Fighting for a chance...

 

Posttraumatic stress disorder

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Posttraumatic stress disorder is classified as an anxiety disorder; the characteristic symptoms are not present before exposure to the violently traumatic event. Typically the individual with PTSD persistently avoids all thoughts, emotions and discussion of the stressor event and may experience amnesia for it. However, the event is commonly relived by the individual through intrusive, recurrent recollections, flashbacks and nightmares. The characteristic symptoms are considered Acute if lasting less than three months, Chronic if persisting three months or more, and With Delayed Onset if the symptoms first occur after six months or some years later. PTSD is distinct from the briefer acute stress disorder, and can cause clinical impairment in significant areas of functioning.

PTSD is believed to be caused by the experience of a wide range of traumatic events and, particularly if the trauma is extreme, can occur in persons with no predisposing conditions.

Persons considered at risk include combat military personnel, victims of natural disasters, concentration camp survivors and victims of violent crime. Individuals not infrequently experience "survivor's guilt" for remaining alive while others died. Causes of the symptoms of PTSD are the experiencing or witnessing of a stressor event involving death, serious injury or such threat to the self or others in a situation in which the individual felt intense fear, horror, or powerlessness. Persons who are employed in occupations which expose them to violence (such as soldiers) or disasters (such as emergency service workers) are also at risk.

Agent Orange

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

 Chemically, Agent Orange is an approximately 1:1 mixture of two phenoxyl herbicides – 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T) – in iso-octyl ester form.Numerous studies have examined health effects linked to Agent Orange, its component compounds, and its manufacturing byproducts.

Prior to the controversy surrounding Agent Orange, there was already a large body of scientific evidence linking 2,4,5-T to serious negative health effects and ecological damage. But in 1969, it was revealed to the public that the 2,4,5-T was contaminated with a dioxin, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (TCDD), and that the TCDD was causing many of the previously unexplained adverse health effects which were correlated with Agent Orange exposure. TCDD has been described as "perhaps the most toxic molecule ever synthesized by man". Internal memoranda revealed that Monsanto (a manufacturer of 2,4,5-T) had informed the U.S. government in 1952 that its 2,4,5-T was contaminated. In the manufacture of 2,4,5-T, accidental overheating of the reaction mixture easily causes the product to condense into the toxic self-condensation product TCDD.
Korea Agent Orange was used in Korea in the late 1960s. Republic of Korea troops were the only personnel involved in the spraying, which occurred along the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). "Citing declassified U.S. Department of Defense documents, Korean officials fear thousands of its soldiers may have come into contact with the herbicide in the late 1960s and early 1970s. According to one top government official, as many as '30,000 Korean veterans are suffering from illness related to their exposure'. The exact number of GIs who may have been exposed is unknown. But C. David Benbow, a North Carolina attorney who served as a sergeant with Co. C, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, along the DMZ in 1968–69, estimates as many as '4,000 soldiers at any given time' could have been affected."

In January 2006, the South Korean Appeals Court ordered Dow Chemical and Monsanto to pay $62 million in compensation to about 6,800 people. The ruling acknowledged that "the defendants failed to ensure safety as the defoliants manufactured by the defendants had higher levels of dioxins than standard", and, quoting the U.S. National Academy of Science report, declared that there was a "causal relationship" between Agent Orange and 11 diseases, including cancers of the lung, larynx and prostate. The judges failed to acknowledge "the relationship between the chemical and peripheral neuropathy, the disease most widespread among Agent Orange victims" according to the Mercury News.

Currently, veterans who provide evidence meeting VA requirements for service in Vietnam, and who can medically establish that anytime after this 'presumptive exposure' they developed any medical problems on the list of presumptive diseases, may receive compensation from the VA. Certain veterans who served in Korea and are able to prove they were assigned to certain specified around the DMZ during a specific time frame are afforded similar presumption. The differences in requirements between Vietnam and Korea service stem from the fact that congress has not made any laws to provide for the same sweeping presumption of exposure similar to the Agent Orange Act of 1991 for Korean veterans.

The Presidential Unit Citation, originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the United States Armed Forces, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy. The unit must display such gallantry, determination, and esprit de corps in accomplishing its mission under extremely difficult and hazardous conditions so as to set it apart from and above other units participating in the same campaign.

Dad has 4 of these awards.  Three oak leaves signify 4 awards.

Bronze and Silver Oak Leaf Clusters are common devices placed on many United States military awards and decorations signifying multiple bestowals of a particular award. The number of oak leaf clusters indicates the second and subsequent awards of the decoration. One single oak leaf cluster, for example, is attached to the designated award and denotes a second award of that particular decoration. Service members do not wear more than one service ribbon on their ribbon rack even when they have received the award more than once. Instead, multiple awards are shown by attaching the oak leaves to the ribbon. One single oak leaf denotes the second award of that particular decoration. Two oak leaves denotes three awards. Four denote five awards. When the sixth award of a specific decoration is bestowed on the individual, a single “silver” bronze oak leaf is placed on the ribbon (as opposed to five bronze oak leaves).

 

 Expert Field Medical Badge

The Expert Field Medical Badge is a decoration of the United States Army which was first created in 1965. The badge is the non-combat equivalent to the Combat Medical Badge and is awarded to any medical personnel of the United States Army who successfully complete a qualification test battery of field medical examinations.

Dad was referred to as "Krish"  by his army mates.

Good Conduct Medal. The medal is awarded to any active-duty enlisted member of the United States military who completes three consecutive years of "honorable and faithful service". Such service implies that a standard enlistment was completed without any non-judicial punishment, disciplinary infractions, or court martial offenses. During times of war, the Good Conduct Medal may be awarded for one year of faithful service. The Good Conduct Medal may also be awarded posthumously, to any service member killed in the line of duty.

The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) is a military award of the United States military awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces who, after July 1, 1958, have participated in a United States military operation and encountered foreign armed opposition, or were in danger of hostile action by foreign Armed Forces.

National Defense Service Medal
Awarded to anyone who serves on active duty in the United States military during a designated time period. In the fifty years since the creation of the National Defense Service Medal, it has been authorized for the following time periods; June 27, 1950 to July 27, 1954 for service during the Korean War; January 1, 1961 to August 14, 1974 for service during the Vietnam War; August 2, 1990 to November 30, 1995 for service during the Gulf War; September 11, 2001 to a date yet-to-be-determined for service during the War on Terrorism. For service in the Gulf War and War on Terrorism, it is also authorized for members of the military reserve provided they are a “military reservist in good standing.” The National Defense Service Medal is further authorized to students at the service academies, but is not granted to discharged or retired veterans who did not serve in one of the above time periods. The decoration is also not authorized to members of the inactive reserve. The award was intended to be a “blanket campaign medal” issued to any member of the United States military who served in a designated time period of which a “national emergency” had been declared. As of 2005, it is the oldest service medal which is still issued to the active military.

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ; Hangul: 한반도 비무장지대; Hanja: 韓半島非武裝地帶) is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea which runs along the 38th parallel north. The DMZ cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half, crossing the 38th parallel on an angle, with the west end of the DMZ lying south of the parallel and the east end lying north of it. It was created as part of the Korean Armistice Agreement between North Korea, the People's Republic of China, and the United Nations Command forces in 1953. It is 250 kilometres (160 miles) long, approximately 4 km (2.5 mi) wide and despite its name is the most heavily militarized border in the world. The Northern Limit Line, or NLL, is the de facto maritime boundary between North and South Korea in the Yellow Sea and the coastline and islands on both sides of the NLL are also heavily militarized.

In the Armistice Agreement of July 27, 1953, the DMZ was created as each side agreed to move their troops back 2,000 m (2,200 yards) from the front line, creating a buffer zone 4 km (2.5 mi) wide. The Military Demarcation Line (MDL) goes down the center of the DMZ and indicates exactly where the front was when the agreement was signed.

Owing to this theoretical stalemate, and genuine hostility between the North and the South, large numbers of troops are still stationed along both sides of the line, each side guarding against potential aggression from the other side. The armistice agreement explains exactly how many military personnel and what kind of weapons are allowed in the DMZ. Soldiers from both sides may patrol inside the DMZ, but they may not cross the MDL. Sporadic outbreaks of violence due to North Korean hostilities killed over 500 South Korean soldiers and 50 U.S. soldiers along the DMZ between 1953 and 1999.

The striped pin above his name tag signified completion of basic training.

 

Discharged from Army as a E-5.

 

 

Harold R Krisher
4-18-1968 to 11-19-1969
 

Dad 2013

... Struggling.  Fighting for a chance to get life back to normal.

"The problem with war is that it killed so many that survived"    Forrest Gump