Before the days that PTSD was a diagnosis, the men of the June 8, 1967 brutal attack on the spy ship the USS LIBERTY suffered from it.

For over 40 years the USA Govt. has covered up and lied about that day in infamy when they ordered the traumatized and wounded survivors to SHUT UP about the truth or be court martialed or "worse."

The truth always outs and the survivors are talking and it matters now more than ever that they be heard before the next presidential elections.

On June 8, 2007, I-an American Irish dissident attended the 27th annual American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's Washington, D.C. Conference.

86 year old, walker-bound Congressman Paul Findley, a moderate Republican addressed the luncheon crowd:

"I was here for the first convention 27 years ago and I still have a fire in my belly for the civil and human rights of Arabs. It is time to speak openly and honestly about Israel. But, in American politics, that is still forbidden.

"...Pity that we cannot seem to shed our fear of Israel. We are afraid to speak out on Capitol Hill, for fear of losing the next election. They are more like trained poodles jumping through hoops than leaders!

"Why this fear? How did we get here?

"Forty years ago to this day, June 8, 1967 the change occurred, the floodgates opened and money poured into Israel as never before. When President Johnson heard about the U.S.S. Liberty being attacked by Israel he ordered the rescue fighter planes to return to the deck. The rescue mission was aborted and the survivors have said they heard LBJ's voice tell Admiral Giess, 'Get those planes back on deck. I don't care if the ship sinks, I will not embarrass Israel.'

"LBJ also threatened to court martial anyone who reported what had happened. Johnson accepted Israel's false claim of "mistaken identity" and he knew it was a lie. That is when the change began and Israel learned they could get away with murdering U.S.A. soldiers."

What really happened to the USS Liberty, and why does it matter now more than ever?

See the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYfLpaXWlVM

Read a few of my interviews with some of the survivors @
USS LIBERTY link on WAWA:

http://www.wearewideawake.org

"Rep. Filner raised the question of criminal negligence."

I agree completely.

I placed close to 3000 tombstones at Independence Hall on Independence Mall yesterday, we do not have room and the City of Philadelphia would not give us a permit for the grounds at the Liberty Bell directly across the street so we could not put all 4,709 tombstones down. we make them and we place their photos on each gravestone with their beautiful young faces with Name, Place of Birth, Date of Birth/age and KIA as confirmed by the DoD. The front of the Sea of Tombstones are the grave markers of PTSD with SUICIDE, and we look in their immobile eyes and see their age and are tormented for a very long, long time. Then our Gold Star Families for Peace come and write on their childrens tombstones and are crying to the Heavens without a reply as they hug the tombstones, it is horrific. Cindy knows, I wish you would visit us Cindy.
Philly cops refuse to provide any security, as in circling the block. We have people knock down and desicrate the graveyard, set on the Arlington grid, so we take turns and watch and sleep in our vehicles(they only allow 1 vehicle).
Today they will have a hotdog eating contest to the front of the graveyard, pigs, cochon.
We are all VFP, VVAW and more, we want this F$$KING ILLEGAL OCCUPATION WELL INTO ITS 6TH YEAR ENDED NOW!

We honor our vets by putting those who killed them and maimed them on trial.

Each and every vet who has died in this war on terror, each and every vet who has lost a limb, each and every vet who is facing emotional and mental disability, is a victim of a fake war on terror.

I am not only talking about Iraq war vets since it is the war that most see as illegal, I am talking about Afghanistan vets since that was is even more illegal than the Iraq war.

Feel free to read "The Crime behind the Criminal Wars!" found at
http://www.mydemocracy.net/war_crimes/crime_criminal_wars_bush_blair.htm
Other articles can be found at http://www.mydemocracy.net

I will be also posting this comment on Bill Moyers' web page.

Best,
Maher Osseiran

Amazing to me that Mr. Andersson was reassigned to duty as a recruiter. No mention of any treatment prior to that assignment even though he'd done two tours in Iraq. After this tragic loss of his life perhaps the people of Houston, and the rest of the nation, may think twice before allowing their sons and daughters to be recruited to serve in the abomination known variously as the war in Iraq, the war on terrorism and the OCCUPATION of Iraq. Please, people, let's speak out more loudly and do whatever it takes to get our troops and the mercenaries out of Iraq. We have no right to be there. Bring them ALL home and provide PROPER treatment for them upon return.

I was working the Emergency Room at Bethesda Naval Hospital the day we received casualties from the Liberty. We were "told" that there had been an accidental "spillage" of napalm on the deck.
I will never forget the melting skin of the those brought in and still have nightmares of walking outside their ward to and from work, hearing their screams as they were debrided (dead skin removal) with scrub brushes. I was told that morphine was contraindicated for burn patients. Burns were treated much differently then, and napalm keeps burning into skin even after the "fire" is extinguished.
I spent the following October on the Psych Ward trying to cope with it.
On April 27, 1969 at 1430hrs, I put a 12guage shotgun to my neck and pushed the trigger with a wooden ruler (My arm was too short).
I apparently am still here in spite of more attempts.
I am currently a patient at the PTSR Clinic at my local VA. At 60y/o, I am beginning to accept the facts of my experiences and the information about what really happened on the Liberty has helped.

It was a very sad day when I first heard the term "assets" used in reference to our military troops. This was when we became involved in the first Gulf mess. We have always been treated by our government as disposable chattel, but to blatantly call us that openly as policy is a slam to every American.

Only the recruiter can see the sign on his desk; "Leave no child behind."

My Mom (WWII generation) always used the catchy phrase "nervous from the Service" to tease my Dad who never saw combat, but other veterans they knew from WWII and Korea really were "nervous from the service". So PTSD isn't new. Its better understood and reported, and so many more soldiers survive their physical wounds today.

It is a terrible shame that soldiers' lives lost in Vietnam and Iraq were wasted. They were still heroic in trying to defend their country, and the wounded and scarred veterans from these campaigns should be honored and treated well.

Progressives memorialize every fallen vet with every elitist, capitalist, imperialist delusion we shatter. Everyone can participate by voting third party progressive in all of our general exchange/association.

corpswave66, thank you for posting your experience. Not many of us have had to live through that kind of horror first hand. I think you are "still here" to speak your truth to power.

The soldiers pay the price. The civilians on the front line pay the price. But the question that should be asked is: who makes the profit?

The answer to that involves following both the money trail and the political power trail. That will lead you to those who pay no price but luxuriate in wealth and power, sometimes both. Sickening, isn't it?

P.S. If you want to create a popular website check my blog!

Why haven't the leaders and pundits who sent the troops into Iraq and said what a cakewalk it would be committed suicide? Have they no shame?

We should not be honoring any soldiers, dead or alive. We should be pointing out that most of these soldiers were, or are, carrying out wars of imperialism. The real heros that need to be honored are those who do not go to war. 'Remember the 1960s very apt thought that " what whould happen if we had a war and no one came?" We need t honor those who went to Canada or to jail, and condemn those who join the military. I was in the military, and I am now ashamed of being a part of what William Appleman Williams called Imperialism as a way of Life. When we honor the people who carried out imperialist acts and those mindless souls--most Americans--who support the imperialists, we condemn the rest of the world to misery, supression and death. Memorial day should be focused on honoring the victums and condemning America and the Americans who are truly the ENEMIES OF MANKIND.

Please read this article posted on this site today:
Edward Tick:Heal the Warrior, Heal the Country
The solution is to recognize that all of us must accept responsibility for the actions of our country and its "leaders". As long as we distance ourselves from the consequences and responsibility for our military, as difficult as it is, we will fail to be part of the change that is called for. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Ralph Nader, Dennis Kucinich, et.al., cannot make the changes. It is up to us, individually and as a community of caring human beings, to make our voices heard and take whatever actions we can to inform others of our commitment to peace and reconciliation.

I am committed to Oneness through Justice and Transformation

peace,
st john

I attended a Memorial Day festival in a town a few miles from my home today. It's been held every year for quite a few years. I especially enjoyed the parade until this year. There were the usual baton twirlers, high school bands, vintage cars and tractors (we're rural). In this lineup were military vehicles and veterans from WWII and Korea. Then came the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. They were walking, no...strutting, carrying scary looking weapons. I don't know what type of weapons these were but they (the "soldiers") seemed very cocky and were strutting proudly brandishing these guns. It totally pissed me off. I couldn't help it. People were cheering and waving their made in China flags. They (the soldiers) were eating it up. I got up and exited the parade but couldn't resist saying very loudly "Killers for Bush! Nothing but Killers for Bush". No one heard me or probably cared.

There was a message on my answering machine from Earl. Sometimes I returned calls other times I just waited for people to call back. The phone rang. my wife answered. It was Earl. Frank Johnson was dead. He had shot himself in the head. I never thought Frank would kill himself. It seemed everytime Earl called it was bad news about another dead vet. Last time it was about George Buck. Earl was my source of gossip, however. Gail asked me what Earl had wanted. I told her one of the guys from the stress clinic had killed himself. I didn't think you knew the guy. Gail said she was sorry. I was not really bummed out. It just seemed strange that Frank would kill himself. Gail wondered when The VA would realize what they had done to their patients. It will never happen I told her. I felt numb about the whole thing. It seemed everyone I used to know at the stress clinic was dead or dying. It had gotten to the point where I knew more guys who had died after the war than during the war and I had been a medic. Peace was hell.

Not everyone had kill themselves. George died from Aids. Ron from throat cancer, Pat from liver failure, Larry from lung cancer, Bob fell down the stairs and broke his neck, Mike choked on his own vomit, Max overdosed on booze, Phil died after too much medication and somebody else died from hepatitis and yeah Joe died from prostrate cancer and Rick had a heart attack and then there were some other guys from some strange ailments plus they all had PTSD.
"The Messenger of Death." call again a few weeks later. God who was dead know. Earl said Rich had killed himself over the weekend. I had just talked to Rich not long ago. Rich was talking about moving to Hawaii to live with one of his kids. Rich had been down since his group leader had retired. The group had been disbanded and nothing had been offered in its place. Rich had felt abandoned and pissed off about the whole situation at the stress clinic. He was in the hospital before his death but left the ward without permission. People had tried to contact him but to no avail. Rich was found by police dead in his car parked inside his closed garage. I figured Earl would probably be the guy who called me to tell me I was dead. I told Gail another had bitten the dust. My wife knew Rich from a writing class at the Stress Clinic. I fell in love with the teacher but always felt Rich had a crush on Gail too. Couldn't anyone understand that changes at that damn clinic had caused a storm of emotional chaos. There seemed nothing veterans could do. The VA didn't listen to them or care about their opinions.
There was a memorial for Frank at the VA Chapel.I wasn't going to go but found myself standing outside the chapel. Inside were a few veterans and some staff members from the Stress Clinic. I could feel the anger swelling up inside of me. The chaplain motioned for me to come in and join the service. I debated but went in anyway. I sat in the corner and listened to people say nice things about Frank and wondered why people didn't tell Frank those things while he was alive. I wondered if the Stress Clinic staff really knew what had been going on in Frank's life or had they just heard what they had wanted so as to maintain their professional boundaries. I couldn't take it anymore and stood up and shouted that I was angry Frank was dead and that the system which was suppose to help had let him down. Just like it had let down Rich and many others. Damn it. Frank was dead because he was made to feel people didn't care about him or his problems any longer.
A place where he had felt safe and could come and share his feelings and get some help was destroyed. In the name of what? Who the hell knew or cared. I walked out. I went to see my doctor but didn't tell her what had happened at the service. I said things were okay and got some more Prozac. It was easier that way. The doctor would likely defend the system or make me feel I was suffering from some sort of distorted thinking that needed to be reframed. It was easy just to get in and get out and go home with the end result being an argument with my wife, my scapegoat for blowing off steam, which I should have been doing at the doctor's appointment. Some type of therapy I thought to myself as I drove along the back streets of the city to my little home in the suburb.
Veterans felt recent changes at the Stress Clinic had not been in their best interests. Myself and other veterans couldn't convince the clinic staff of that fact. The staff always stayed on the course. Any changes made were in the patients best interest. I found it strange that people who had no idea about how the veterans felt or knew what worked best for them could tell the veterans how they were suppose to feel and what should be working for them. While something that had worked was terminated with extreme prejudice. The staff was always trying to reinvent the wheel for the care of stress patients. They were always looking for that elusive cure. They had trouble accepting the chronic nature of the disorder more than the veterans did themselves. The staff didn't want to admit they would be dealing with the veterans for the rest of their lives like all stress patients from all the previous wars and all future wars. The stress clinic veterans wanted to be treated as a homogenous group. It went against the staff's sacred psychiatric guidelines.
The VA would make themselves look as good as possible and then throw the blame back onto the veterans. It was always someone else's fault. The VA was always the responsible caring entity. While the veteran, spouse or family member was always mistaken or presumed to be troublemakers. I was angry enough to write letters but by the end of the day my desire to speak out had been squashed by a stack of letters from the VA I had received over the years which were full of bueurcratic bullshit and doubletalk. I was feeling that old familiar "it don't mean nothing." We were all going to die anyway so who cared.
I had come to the Stress Clinic in the fall of 1988. It was the last act of a desperate man. Nothing in the private sector had been of any help. I had gotten about as low as any person could get. The stress clinic had accepted the veteran and understood what I was talking about. The clinic didn't have that strict authoritarian feeling so many other similar places displayed to patients. A veteran could feel relaxed and safe. It was set apart from the main hospital so a guy didn't have to put up with a lot of crap which was important in the treatment of the stress veteran. The safe atmosphere had been torpetored with advent of a new head of Psych. Veterans blamed the new director for most of what was wrong with the stress clinic. The man was a poster boy for the complete bureaucratic asshole. Under the new director's regime support groups which had been in place for years were eliminated along with changes in the clinic's family like atmosphere. The place had become sterile, cold and impersonal. It was just like visiting the morgue. It must have been hard to work for the VA if a person had compassion. I imagined workers were in fear of their jobs and careers if they rocked the boat. After receiving awards, the former clinic director was relieved of duty. The director had started the program and had been treating stress veterans for more than 20 years. He was an authority in the field of stress treatment but for some unknown reason his program was a threat to the established mental health routine of the VA. Apparently treating patients like human beings or equals and not just as clients or patients was against the VA rules. The funny thing was the former director got results, better results than what might be expected. I was consumed by anger over the way the Minneapolis VA hospital had in effect re-traumatized veterans in the stress clinic in it own unique way.
Damn the VA. Damn War. I hated being a veteran.
A few months later Gail and I had just returned from the YMCA, when the phone rang. Gail answered as usual. "Honey, its Earl."

PTSD???

Http://www.gulfwarvets.com/du_blowinginthewind.htm

Honoring our vets with more lies?

"You are not going to hear me say that al-Qaida is defeated, but they've never been closer to defeat than they are now," Ambassador Ryan Crocker said.

Except when Saddam was in charge before the illegal Bush/Cheney invasion and occupation...

josephmorton you are not here, I just officialy EX'ed you gone. You talk much shit, so STFU and join Freedoms watch or thegatheringofeagles.

josephmorton May 24th, 2008 7:19 pm

I like Joseph's idea. Memorial Day should be a day when we remember the victims of U.S. imperialism.

Here is an interesting site regarding the election of George W. Bush.
http://www.sorryeverybody.com/gallery/1/

To blame the warrior is like blaming 1 football player for losing the Super bowl. Playing the blame game is an exercise in futility and a luxury we can ill afford. Too many lives are negatively touched by war. It is natural and instinctual that we protect home and hearth. I have a responsibility to protect my family and will do so--with ferocity if necessary. I expect those entrusted with the task of protecting society to do so. The warrior, as protector, should be honored.

Years ago, I visited a meat processing factory and was reviled by what I saw. The filth, the stench and the cruelty was enough to briefly render me a vegetarian. I still eat meat because I can go into the grocery store and pick a carefully wrapped pack of meat, presented attractively for my viewing and tasting pleasure. If I had to do the dirty work of processing that meat I would not nor could not eat it. Like the meat processor, the warrior performs a task that many of us cannot stomach.

General Sherman aptly said, " War is hell." War should not be easy but who can deny that we benefit from many wars fought by our ancestors? We only seem to attack the warrior when the war being waged is not going along in our favor. Here's some empowering news: If we want to change the culture of war we can--by promoting, instilling and modeling a culture of peace in our own homes and communities.

Fuck all soldiers!!

They bought into the lies, so let them live the results.

They could have worked at MacDonalds like the rest of us.

When people stop going to War, the War will stop.
The Little Man fights the Wars and
The Little man loses them all.
We are all- little men.

When the Chicken hawks Chimp/Chainey run the Military who is getting FUNKED?

There is a better way to live.
Stop the Violence.

"twistoflex", I hope you are enjoying all this banter and comforting yourself for never having "bought into the lies".
FYI, the great majority that enlisted in the service after the Korean War did so for the promised financial benefit and not to be pawns of a downward spiraling government. I know I did. I was at the top of my class in 1966 and had the possibility to go on to any scientific field that I wanted - then came the dreaded money issue - we were from the "wrong side of the tracks", and my brother needed the scholarships we were both elligible for because he could not enter any military service because of health issues. I, at least, had a better chance to find free education in the NAVY.. My parents had both served in the USNavy during WWII, and my mother knew that military service was currently offering education - the government promised, and they don't lie (isn't that the Nation's mentality at the time? My plan was to learn to be a lab tech and work my way through med school - I wanted to be a Pathologist - mighty high dreams for a girl at that time. Well, I turned the quinisential "19" in boot camp in Oct66. My "education" was not what I had left home to get. ALL the others in my company (Company 14, 1966, Bainbridge, Maryland) had enlisted for much the same reasons - get an education, have a secure job with free living expenses, etc.
In January, 1967, I began my Hospital Corps traing. At that time, the Marines were loosing Corpsman at a great rate (the Navy Medics are the Medics for the Marines). At the male Boot Camp at Great Lakes, there were hundreds of men enlisting for 4yrs to avoid being drafted into the Army or Marines - 4 yrs on a ship was a lot better than being gun fodder. The two companies of men that I trained with in that school were "assigned" to be Corpsmen because the military's need was more important than any promise made on a piece of paper. Not many weeks after first learning to make beds, spell acetasalisylic acid correcty...............we began their field traing as Combat Medics. The fellow I shared top honors with at graduation was a biology teacher from Iowa, with a wife and kids at home. (An eerie resemblance to current conditions.) I know their names are on the "Great Wall', but I still can't drag myself there. These are not words of a wailing, "poor suffering" me; just memories of experiences that I am just now being able to remember.
Our enlistees today are predominantly lower income men and women wanting a better life for themselves. When you sign on the dotted line, the military OWNS you and can use and dispose of you any way they see fit. Granted there are some that really enjoy killing and those that do get a better life for themselves. But as an example , our National Guard enlisted to have extra income and educational opportunities. They envisioned having to help in National disasters here at home and return to their jobs when the need was lifted. Now, they have been drafted into a SERIES of combat tours, with no jobs, families, or homes to come home to. The regular military has fewer combat tours, because they are "enlistees" that the military wants to keep -
9/11 gave our President and his "advisors" the perfect opportunity to use the Nation's sense of loyalty and fear to perfect what their agenda had benn for over 20yrs - destabilize the Middle East. Afganistan was a means to an end(beginning) for them. Our men and women know what is really going on, and like those that knew about the real events of the USLiberty, will have tremendous difficulty living here in a sheltered world that doesn't want/care to know what goes on "over there", as long as we can have our big TVs, etc.

I recommend a new movie that is now beginning to be shown. http://www.soldiersheartthemovie.com/ It recounts what is happening around this country to an increasing number of veterans. Not all have the support of friends and family to get past the brick walls we encounter each day, but this film does give insight into one person's life. Some think that those with PTSD have the ability to directly tell someone what is going on in their head - so very far from the truth. We experience the feelings, but cannot always pinpoint their source and those emotions, and they are all to often associated to current events.

Thanks for the "ear" - I do get a little riled up lately when someone questions the motives of our troops - we swore to uphold the Constitution, not the agendas of rogue leaders. As a country, we do have the ability to use our votes to make changes and it would be a very daunting task. My fear is that we will retreat back into our warm houses and close blind eyes - moaning and groaning about high fuel prices that keep us from scenic vacations with our families. Our troops are seeing what the rest of the world lives like - it eats their insides to mush. The poorest of the poor here in these blessed borders live like the very elite elsewhere. And we wonder why the world has such a low opinion of us. (Oops, almost got on another tangent!)

TMC, thank you for your story. It is the same one that replays itself all over this Nation. The "experts" do not have any answers - the best help I ever got was at the Veteran's Outreach Center here in town. Vets helping Vets and an understanding of "been there, felt that way" kind of support, along with just a safe place to hang out.
Thank You for sharing an all to real look at what is going on around us every day.

I must admit that "supporting the troops" while opposing war is, for me, a very difficult concept.

I can certainly accept our common humanity with all of the complexities that entails, and I can even sympathize with their plight as individuals. But support is a step too far in my estimation, at least in its most commonly used context that ignores both the causes they serve and their consequences. As I see it, it would be like saying that I oppose butchery but support butchers.

"Supporting the troops", in my estimation, is not condoning there assignments, but acknowledging that they are but pawns being used, and helping them adjust when returning home or, better yet, flexing our might as citizens to bring them home to be what they are supposed to be - defense, not OFFENSE, for our country.

^^^^ Unfortunately, that's is not what it means in the political context where it is most often used, nor in its practical implications for the country and the world.

That is something that can be changed - just like we "allowed" the first President Bush to refer to our military personnel as ASSETS.
Sounds to me that being politically correct is more important to you than making a change in the terminology by voicing true dissent and not acquiescence to those in DC.

Well, try it the other way around. I support education but oppose educators. It just doesn't make sense.

I understand your point about semantics, but, as linguistics professionals like Noam Chomsky point out repeatedly, semantic distortions are at the heart of many very real problems in the inverted totalitarianism of the "greatest democracy on earth". And yes, I certainly agree that it does involve widespread acquiescence.

My idea is this:

Until all veterans are receiving medical/psychiatric treatment consistent with the best practice available to members of Congress, the Senate, and the Adminstration, the increased monies required for the building, equiping, and staffing of such facilities will be deducted from the bloated Pentagon budget.

So forget "full-spectrum dominance", forget space-based nuclear and other weapons, forget pay raises, expansion of the standing armies, etc., etc. Maybe if we close 10 overseaas military facilities a month for the next couple of years we could find lots more money for lots more things needing to be done.

That is my idea completely. We cannot be "leaders" of the world if our own citizens are dying because our government thinks that the rest of the world is more important than those that gave them that power. There is responsibility when given power to use it for the benefit of those ruled.
How I wish all the "heads in the clouds", arrogant, self-serving, "educators" would have their own experiences with real life.
Fancy words do not make changes, and I don't see any coming from either side of the system right now.
A very sad legacy for the future of this land and its people.
We as a nation were formed as a Republic (we really need to educate our populace about the true meanings of words) - the soothsayers have "declared" us to be a democracy. What a joke. Democracy was a term invented by the Greeks for something that humans can never achieve.
I may not have the "intellectual" words to express myself clearly, but I do know humanity and the illusions that those in power use to rule others.
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)
This "discussion" has left the purpose for which it was started.
Get a life.