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Will Chris Kyle Death Lead to Reform on Treatment for Returning Vets?

Feb. 4, 2013 9:17pm Christopher Santarelli

Former Navy Seal and author Chris Kyle was killed in Texas Saturday, reportedly shot point-blank at a gun range while helping another soldier possibly recovering from post traumatic stress syndrome. Kyle was the author of the bestselling “American Sniper: The Autobiography the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History” and had earned the nickname of “the devil of Ramadi” by insurgents during his four terms in the Iraq War.

Eddie Ray Routh, 25, was charged on two counts of capital murder Sunday in connection to the shooting of Kyle, and his friend Chad Littlefield, who had reportedly took Routh to the shooting range. Kyle was advocate for veterans’ health and putting attention on the problem of post-traumatic stress disorder. Routh is a veteran who served in Iraq and Haiti, and officials say he is believed to be suffering from some “mental illness.”

A Department of Veterans Affairs report suggests as many as 30 percent of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have some sort of PTSD. Pete Hegseth is an Iraq veteran, CEO of Concerned Veterans For American, and former Executive Director of Vets For Freedom. Hegseth joined ‘Real News‘ Monday to discuss the tragic death of Kyle and mental health treatment for returning American soldiers:

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Comments (4)

arizona cowboy
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:32am
If someone were to go undercover at the VA Hospitals they would quickly realize just how poor our health care really is. For example why is it that we are never examined by Veteran Nurses or Physicians? My guess is the VA would never accept veteran health care professionals because they would have a tendency to be overly sympathetic to our needs. They would understand our issues and would want to help us. As it is the health care professionals we see now are just members of the big government bureaucracy and are guided by governmental policies and procedures as well as budgetary constraints. It will be 1 year since my last eye exam so I called to make an appointment for March and I was told the next available appointment was in late April. I am a 100% service connected disabled vet with diabetes, PTSD, high cholesterol and high BP. Try calling your PCP and it goes something like this,”your call is important to us, we are busy assisting other veterans. Please stay on the line and the next available nurse will take your call. You are caller “”"”"”26″”"”"”! If you figure 2 minutes per call that puts you on hold for an hour. Why do they not add additional staff? Why is the next available appointment 60 days out? And why can’t we have access to the best medications available? Why must we EXHAUST all lower brand drugs before we have access to the best drugs? Why, why, why and why? It’s all about money. Best care possible? Bull-**** that’s all I can

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leonardo44
Posted on February 5, 2013 at 1:01pm
Once again “Real News” offers the most intelligent discussion on the topic.

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Witness1974
Posted on February 5, 2013 at 3:37am
No more psycho-babble excuses for murder. It is very clear how Eddie Ray Routh should be treated: Proceed to trial speedily; execute the sentence swiftly.

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The Jewish Avenger
Posted on February 4, 2013 at 11:44pm
Well, that didnt take long…

First thing that popped in my mind as soon as I heard about CT. “How soon can we hear about the libs falling over each other screaming to the public about banning guns?”

Now after this, we were all in agreement. “Yep there it is, they warned us, something that can also ban, soldiers returning from the lines from owning a gun if they discuss any remorse or anything else so they can be labeled PTSD…

Pretty disheartening.

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