I have heard few more powerful or upsetting stories as Military Wives Fight Army to Help Husbands, a twelve minute in-depth piece on NPR last Friday. Ryan LeCompte returned from Iraq with a clear case of PTSD, that fully ripened into major depressive disorder with catatonic features. His wife fought for services; the military dismissed the claims. Meanwhile, as LeCompte’s condition worsened, as he entered a near vegetative state, his superiors responded by punishing him. In the end, his wife would deliver him to morning formation in wheelchair.
It required the intervention of two Senate staffers to push the Army to send him to Walter Reed Hospital – where he was properly diagnosed and given treatment. Thankfully, LeCompte might just be on the road to partial salvation. I fear that many other soldiers who lack a fighting wife or the luck of an NPR story will fall through the cracks. But every war leaves a trail of soldier victims. If we are not prepared to make the well-being of returning soldiers a top national priority, we are not morally entitled to seek their services on the battlefield.
It’s worth investing the 12 minutes listening to this story.