AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Specialist Casey Porter, Army specialist. He’s stationed in Iraq just outside Baghdad. Casey, a doctor diagnosed you with post-traumatic stress disorder. What was the response of the military?
SPC. CASEY PORTER: Well, I was filling out paperwork to get ready for this deployment, and I put on there, “I would tell you about my knee injury and I would tell you about my PTSD, but no one here cares.” So a civilian rep said, “No, I actually do care,” and was very respectful and kind to me.
So I went and saw a military doctor, and I—Major Carsus [phon.] at Fort Hood, Texas, and he was aware of my comments. And he said that, you know, I’ve insulted everybody in the room and was very hostile towards me. And he said, “You know how you deal with your PTSD? You go to Iraq, and you kill those savages.” Those were his words verbatim. And then, of course, I felt very claustrophobic, very closed in.
And then I had to see him one more time before I deployed. I had to take a several-hundred-question test. And, of course, as I was taking the test, I answered every question honestly, but I knew what the outcome was going to be: “You’re fine.” And all I’ve ever asked from the military, whether it be my knee injury or PTSD, is give me the respect and dignity I deserve. And that just isn’t the case with inside-the-military medical treatment.
