20 years on, broke Iraq War veteran fighting with US army to accept his PTSD; he is just one among many

Washington: A former Army sergeant in the US, who took part in Nato’s invasion of Iraq 20 years ago, is reportedly still fighting with the army to make them acknowledge his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) caused due to the heavy combat conditions. According to the US army, Sgt. Ben Hayhurst was discharged from the service 18 years due to “personality disorder”. However, Hayhurst believe what army said at the time was just partially true and now, he has resumed his battle to make army take note of his real condition. In a recent interview with ABC, he narrated his story which has also been documented once in the National Geographic documentary called “The Long Road Home”. For Hayhurst, it all started in 2004 when his unit participated in the Sadr City siege, which was also known as “Black Sunday” in the media. Sometime in April, 2004, he was shot twice in the arm when he and other troops were ambushed amid traveling in a convoy of four Humvees. Due to his wounds, United States army sent him back home for medical care. However, he was anxious to return to the battle with his friends, and a few months later, he was back with his platoon in Iraq. Yet, while his shoulder had largely healed, he said his less visible wounds began to reveal themselves when he was again ambushed by enemy forces. The discharge “I began having fairly severe panic attacks when we were hit again. After a few weeks of arguments, I finally had one while we were out. They dragged me out after that kind of shut me down, he told ABC. Later, the army transferred Hayhurst to a facility in Baghdad for battle stress. “I was scheduled to receive a PTSD assessment there, but sadly the doctor who conducted those evaluations was on vacation. I therefore never had a feeling. However, they essentially said to me, “Yeah, you have PTSD,” he said. Hayhurst claimed that he was once more sent for a mental evaluation after he and his squad had completed their deployment and returned to the United States. “The lady who did it told me, ‘You’ve got PTSD. It’s fairly severe,’” he said. He claimed that he had two options: continue serving in the Army or leave the military. He claimed he decided to leave because he was not interested in accepting a new job. But he claimed he wasn’t aware of all the implications of that choice. He added, “At the time, I was also very heavily medicated, I wasn’t sleeping, and I was constantly experiencing panic attacks. Despite all that, he was surprised to see that in his discharge papers, army did not mention PTSD. “Personality problem was mentioned. And they were going to take my incentive, my re-enlistment bonus, back because it was a “preexisting condition,” he said. He claimed that the label of “personality disorder” would also disqualify him from receiving some benefits. He claimed to have gotten nothing more than the paycheque. “Despite the overwhelming evidence that Sgt. Hayhurst suffered from combat-induced PTSD necessitating his medical retirement, the Army instead misclassified his PTSD as a personality disorder, resulting in his administrative separation,” reads the legal complaint submitted on behalf of Hayhurst in November to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. To this, a US army spokeswoman Madison Bonzo stated, “As a matter of policy, we do not comment on litigation concerning the Army”. His ability to receive assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was hampered because his record indicated that he had a “personality disorder,” which is defined as a “deeply ingrained maladaptive pattern of behavior of long duration,” according to Hayhurst. “It took some time for the VA to realize I had PTSD and not a preexisting illness because I was discharged for a personality disorder,” he said, adding that in order to ultimately convince the VA that he was dealing with PTSD and not a preexisting condition, “I battled with them for several years through the VA,” he said. He admitted that despite eventually getting VA disability benefits, finding stable employment in the interim was challenging due to his physical and mental scars from combat. He claimed to have worked 13 or 14 jobs because his physical as well as mental breakdowns did not let him continue working at one job. Due to this, his financial situation which directly affects his wife and children continued to deteriorate till a point when he had to file for bankruptcy. “We lost our cars because we were no longer able to finance them. We were forced to relocate into assisted living because we couldn’t pay the rent,” he said. Hayhurst claimed the abrupt end also dealt a psychological blow despite appearing to be on the road to a successful Army career with an early promotion to staff sergeant on the horizon. The greatest thing he ever did, he claimed, was reduced to a ‘personality disorder’. He claimed that he lost touch with the soldiers he fought alongside in Iraq and in a way also started to avoid talking to anyone because he thought he made a mistake which started making him feel less responsible. Progress So far According to a Department of Defense’s report to Congress, only 3,372 (15%) of the 22,656 troops who were separated for personality disorders between FY 2001 and 2007 had served in support of the War on Terror. The bulk of the remainder, according to DOD, were separated within the first year of service. However, according to a 2008 Government Accountability Office (GAO) study, DOD “did not have reasonable assurance that its key personality disorder separation requirements have been followed.” According to the study, it might be particularly challenging to correctly identify a personality disorder in military personnel who have served in Afghanistan or Iraq. The study stated that some personality disorder symptoms, such as irritability, feelings of estrangement or detachment from others, and aggressiveness, are similar to those of post-traumatic stress disorder. During a 2010 House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing, military officials were questioned about the issue of unjustified personality disorder separations as a result of the GAO’s findings. According to reports, DOD, during the time the said study was made public, tried to get in touch with veterans like Hayhurst who were demobilized due to personality disorders. “We are contacting them to let them know what alternatives they have if they feel their discharge was mischaracterized,” DOD director of that time had stated, as per news reports. Hayhurst said he received a message from DOD around 2012, but that it wasn’t very helpful. “One of those papers arrived for me. There were no addresses or phone numbers on that message. All it said was that they would review it again. It didn’t specify how to have it reviewed again, what to do, or who to contact,” Hayhurst said. He claimed that the Army has so far declined to change the designation on his record despite multiple requests. Every time they shot me down, he claimed, he would experience severe despair. Hayhurst claimed that his record merits correction because PTSD has become a subject of much more recent research. He claimed to have resumed the fight only because now has a pro bono legal team, hoping to raise awareness of what he claimed might be a much bigger issue. He also claimed to know that US was treating Vietnam vets in the same way they were treating him when he was discharged. “And it really bothers me to think they might still be doing it now,” he said. He said he is also back in touch with a group of the men he served with in Iraq. “We talk every day,” he said. Hayhurst claimed that in the end, all he really desires is to be treated fairly. “I want an honest look at it. I believe from what I know of the evidence, that they were wrong and that I should have been rated at least somewhat for the PTSD and possibly a little bit for my shoulder as well, which those ratings right there through the Army would qualify me for more programs,” he said. However, Hayhurst claimed that the only advantage of his record being updated would be military benefits. It would imply that they did not view me as a failure, he explained. Which, though it sounds ridiculous, I’d like to know. I find it extremely offensive that they treated me in that manner. Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.