I'm a licensed clinical social worker (psychotherapist) practicing on an inpatient psychiatric ward at a major army medical center. We treat OIF and OEF returnees, some airvaced from Landstuhl but others are flown directly to stateside hospitals bi-passing Germany. By far the majority of soldiers that are hospitalized due to trauma (PTSD not TBI) do so AFTER they return to CONUS when they find their wives having affairs, ready access to drugs and alcohol, boredom and time to think. Reported causality totals are estimates and actual numbers are probably higher. Totals fail to consider soldiers who committed homicides and suicides while in the states but only the ones who dies in country. Also causality figures do not count collateral causalities, those who are harmed by the returnees. Add to your totals the number of collateral casualties such as the death of a local civilian killed by recent returnees, intoxicated, adrenaline addicted, and PTSD dx, and racing down the interstate hwy. Another returnee, intoxicated, PTSD, rams the back of a broken down car being pushed off the road. Two legs required amputation. The wives often lose their only support system to long deployed husbands, become depressed and suicidal. Home life of returnees suffers. Anger problems result in divorces, child abuse, homicide, suicide and many turn to illegal and legal drugs to self medicate in an effort to cleanse their mind of the memories of what they witnessed and the atrocities of their actions. Some become homicidal and end up in prison. Some remain in their position without treatment and affect the workplace environment. Some of these untreated sick are commanders, law enforcement personnel, and regular soldiers, all with guns. Think of the effect they have on others, spouses, children, moms and dads, brothers and sisters. Add that to your total. Vicarious traumatization (PTSD) spreads mental illness from just listening to someone talk about trauma.
One soldier with PTSD reported that while in Iraq his Platoon Sergeant forced him to clean the wheel well on his humvee of the remains of a child that he earlier ran over while in a patrol convoy. Patrols are not allowed to stop for any reason for fear of an ambush. Or the soldier whose battle buddy was hit in the head by a dud rpg blowing off everything fom his brain stem up and watch him run around "like a chicken with his head cut off". Reading it is disturbing , hearing it is traumatic, seeing it is, well, I don't really know. That is 2 of the 100,000 plus figure but the ripple effect is far greater. The number whose lives have been scared by this war (so for) is probably over a million. That’s just USA. How many in Iraqi citizens with PTSD? Darfur?, UK?,

Thank you for your interest in keeping people informed of this war.