Trauma, stress linger for Gulf War veterans

A report says 15 percent of forces fighting now will face stress-related issues.
DAYTON (AP) -- A glaze comes over the eyes of the dozen or so Gulf War veterans in a nondescript conference room at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
No longer are they hunched over plain office chairs; they're clutching M-16s, straddling tanks, manning 50-caliber machine guns. Saddam Hussein is in power. Baghdad is in view.
"We were so close, so close, we could see the city; just hang a hard left, and you were there," said Desert Storm veteran James Weis, 33, of suburban Riverside. "And they called us off. I feel so bad. If I had done a better job the first time, they wouldn't be back there fighting now."
If only we had finished the job last time, Weis keeps telling himself. Then his younger brothers Tristan, 22, and Justin, 24, wouldn't have been sent over to fight. Then Justin wouldn't have come home as traumatized as his big brother. He wouldn't be sitting here in the Gulf War support group, baring his soul.
Post-traumatic stress
These veterans look at Justin and see themselves as they were nearly 14 years ago -- newly returned from battle and perplexed by the changes in themselves: nightmares, inability to sleep, unexplained rages, vivid-as-life flashbacks, thoughts of suicide. All are classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A Government Accountability Office report released in September predicted that 15 percent of soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will suffer from PTSD.
"The VA's going to be flooded," said former Dayton VA clinical therapist Balla-Rena Jones, who co-founded the Gulf War support group. "What my guys are going through is just foreshadowing."
In addition to the PTSD, most of the veterans in the support group show symptoms of Gulf War illness: chronic fatigue, chemical sensitivity, loss of muscle control, diarrhea, migraines, dizziness, memory loss, loss of balance.
Dave Meiring can't hold a job because his hands tremble violently. Weis and his brother Justin were extroverts before serving in Iraq. Now they're virtual recluses, reluctant to go to malls or movie theaters.
James Weis has given up hope for a complete recovery from PTSD.
"When I found out there's not a magic cure or pill, that devastated me," he said. "People talk about compensation, but I don't want money. I want to go to the movies, I want to go bowling. I want my life back."
Support group
The support group started with one veteran and one counselor, eventually growing to more than a dozen members.
Will Thiery, a veterans' advocate who serves as commander for American Legion Post 487, believes there's no better therapy than sharing your feelings with someone who has been there.
"The more you keep it in, the worse it hurts," Thiery said. "It never gets easy, but if you don't deal with it, you turn into a time bomb. You're probably going to explode."