Since March of 2003, 4,113 soldiers have perished in Iraq and thousands have been injured. Hundreds of thousands of veterans are suffering from TBI and mental illnesses like PTSD and many are not seeking treatment. While I am heartened by the passage of the new GI Bill and Bush's willingness to sign it, we have a long way to go to fully honor our veterans.

Full disclosure: I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

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Here are the top stories this week related to our soldiers here and abroad, taken from the Our Troops Newsladder.

2007 saw 115 soldier suicides, more than any year since the military started keeping a record of them in 1980. (boston.com)

Along similar lines, 2007 saw a 50% increase in PTSD diagnoses amid increased violence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Army officials believe that in addition there are many people who have PTSD and are keeping it secret. (marinecorpstimes.com)

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For the past three days, this five-part diary series has shared the experiences of Rachel, an Iraq War Veteran, and her encounters with the private military contractor, KBR. In a series of interviews, she revealed stories of unfair disparities in pay and treatment between contractors and military personnel, having to shower in what was essentially wastewater because of KBR's negligence, and her reactions to the KBR water scandal investigations upon her return to the United States.

Today's installment tells a different story, but one that is equally appalling and pertinent to the issue of how the Pentagon continues to subject the troops to mistreatment and negligence. Josh, a soldier who was also stationed at Camp Ramadi, describes his experiences with struggling to find medical help for a traumatic brain injury (TBI), induced by a roadside bomb in Iraq, and his subsequent case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder:

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Here are the top stories this week related to our soldiers here and abroad, taken from the Our Troops Newsladder.

USA Today found that the Pentagon knowingly sent 43,000 troops to Iraq and Afghanistan that were determined to be medically unfit for combat in the weeks prior to their deployment, another sign of the unprecedented stress on our military. (usatoday.com)

There's more...

Here are the top stories this week related to our soldiers here and abroad, taken from the Our Troops Newsladder.

There's more...