No help for wounded soldier’s mom, she says - Getting out, military health issues - Navy Times

No help for wounded soldier’s mom, she says

The mother of a severely wounded Army veteran choked back tears Sept. 16 as she told attendees of a seminar on veterans health care that she believes the government has let down her and her son.

Leslie Kammerdiener quit her job to take care of her son, Cpl. Kevin Kammerdiener, a 173rd Airborne Brigade soldier who suffered severe burns and brain injuries in a 2008 roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan.

She said a low point came earlier this year when her son indicated by hand movements that he wanted to hang himself. She said she called the Veterans Affairs Department asking for help because her son was suicidal; she waited days but got no return call.

She got help only after tracking down a doctor at a military event and pleading for help, she said.

Kammerdiener said she didn’t know anything about the military when her son was injured. Only later did she realize additional help and benefits might have been available had she known about them.

“The system is very harsh for a lot of us,” she said. “We did not have a good experience.”

Kammerdiener said the federal recovery coordinator assigned to her by VA is “the one thing that keeps me going.”

Kammerdiener told her story at an Alexandria, Va., conference sponsored by the Military Officers Association of America and the U.S. Naval Institute that focused on what the government is doing and should be doing to help combat veterans with invisible wounds such as post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries.

Noel Koch, deputy undersecretary of defense for transition policy and care coordination, made no excuses when he followed Kammerdiener on the afternoon panel discussion, saying the military does great briefings, conferences and presentations but has difficulty providing coordinated care. The Defense Department is trying to do better, Koch said.

Shannon Maxwell, wife of combat-injured retired Marine Lt. Col. Tim Maxwell, said she has seen improvements in VA.

“VA is now recognizing caregivers as part of the team,” she said, noting that she was once forced to leave a room when her brain-injured husband was being seen by doctors.

Her husband was wounded by mortar fire in Iraq in 2004, suffering a brain injury. He remained on active duty until his retirement in June.

Shannon Maxwell said she needed more help getting information about her husband’s medical retirement so she could do better planning.

“There needs to be knowledgeable people explaining the situation,” she said.

Indeed, many people at the conference cited good programs to help the wounded and their families, but nobody seemed to have a single list of everything available — nor could they explain how they interact.

The seminar sponsors vowed to at least collect the Web addresses of every program offering help for wounded warriors, with particular attention to programs for those with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, told the conference that the Defense Department and VA need to work more closely to coordinate programs. But community-based programs also are needed, he said, because many combat veterans with mental health problems are young and face a lifetime of need.

“There are 20-somethings who are wounded. These are 20-something spouses,” he said. “That is where the sustained effort has got to come in.”

PTSD needs more attention and early treatment, he said. “This is different from a car crash, different from a football injury and different from a boxer.

“These challenges are just beginning to be understood,” Mullen said. “There are decades’ worth of work and commitment that must not just be started now but sustained over a long period of time.”

Mullen said he is committed to not repeating what happened after Vietnam, with its lost generation of homeless veterans.

“Shame on us if we don’t figure it out,” he said.