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VA GRANTING MORE STRESS-RELATED CLAIMS TO VETERANS

IN THEIR 80s -- World War II vets are finally seeking stress

counseling and treatment, and filing for disability compensation.

World War II veteran Tim Spiller, 87, of Redlands, fought at Iwo Jima, one of the most savage battles in U.S. military history. For decades he suppressed his feelings and the post-traumatic stress disorder that the fighting left with him. (photo: Stan Lim / The Press-Enterprise)

For more information about World War II veterans, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=WORLD+WAR+II&op=ph

Be sure to watch the video and listen to the audio of this story at the link below.

Story here... http://www.pe.com/localnews
/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_iwo14.3cb578d.html

Story below:

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Still fighting war stress: VA granting more first-time disability claims to veterans in their 80s than ever before

By JOE VARGO
The Press-Enterprise

They beat Hitler, turned back the tide of Japanese imperialism and when the war ended, returned to civilian life to forge careers and raise families while seemingly unfazed by the horrors of combat many witnessed.

As World War II veterans have aged, and reflected on the dreadful experiences of war and carnage, more and more exhibited the symptoms of a malady unheard of when they went off to battle 65 years ago: post traumatic stress disorder.

And now, as they finally seek counseling and medical treatment, the department of Veterans Affairs is receiving -- and granting -- more first-time disability claims to veterans in their 80s than ever before.

Since 2000, the number of World War II veterans collecting disability from stress-related causes has risen 50 percent -- from 16,914 to 24,268 -- despite the deaths of 2 million veterans in that time.

In recent years, Veterans Affairs has established outreach programs to locate and assist aging veterans, set up vet-to-vet self-help groups and doled out disability payments, said Peggy Willoughby, spokeswoman for the VA's National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Willoughby, speaking by telephone from the center's headquarters in White River Junction, Vt., said Veterans Affairs doctors can't identify one overriding reason why World War II servicemen are coming forward now. She said she believes it's a combination of better information, outreach and counseling.

Guys like Gene Davis, of San Jacinto, say it's about time.

"We were done wrong," said Davis, 85, who spent almost a year in a German prison camp in 1944-45. "We didn't get what we deserved. There was no understanding of what was going on."

Like many World War II veterans, Davis said he knew nothing about the emotional and mental toll of war. He was assaulted during his time in captivity, witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust up close and saw bodies of dead and wounded troops and civilians. When he was released from captivity, Davis said, U.S. military authorities ordered him and other prisoners to never talk about the horrors. Too upsetting for the home front, they were told.

Davis worked as a postman for 36 years, walking up to 18 miles a day. The job allowed him to earn a paycheck without interacting with other people. When he retired, he became irritable and hostile. Loud noises terrified him.

Davis waited half a century to seek counseling and disability pay. He became active in the Inland Area's chapter of the American Ex-Prisoners of War, urging other World War II comrades to seek help.

Saving Private Ryan

Troubling memories have jolted other veterans to seek counseling and benefits.

Inland veterans advocates and mental health experts say they first noticed an increase in the number of World War II veterans seeking disability compensation about 10 years ago, said Riverside County Veterans Services Officer Bill Earl.

That's when the movie "Saving Private Ryan" opened.

The film's opening 24-minute segment depicted the bloodbath that awaited American soldiers on Omaha Beach in June 1944 and prompted a slew of documentaries and interviews with World War II veterans who related their war stories.

Lori Brodie, a psychologist at the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Loma Linda, said many elderly veterans, faced with their own mortality, reflect back on their significant life achievements, which often include their time in uniform.

For others, the debilitating pain of cancer, heart disease and arthritis triggers memories of the pain and loneliness they felt while serving far from home and seeing their buddies die sudden, violent deaths.

Images of the Iraq war remind them of their own war, she said.

Brodie said the medical community and American society are more knowledgeable now about combat-related stress. That wasn't the case 60 years ago.

Today, post traumatic stress disorder is recognized as a legitimate medical condition often requiring years of treatment through counseling and drug therapy.

Sand and Shells

Tim Spiller spent 34 days fighting the battle of Iwo Jima and 63 years reliving it.

A late-night banging sound can jerk him back to 1945 when, as a machine gun squad leader, he hunkered down in the black sand beach while artillery shells tore through the ranks of his Marine buddies and sniper bullets whizzed past.

"It never goes away," the 88-year-old Redlands man says. "I have flashbacks all the time."

Spiller said he remained stoic about his service for decades.

"You were expected to get a job or go to school and get on with your life," he said.

He blocked out thoughts of war with constant work.

Spiller moved to California from Iowa after the war, eventually earning a college diploma and teaching public school in San Bernardino. He and his wife raised three children. During his college years, he took on extra work, joining the Men's Club at his church and teaching Sunday school. He took classes while a teacher and worked summers at a Boy Scout camp in Wrightwood. He learned watercolor painting and mosaic tiling.

When the memories got too real, he'd jump in his car and drive. No place in particular. Just get out of the house until the feelings passed.

Three years ago, Spiller said he learned for the first time that he might be eligible for combat-related stress compensation.

Spiller applied for a disability pension and was granted $700 a month. He joined a veteran self-help group sponsored by Veterans Affairs in Loma Linda three years ago.

He has opened up more since joining the VA group, speaking before a local Rotary Club and giving an oral history to Valley College in San Bernardino. Last year, he spoke to the National Geographic Channel for a retrospective about Iwo Jima.

The man who didn't cry for 75 years now sheds tears nearly every day.

"It's a relief now," he said.

Helping Others, Himself

Sun City resident Marty Schlocker served as an airborne ranger, was captured during the Battle of the Bulge in Europe and spent time in captivity piling up stacks of dead Germans and Americans who fell victim to disease and combat wounds. After the war, he became a police officer in Los Angeles. He worked vice. That meant plain clothes, no uniform. Only decades later did he realize his wartime experiences made him shun the traditional gung-ho police persona.

"I didn't want to put people in jail," said Schlocker, 82. "I was doing to them what the Germans had done to me."

Schlocker said that as he neared retirement in the early '90s, he broke down more frequently into crying bouts.

Schlocker sought help from the VA and was given a 100 percent disability designation three years ago. He also helps other veterans at the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, visiting wards to drop off personal hygiene items and sharing a kind of appreciation for those who served.

Helping others, Schlocker said, helps him heal the pain he suffered in silence for decades.

Reach Joe Vargo at 951-368-9289 or jvargo@PE.com

To Seek Help

Gather medical records, including discharge papers

Locate witness statements concerning possible injuries

Obtain copies of medical treatment from health care provider

Contact the county Veterans Services Department or groups like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion or Disabled American Veterans

Source: Loma Linda VA Healthcare System

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posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

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