Dr. Raymond Scurfield is an associate professor and director of the Katrina Research Center at The University of Southern Mississippi-Gulf Coast. He’s also a Vietnam veteran and acclaimed author known for his expertise in war-related trauma. His most recent book about the shattering impact of war is War Trauma: Lessons Unlearned From Vietnam to Iraq.

Below are excerpts from a recent column he wrote about Walter Reed Medical Center and what America’s reaction to some of the shocking conditions there says about us - as well as the future of the U.S. military…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Does the widespread reaction to the recent expose at Walter Reed Medical Center and the neglect of some of our physically wounded Iraq war veterans indicate that our nation has had a wake-up call to what the full impact of war entails — and what is required to address it?

As a Vietnam veteran with a 25-year leadership career with the VA, please forgive my skepticism. The underlying institutional problems go far beyond any benefits from sacking high-ranking officials; cosmetic cover-up and pest control treatment at one military facility; and renewed time-limited Congressional oversight that eventually dissipates.

Walter Reed characterizes one of over 30 lessons unlearned about our nation’s treatment of war casualties over many decades:

• Our country sends us to war.
• Our military uses us in war.
• And our country forgets us after war.

This unlearned lesson is compounded by a second - when our nation sends us off to war, a sacred covenant is made - in return for going into harm’s way and putting our lives and our comrades-in-arms’ lives and health at risk, the nation promises to honor our sacrifices and provide humane and timely war-related financial benefits, health and medical/mental health services.

When this sacred covenant is broken, despair, isolation, rage, and alienation cascade in turbulent waves over our war-wounded and their families.

Follow the link to continue reading here …

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he considers homosexuality “immoral” and the military should “not condone it” by allowing any gay personnel to serve openly, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.

The extremely open-minded Gen. Peter Pace, of the U.S. Marine Corps, likened homosexuality to adultery, which he said was also immoral, in an interview with the Chicago Tribune Monday.

“I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is okay to be immoral in any way,” Pace stated.

Pace, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, said he based his views on his upbringing.

Pace supports the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in which gay men and women are allowed to serve in the U.S. military as long as they keep their sexual orientation private.

The policy, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, prohibits commanders from asking about a person’s sexual orientation.

“I believe homosexual acts between two individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts,” Pace said.

Pace did not address concerns raised by a 2005 government audit that showed some 10,000 troops, including more than 50 specialists in Arabic, have been discharged because of the policy.

With Democrats now holding a majority in Congress, Democratic Rep. Martin Meehan has introduced legislation to reverse the military’s long-standing ban on openly serving homosexuals.

One would think, given the fact that any man or woman in the military is serving under the knowledge they may die for the United States, that they could do so openly, without fear of being unreasonably kicked out.

It seems that according to the highest-ranking military officer, committing crimes and being an ex-convict is a-o-k for service, but being attracted to your own gender - a personal issue that’s beyond irrelevant?

Well, we can’t be allowing that.

This during the quagmire that is the Iraq war, with numbers of new recruits plummeting and respect for American abroad hitting the skids as well.

We’ve seen Mitt Romney do an about-face (pun very much intended) on gay rights already in this campaign. How about one of the supposedly progressive candidates stepping up and slapping Peter Pace down? Anyone?