deserve better than a POOR PERFORMANCE PSYCHIATRIST. It appears he was totally incompetent for his job. It is reported that he was harassed by his colleagues. Poor performing doctors deserve that.
I can imagine that battle stressed PTSD soldiers returning from Iraq etc were FREAKED OUT by being sent to a doctor who looked just like the Iraqis who had been shooting at them. He’s lucky he wasn’t physically attacked.
It is reported that some called him “camel jockey”. This was probably one of the more civilized expressions. There are worse!
Listening to the blood and guts stress stories of PTSD battle Veterans is certainly stressful in itself. The saying that some can do it and some can’t is seriously trivializing the problem. ER and Trauma surgery personnel psychologically burn out and probably this was part of his poor performance record. At any rate he was NOT appropriate to be a psychiatrist in a battle zone or maybe any other place.
The Army Medical Service really screwed up on this one and the tragic results indicate that substantial changes MUST be made. We were promised this years ago.
LETS GET ORGANIZED!!!
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Dr. Phillip Leveque has degrees in chemistry, biochemistry, pharmacology, toxicology and minors in physiology and biochemistry. He was a Professor of Pharmacology, employed by the University of London for 20 years, during which time he trained the first doctors in Tanzania. After training doctors, he became an Osteopathic Physician, as well as a Forensic Toxicologist.
Before any of that, Phil Leveque was a Combat Infantryman in the U.S. Army in WWII. He suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder more than 60 years after the war, and specialized in treating Veterans with PTSD during his years as a doctor in Molalla, Oregon.
Do you have a a question, comment, or story to share with Dr. Leveque?Email him: Ask Dr. Leveque
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
If you are a World War II history buff, you don't want to miss it.
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