Early this week, Army Sgt. John Russell allegedly shot five people in a military stress clinic in Baghdad. His father, Wilburn Russell, feels the Army failed his son, who was on his third tour in Iraq. In testimony before Congress on Thursday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen said the military must do a better job of caring for troops' mental health. He talked about the effects of traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress, and he said Monday's incident in Baghdad appeared to confirm his worries.
Are mental health services for troops at war adequate? What are the different issues confronting troops and caregivers while they are deployed versus once they have returned home?
Neal Conan talks with Tom Tarantino, legislative associate for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, who served with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, and Bryan Shea, a psychologist at St. Lawrence Psychiatric Center in New York who served three tours in Iraq as a military psychologist seeing soldiers in the field.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDAzMjM2NDYzMDEyMzc1Njk5NjAxNzY3OQ001))
