Friday, February 10, 2012


One Tough Marine

Click on the link above to read the story from Oregon Live Pacific Northwest News about a former Marine Scout Sniper suffering from PTSD.

Many Americans know of the SEAL teams and how awesome teams are, Marine Scout Snipers who engage in small two man unit teams or operate independently as part of a larger Surveillance and Target Acquisition or STA platoon or direct action platoon tasked by the infantry command units and special operations command units are some of the most mentally and physically disciplined and hardest warriors produced in all of the services in all the world.  It isn't a competition like top shot to be a Marine SS, although marksmanship is definitely a skill, it is the ability to be hunted and elude capture in the midst of a hostile enemy in any environment from urban, desert, woodland, jungle, mountain.  To do it for years with multiple combat deployments, has to have an effect on anyone mentally, and these combat vets are not like everyone else who may claim PTSD from their EMT, firefighting or police duties in the civilian ranks who may comment about how there is nothing special about this kind of combat PTSD to excuse bad behavior like hit and run, assaults, etc.  Anyone who has not been in combat or been hunted by others probably ought to refrain from passing judgment on this combat veteran and others returning from war who could easily see critical comments by our civilian society as uncaring, petty and selfish, compared to their brothers and sisters left behind and their internal psyche on values. 

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