The Broken Soldier

The title assumes I’m going to Heaven, which, given the indiscretions and dalliances of my youth is not at all certain.

I overdosed on pain patch medication last night. With the combination of higher setting on the thermostat and unusual blanket coverage, the extra heat energy probably caused more pores in the patch to open, allowing for more of the medication to enter my bloodstream. Given the way the Army and the MIARNG have treated me over the past year, I was tempted to just roll with it. If not for my wife and my dog coming into my (rather sobering) peripheral view, I would have. At that moment, in spite of the pain, physical and emotional, I do have a lot to live for. But something has got to give. The Army and the MIARNG will not address my problems or those of other soldiers in similar situations unless they are forced to do so. They can only be forced by those outside the system. Media and congressional attention has the potential to embarrass them publicly, punish them in terms of funding (though, given the unpopularity of that sort of move, that result is doubtful), and/or rescinding or seriously altering Feres. But the media and congress have focused, as those who have followed media coverage (and to a lesser extent my posts here) understand, on veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Those aren’t the only soldiers suffering from harm visited on them by this broken Army and VA medical system.

Please, write your senators and congressional reps. Make clear to them soldiers’ rights is a major issue to you. Also make clear the consequences of not meaningfully addressing that issue.