well, lets see, kill zone for 155mm HE is approx 50 meters, and as it went off 30 feet directly behind me....I reckon I'm lucky to be alive. I did receive shrapnel in my back, would have went through me, but my field radio took the brunt of it, ruptured both ear drums, blew one of my eyes completely out of my head.

Now, you want us to believe that a smoke grenade was so tramatic to you? The only real way a smoke grenade could be tramatic is if you stuck it up yer ass and pulled the pin.

And to think, we used to shoot 40mm grenades in front of each other's bunkers for the fun of it (not close enough to cause harm). Ken Doll would have died of blatter overuse.

Yeah. I can make louder noises just by slapping my hand on my desk.

I wouldn't normally make light of someone that actually has PTSD, but this guy's claims of getting PTSD from Army boot camp are so weak its ridculous and absurd.

Though his statements about DI's picking and choosing who can stay and who has to go are right on the money. That's why they exist. To weed out those that can't take the rigors of Army life. This is a secondary function of DI's. But again, all this is likely way over his head.

From the way you all talk it sounds a lot like a bunch of bu115h*t wanting to claim that Basic did nothing to you but take you out from your mama's skirt tails and taught you how not to care who you kill...physically, ethically, and morally.

If you aren't getting the help you need it's because you are not pursuing the help.

You all agree on the definition of PTSD...now define "Military Exposure"; you will find that BCT could fall under the category "Military Exposure".

Frankly, I don't care whether you believe me or not...

You can stick smoke up your own ass, I don't care...but it sounds like you should've gotten at least a nice row of Purple Hearts.

Like I said...it's not just the smoke grenade that caused it...it's the regular traumatic stress level on top of all the heartless bullshit the DI's put me and a few others.

Now there was one private that deserved to be seperated, but he did not deserve the humiliation he recieved from the DI's and other recruits before his seperation.

He had full control of his bladder, but it hurt him to try and hold it longer than 15 minutes. Which one of you would've fallen out of formation just to go piss...none of you...

That private pissed himself everytime he had to try and hold it longer than 15 minutes...the DI's humiliated him and ordered all the other recruits to humiliate him as well

I told him that he needs to go to the doctor about it...he totally refused to go get checked.

That's when I told him that he deserves to be discharged.

If the DI's would have caught on to what I was not doing, I would've been in deep sh*t

Son I haven't posted any bullshit in here. I posted events that occured and am giving you my honest opinion. I'm not saying that my experiences with Marine Corps Boot Camp weren't hard, but they did have the desired effect of turning me into one of the few and the proud. After going through 13 weeks of Marine Boot, Army boot is like going to summer camp with the boy scouts.

Those recruits with a medical reason do need to be discharged for their own good. If one can't perform as expected, then they need to get out. Boot is only the starting point in turning young men into soldiers. A soldier's life ain't easy, but it is way much easier than a Marines life. I doubt that there are any Soldiers that have honorably served in here that would take offense with that statement because they know it to be true.

One other thing of note here. They don't give out Purple Hearts for training accidents. They just patch you up and send you back to your unit.

Ken Doll has no idea of what hardship can be. Maybe he should go back to playing computer games or what ever he does to make himself feel better.

The Gunny is correct.

Holy crap! I just remembered this! I had a smoke grenade pin pulled while it was still on my "H" Harness. The grenade went off inches from my face. I had to grab it and throw it away from me (wearing gloves, luckily). Man, it was so traumatic that I..........completely forgot about it until re-reading this thread!

Maybe Gunny and Patoloco should talk to the head of the VA to ensure that anyone who has been diagnosed with PTSD has had experences equal to or worse than there experences to qualify for treatment because what do medical doctors know I mean patoloco took down pablo escabar that should be the only credibility you need to diagnose PTSD.

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damn I keep clicking on here thinking someone had something useful or at least interesting to say, its too bad harryP is a moron, but he can paste clip art.

Why would anyone have a response to the drivel that you spew? I figured that the closer to a comic book picture my response came – the easier it would be for you to understand or relate to.

As for calling me a moron – you may have the inarguable experience of being one but you are unqualified to recommend anyone else as one. As a matter of fact – being able to put a sentence together is a stretch for you.

OK guys, you wanted it...you got it!

I went to a psychiatrist at my local mental health agency and guess what...

His findings are as follows...

Depression began at a young age
Bipolar began at the age of 15

and...drum roll...

Schizophrenia and PTSD began while I was in Army Active Duty for Training.

Anybody want to type the word or anything implying the word...B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T

It don't matter to me if you believe it or not, as I said before...I know what I go through...

At least I had the balls to seek help, much less agree that there is something wrong with me

road trip: you have to remember patoloco and harryp dont care about medical professionals oppinions, if your experences dont surpass theres as far as how stressfull THEY think your experences were compared to theres then your just a whimp to them no matter what a doctor says.

Yeah...I caught onto that about 2 weeks ago.

You know...there is a mental condition (don't know what the name of it is)...where it don't matter what someone else has gone through, the person has been through way much more.

I understand that war is much more traumatic than any training exercise could ever even think about being.

My step-dad, who was a drill sergeant after spending 6 years in Vietnam, told me 6 months after I got home from Ft L'Wood to pursue my VA Benefits.

When I got home, he asked me what all happened in L'Wood...I couldn't even begin to tell him because I was wanting to forget about certain details that happened to me, yet the problems just kept getting worst.

The thing that started all this was that damn DI banging me over the kevlar with the brass rod while I was in the fox hole performing the 500 yd pop-up exercise.

Hell, I thought somebody was shooting at me.

That's when the nightmares started, and from there it gradually worstened. I began having difficulty performing routine tasks efficiently (following orders)...having problems with the other recruits, and now I'm having flashbacks of the training (PTSD) mixed with delusions of enemy soldiers in BDU's who aren't actually there (Schizophrenia).

I these guys want to claim it's not from BCT, much less from the military...yeah right.

Sorry, I did not know that you had mental problems before you enlisted. It amazes me that they took you. Maybe you should have just quit as did Ronald.

I know people who are missing body parts from wars and they are doing okay -- so the whole basic-training induced trauma thing is beyond my ability to comprehend. Some people just cannot take it and you get no empathy form me.

I didn't know I had mental problems before I enlisted...I just found out myself. I never had to see a psychiatrist until after I was in BCT for about a month.

War-simulated or not-doesn't affect some people, but that's a very small number compared to those it does affect.

You're right...some people can't take it.

I'm not seeking empathy from anyone, I just want those who have problems incurred or aggrevated by the military to know there is help for them.

This thread should be called PTSD rant thread, keep it cool, unless harryp, patoloco or others had worse experences then your PTSD does not count. So according to harryp drinking yourself to death at the VFW constitutes being okay, people with missing body parts from war are never okay, just becasue they can act normal at brunch with your mom means dittly. Basic training is a nightmare, people who say it wasent that bad are full of s**t and are usually recrutiers who are trying to minimize the experecne to get people to join.

And not only that, how many people are told that their very critical and important documents...namely medical and behavioral health records...have been destroyed.

If any of my records have been destroyed, I have no choice but to believe that someone is trying to hide something.

rppearso, what the f#ck do you know about the VFW, or the American Legion? Or maybe your a bar stool drop out from there having to may rootbeers or something?
Your talking out your butt again when you knock them.

Ronald, your opinions are small and unimportant to most people in the world. Also, your opinion of the VFW is extremely wrong (we publish articles of PTSD and offer help) and puts you in the pimple on a mule's ass category. Additionally, you started the name calling because you are not capable of intellectually arguing a point and will not accept the fact that people might not agree with you. Who cares? You see a dead bird on the sidewalk and you think that sidewalks kill birds – what an intellectual powerhouse that makes you.

Road: Do not align your comments with Ronald – his history on this site of one of a troll. I am not qualified to make a judgment on your mental condition but I do know what stress does to some people. Basic training is just not that bad to most people but I do know people who went AWOL because they could not take it and it was something that I could not understand and may never do.

I am not against you – I just disagree with your premise and hope that you get the help that you need.