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CNN Live At Daybreak

Forgotten Heroes: The After Effects

Aired June 27, 2003 - 05:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, a look at forgotten heroes and the challenges some U.S. military veterans face once they return home. Although the embedded journalists gave us a front line look at the Iraqi war, only the men and women on the ground there know the true experience of the horrors of war, horrors which can haunt soldiers even decades after leaving the battlefield.
CNN's Rhonda Schaffler has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For many soldiers, the shock and awe of war continues long after the bombings stop. They begin to battle a new enemy. It's called post traumatic stress disorder. It begins with an image.

ENRIQUE CORREA, PTSD PATIENT: You actually see something and it stays in your mind. It causes such a traumatic problem, a traumatic thought in your head. It just stays there. It just doesn't go away. It's like you recorded it and it doesn't want to erase.

SCHAFFLER: What Enrique Correa can't erase happened nearly four decades ago. Correa went to war in 1966, a 19-year-old soldier in the middle of Vietnam. Years later, he is still dealing with the horrors of war.

CORREA: The smell of blood, the smell of death, you get that. The burning houses, the burning bodies, the explosions, the napalm, all of that.

SCHAFFLER: Experts, like Dr. Rachel Yahuda, have been working with veterans, like Correa, and studying PTSD for more than 15 years.

DR. RACHEL YAHUDA, PSTD EXPERT: When I first started working at the VA it was 1988, very few people had heard about post traumatic stress disorder. And those who did didn't really believe that it was a real disorder.

SCHAFFLER: Yahuda says there are key symptoms to look for when diagnosing post traumatic stress disorder.

YAHUDA: Oftentimes there will be difficulty in sleeping, in concentrating. There will be anger, irritability and a sense of startle, increased startle response when they hear loud noises.

SCHAFFLER: Correa says post traumatic stress not only affects veterans but their families as well. CORREA: PTSD this hurts marriages. We're not very communicative with our wives and stuff like our family and everything. People always thought that we were crazy, that we -- we're not crazy. You know Vietnam Vets with PTSD are not crazy people.

SCHAFFLER (on camera): For decades, this is an issue that people didn't even want to talk about. After all, American soldiers are immortalized for their strength and bravery. Following World War II, veterans were expected to go home and resume their normal lives. Now after the war against Iraq, soldiers are advised to seek counseling first.

(voice-over): And for good reason. Nearly 148,000 veterans are now being treated for PTSD. Studies show that 30 percent of soldiers who spent time in war zones experienced PTSD. That's nearly four times as high as the civilian population.

Veteran Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi says his department is leading the charge to combat PTSD and that giving adequate counseling is the key.

ANTHONY PRINCIPI, VETERAN AFFAIRS SECRETARY: I think it's very important, you know, to some of the anxiety that may be building up inside that might lead to other behavioral type of issues, alcohol, substance abuse. It's important that we have counselors outstationed, out -- doing outreach to talk to service members.

SCHAFFLER: Counseling has helped Correa, but even now it is still difficult for him to move on.

CORREA: Well you'll never be. But I will end up being better simply because working with my doctors and everything I've learned to handle the problems. I'm beginning to sleep a little better.

SCHAFFLER: Just as every soldier's experience in war is different, treatment and recovery for veterans varies. Dr. Yahuda warns one size counseling won't fit all.

YAHUDA: I think that we have to listen to veterans, we have to keep an open mind. When a veteran comes in, we can't say I remember that from Vietnam. Some things may be the same; some of the things may be different. So we have to give the veterans the opportunity to tell us.

SCHAFFLER: To tell us stories too horrific to remember, yet impossible to forget.

Rhonda Schaffler, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 27, 2003 - 05:43   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, a look at forgotten heroes and the challenges some U.S. military veterans face once they return home. Although the embedded journalists gave us a front line look at the Iraqi war, only the men and women on the ground there know the true experience of the horrors of war, horrors which can haunt soldiers even decades after leaving the battlefield.
CNN's Rhonda Schaffler has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For many soldiers, the shock and awe of war continues long after the bombings stop. They begin to battle a new enemy. It's called post traumatic stress disorder. It begins with an image.

ENRIQUE CORREA, PTSD PATIENT: You actually see something and it stays in your mind. It causes such a traumatic problem, a traumatic thought in your head. It just stays there. It just doesn't go away. It's like you recorded it and it doesn't want to erase.

SCHAFFLER: What Enrique Correa can't erase happened nearly four decades ago. Correa went to war in 1966, a 19-year-old soldier in the middle of Vietnam. Years later, he is still dealing with the horrors of war.

CORREA: The smell of blood, the smell of death, you get that. The burning houses, the burning bodies, the explosions, the napalm, all of that.

SCHAFFLER: Experts, like Dr. Rachel Yahuda, have been working with veterans, like Correa, and studying PTSD for more than 15 years.

DR. RACHEL YAHUDA, PSTD EXPERT: When I first started working at the VA it was 1988, very few people had heard about post traumatic stress disorder. And those who did didn't really believe that it was a real disorder.

SCHAFFLER: Yahuda says there are key symptoms to look for when diagnosing post traumatic stress disorder.

YAHUDA: Oftentimes there will be difficulty in sleeping, in concentrating. There will be anger, irritability and a sense of startle, increased startle response when they hear loud noises.

SCHAFFLER: Correa says post traumatic stress not only affects veterans but their families as well. CORREA: PTSD this hurts marriages. We're not very communicative with our wives and stuff like our family and everything. People always thought that we were crazy, that we -- we're not crazy. You know Vietnam Vets with PTSD are not crazy people.

SCHAFFLER (on camera): For decades, this is an issue that people didn't even want to talk about. After all, American soldiers are immortalized for their strength and bravery. Following World War II, veterans were expected to go home and resume their normal lives. Now after the war against Iraq, soldiers are advised to seek counseling first.

(voice-over): And for good reason. Nearly 148,000 veterans are now being treated for PTSD. Studies show that 30 percent of soldiers who spent time in war zones experienced PTSD. That's nearly four times as high as the civilian population.

Veteran Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi says his department is leading the charge to combat PTSD and that giving adequate counseling is the key.

ANTHONY PRINCIPI, VETERAN AFFAIRS SECRETARY: I think it's very important, you know, to some of the anxiety that may be building up inside that might lead to other behavioral type of issues, alcohol, substance abuse. It's important that we have counselors outstationed, out -- doing outreach to talk to service members.

SCHAFFLER: Counseling has helped Correa, but even now it is still difficult for him to move on.

CORREA: Well you'll never be. But I will end up being better simply because working with my doctors and everything I've learned to handle the problems. I'm beginning to sleep a little better.

SCHAFFLER: Just as every soldier's experience in war is different, treatment and recovery for veterans varies. Dr. Yahuda warns one size counseling won't fit all.

YAHUDA: I think that we have to listen to veterans, we have to keep an open mind. When a veteran comes in, we can't say I remember that from Vietnam. Some things may be the same; some of the things may be different. So we have to give the veterans the opportunity to tell us.

SCHAFFLER: To tell us stories too horrific to remember, yet impossible to forget.

Rhonda Schaffler, CNN Financial News, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com