Wesley Baxley; Boot camp PTSD
Someone sent us an article late last month about Wesley Baxley, in Oklahoma. he was looking for someone to donate money so he could go pick up an Irish Wolfhound service dog that he needed for the PTSD that he caught in boot camp;
“Men and women who have PTSD, they lose jobs and they don’t know what’s going on,” said Baxley. “They lose family. I mean men and women that don’t understand, they leave them.”
Baxley says that’s exactly what happened to him. And it was actually a chance encounter at the VA Medical Center in Oklahoma City that introduced him to Operation Wolfhound , a group that provides psychiatric service dogs to veterans with PTSD.
“I saw a man with a service dog and it was an Irish wolfhound,” said Baxley. “I went up to him and started talking with him and he said ‘Yeah I have PTSD.'”
Baxley said that chance encounter not only changed his life, but gave him hope. He joined the United States Marine Corp. right after high school. But he, like so many others, now suffers from PTSD due to trauma he says he endured during boot camp.
“It’s real, I mean it’s nothing to be played with and it won’t [ever] go away,” said Baxley. “So it’s just been hard not just on me but my family as well.”
So, I guess we all caught the PTS in boot camp or basic training, or whatever you want to call it. But that’s about all Wesley did was go to boot camp, according to his FOIA:
It looks like he never left Camp Lejeune, although he does have a Sea Service Ribbon, but he did 2 1/2 years of active service and no Reserve time, so it looks like his PTS got him booted from the Marines. Of course, he’s probably qualified for VA treatment, but his whole attitude demeans those who truly have PTS and he’s taking a dog away from a real wounded vet, because some drill instructor yelled at him once.
Category: Phony soldiers
I got a blister during a road march in basic. Do I qualify? Love those Ft. Knox hills!
Can I introduce this clown to PN Fenstermacher? She’d set him straight in no time.
What is he? A girl?
What a waste of oxygen.It would be my pleasure to curb stomp this douche on my next home leave,PTSD from boot? It just breaks my heart seeing shit like this.
It’s bit late, but maybe he could still grow up?
I have heard of folks getting injured at OSUT or even other schools and being held over until the injury heals or they give up and move on, but PTSD?
I actually think I caught it by seeing one of the chow ladies back in the day. I had not seen a woman in months and then “poof”, the chow lady.
It is still with me…..
@5 Green Thumb I know what you mean. After OSUT I saw my first woman and it was all over me. Now, the ugly was all over her, but that was beside the point at the time. I don’t know about that incident and PTS but I know about that incident and what is stuck in my head! This young man needs some serious counseling on what real trauma is all about. If he gets bennies for PTS from boot camp, then something is really wrong with the VA disability system.
How about he’s just a lying, whining, self-involved twit who thinks he knows how to milk ‘the system’?
Besides, cats make better PTSD counselors. They purr. The purring is loaded with vibrations. There is nothing more soothing to the wounded beaast than the vibrations of a purring kittycat making happy feet on your lap.
You read the article wrong; he didn’t catch the PTSD at basic training; he caught it at Boot Camp, which is obviously some sort of executive training camp for United States Marine Corporation (Corp.). Any two-bit reporter with a dictionary knows it’s Corps, if you mean The Marines.
@6, he is crying up a sob story, so of course the VA will give him benefits. It’s those of us who try to suck it up and only seek what we need that get pissed on. I guaran-fucking-tee if one of us decided to be a cry-baby and go to the media, we’d get what we need (if not what we deserve). Until then, we’ll just stay cowboy’ed up and do what we can. I’m not sinking to that level.
I wonder if Schroeder was his counselor?
It was probably that “Math for Marines” that sent him over the edge. But, me I get flashbacks to the messhall lady at BNCOC in Hohenfels. A little Asian woman who always left the top two buttons of her shirt unbuttoned. Now every time I see SOS over dehydrated eggs, I flash back to her and her traumatizing cleavage.
This guy makes me feel so dumb. I have been spending my hard earned money on my dogs, when all along, I could have claimed PTSD from my basic training in the 6th Armored Cav/Ft. Knox, or from AIT at Ft Dix, or even because I was sent to my TO&E unit, (1/506th Airborne Inf), as a “leg” while waiting for and attending 101st Airborne “Jump” School. Surely, during those assignments, I had to have seen things to cause the PTSD.
The Hundreds I spent on dogs could have gone toward the essential recreational drugs and alcohol. How stupid of me.
I made a deal with my spouse to only say nice things today…At least he did not claim more than Boot Camp.
@9 Flagwaver, you expressed my sentiments exactly. I was trained and taught throughout my time in the military to suck it up, ruck up and move out. Even if I do not like all the memories Vietnam left me, I would not have sought out VA assistance to pay me or help me work it out. There are far more deserving and NEEDING vets out there who NEED my place in line. I have written before that I was blessed to meet a WWII/Korean vet and we talked over coffee off and on for almost a year. Besides becoming a lifelong friend, he did more to help me than anything ever offered by the military or VA. He did not have PTS. He called it the “melancholy”. A great gentleman and fine soldier he was.
Nec Asperra Terrent
A Wolfhound will know what that means.
It was the “Math for Marines” course that pushed him over the edge.
😉
Awww, John beat me to it.
Another whinyass with Sandinvaginitis, He registers a ZERO on my Giveadamnometer!!
He did 2 1/2 years 86-89, got out as an E-3. His enlistment was cut short, for sure. To be fair he could have had some traumatic episode give him PTSD. The chances of that are pretty slim. More than likely he had a legit physical injury while in and was at the VA center and decided to scam a dog. Easy to do since it seems these Pet groups have no way to verify anyone’s claims.
The kicker for me is where the writer says, “like so many others.”
Seriously, I can see getting PTSD in boot camp, but only if he had a serious preexisting mental issue in the first place. Maybe he even suspected it, and joined the Marines thinking he’d get past it if they could toughen him up. There’s nothing wrong with that.
I can’t see him having an event cause PTSD in boot and it not manifesting itself for over two years.
I messaged him on FB, asking him to clarify his service and disability.
What a wuss. He should have been at MCRD in June if 1963. No PTSD from boot camp unless you are worthless.
Men get sexually assaulted in the military, including during basic training, and can develop PTSD related to the assault (which I guess would make that person “worthless” according to ohio in #23. No worries though- if he was assaulted chances are good that’s how he’s started to look at himself even without you telling him that’s what you think).
Although rare, accidents happen during basic training where people end up seriously injured or dead. There is no way to know from a DD214 whether or not either of these happened to him or were observed by him.
It can be very frustrating when people claim to have PTSD and scam any group or organization, but none of use here know for a fact that this veteran did NOT experience a trauma and does not have PTSD. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying I 100% believe this guy just because it got written up in the paper. What I am saying is that most of the comments here are going to make it even harder for veterans who legitimately have PTSD that isn’t related to combat service to seek out help. Is screwing over another veteran this way really what you want to do?
If you are outraged, then work with the groups that offer services/benefits for veterans with PTSD related to their military service and help them tighten up the regulations and requirements for people they help. It’s not hard to require a form completed by a licensed mental health provider stating that the person has been diagnosed with PTSD.
You just have to wonder how many Wounded Warriors need this type of help more than Mangina vagina above needs it. PTS while in Basic, oh my fucking bleeding heart.
I went to Navy boot camp in San Diego in 1975. The Marines at Camp Pendleton had burnt down their chow hall in some industrial accident and they had to eat with us (in between barriers). The sight of them arriving in cattle cars and piling out like cockroaches out of a burnt out freezer full of rotting meat still gives me chills. Every once in a while, some Marine recruit would heave a coffee cup over the barriers like it was a grenade. All we ever threw back was a slice of cake, which they seemed to appreciate.
I didn’t catch the PTS from that, although I might have gotten it from extended liberty in Olongopo in ’77 or in Rota in ’79 or in Haifa in ’81 or in Bahrain in ’83; no wait, it was in North Chicago in ’76. Yeah, that was it.
This guy is a terminal shitbag. 3 infantry battalions in less than 3 years during peace time? I’d love to hear the real story behind that because he must have been the biggest shitbag of the decade.
@24.
Rest assured, he could and will qualify for WWP.
@24- Please provide an example of when/how a male was sexually assaulted in Marine Corps boot camp.
The floor buffer—it just kept on coming! I can still see it when I close my eyes…
Look…side trip while visiting my parents in Oklahoma…
Above-mentioned shitbag needs a beating…then a stern lecture from my niece, who’s blind since birth and has done more than this lying air-stealing waste of humanity.
Haha–That was during my time in (85-92)–most notably the most peaceful period in Marine Corps history bookended by the Barracks/Grenada in 83 and the Gulf War in 91.
I could see it for a sexual assault but not likely on the sliding scale of probability. There are enough Marines out there from these latest conflicts that need more attention than this dolt.
“The floor buffer”
Yeah-still gives me chills 25 years later……
Me, MCRD SDCA, my wife, MCRD PISC, our son, MCRD SDCA and our youngest daughter, MCRD PISC are all saying WTF?
My son is an Afghan vet and has been trying to get treatment at the VA for over a year. Thanks a lot, Wesley Baxley, for jumping line on him. (Dick nose, puss face, rank motherfucker.)
(My wife just reminded me we have a son-in-law, MCRD SDCA.)
Boot camp PTSD = cried himself to sleep every night, wishes he’d never gone there.
@24, while men ARE sexually assaulted in the military and most of them won’t discuss it, there is nothing I have found that says it happens in basic training. Rather, it is more likely to happen when they are long since past recruit training and in the field.
He assaulted himself after someone told him to go f*** himself.
@24, i spent my 4 years in the airborne infantry, took a tour in iraq in 04, and never met any infantryman that claimed PTSD. this guy makes the claim that PTSD will never go away, and that is total horse shit. you learn to deal with traumatic issues and experiences and you move on with your life. PTSD is nothing more then a bunch of liberals trying to make excuses for the weak minded. PTS is nothing to get disability over, see a counselor, get treatment, and get on with your life. everyone i see milking the system for PTSD seems to always be a REMF that never did or saw anything. I work with this guy who is drawing 90% disability for PTSD, he was an 88M with a deployment to Kuwait! (he does the agry vet routine when questioned about his BS stories) this (in my experience) is the typical PTSD milker. the guys that were out side the wire with rounds flying things going boom arent jumping in line for the PTSD wagon, doesnt this give you a bit of a hint about this stuff?
Ex-PH2 said “@24, while men ARE sexually assaulted in the military and most of them won’t discuss it, there is nothing I have found that says it happens in basic training.” That’s pretty circular logic. If most men who are sexually assaulted in the military won’t discuss it how would it even be possible for you to have evidence that it happens? Even your own answer says that it is “more likely” to happen after they are out of recruit training (which I would agree with as a general statement based on my experience). It’s not uncommon for the first time a veteran discloses MST to be years later to a mental health provider and even then most will only admit that it happened and not say anything more about what happened for quite a while. How in the world would these assaults end up recorded anywhere? Smitty (#36). Those infantry guys may not be talking to you about it, but some of them have developed PTSD and some are even in treatment. We don’t know what makes some people develop PTSD while others with similar traumatic exposures don’t. As far as the PTSD never going away comment, I would hesitate to say that it fully goes away but current treatments (e.g. PE, CPT) are very effective. Symptom levels can even be reduced to the point that they resemble those of someone who has never had PTSD. Finally, you are right that there are “PTSD milkers” out there who don’t have PTSD or any other true mental health disorder (except maybe a personality disorder which doesn’t get you VA compensation). The sad truth is that no matter what gets posted here or said among veterans the “milkers” will continue to exist and try to game the system. My comment wasn’t because I have a particular belief about the validity of this veteran’s claim and am trying to support him. It was because of the tone I see in comments on posts like this. I have a different viewpoint than most of the people who comment here. I am not a… Read more »
@37…where does it say he was sexually assaulted?
People like this need to be publicly shamed.
@37.
I actually agree w/ you to the extent that men can and have been sexually assaulted, albeit on a much smaller level.
Now, here is the hard part: Run that argument by the female liberal elite and make sure you step back.
They cannot and will not tolerate that argument.
I was a UVA as a secondary duty back in the day, and as I said, I understand your viewpoint. But unfortunately, the social scientists will never get it because they do not want to.
Tough.
And I might as well continues:
this will piss some folks up, but being a victim of SA is a paying identifier.
Now think about the VA and put two ands two together.
And the kicker, you cannot ask for proof. Slippery, PC slope, that one is.
Now, fully integrate the CA components. I would be hard pressed to assume that you did not find folks that claim it for the VA but not outside the medical house.
I will shut up now before I get destroyed, but just pointing out the obvious.
@ #37: And perhaps you should sit back and reevaluate your motivation for coming in here telling mostly vets how to talk to and about other vets.
Assuming you are being honest, you admit that your bread and butter is from persons with issues related to their military service. Should we expect that you will find what you are being paid to see more often than not?
@41 Thank you. A very valid point.
@24, 37- The reason I doubt the sexual assault in Marine Corps boot camp is because there is no privacy. There are not even stalls in the head. If such an event were to occur, it would be short-lived and have dozens of witnesses. There would be no need for the victim to report it.
PTSD in boot camp would be the result of hurt feelings or missing his mommy. I believe I’ve seen an AF report chit that covers the former.
@43 continued- The most ‘traumatic’ event that could occur in Marine Corps boot camp would be the realization that you are a non-hacker. Not everyone has what it takes, so move on to something else.
That is not the case here, as he made it through boot camp and lasted a couple of more years. Maybe he is stressed that despite having been a Marine, he is without honor.
What a f*cking pussy. I’m an E-6 and I’ve been getting yelled at for almost 15 years and it hasn’t gave me PTSD. What a jackass. Thanks for taking something away from people who truly need it.
Well, I see two strikes right there in his record.
Strike 1. He was a 2nd BN recruit. Everyone knows thems er problem childrens.
Strike 2. He was a mortar maggot. Infantrypersons who spend their maint time rubbing and oiling large tubes.
The Battalion Quickstep on display is, as noted above, an indicator of the sorts of issues that other grunts just can’t put up with… and grunts can put up with a lot… damn near anything actually.
oh and to Anon above.
There’s been a recent “study” that “proves” that up to at least 10% of our society can catch the PTSD just from watching TV.
PTSD is the new buzzword in the Cult of Victimology. If you bother to pull your head out of your ass and pay attention, you’ll notice that the definition and exploitation of PTSD is being turned into a high-flow cash cow in the psycho industry.
Here’s a statistic for Anon@37: 26,000 sexual assaults in the military were reported in 2011. 12,000 of them were reported by women. The other 14,000 were reported by men.
The men who are going to the VA for SA treatment now are reporting what happened to them 40 to 50 years ago. It’s much more difficult for a man to say ‘I was assaulted by another man or a group of men’ than it is for a woman to say ‘I was assaulted by a man and this is what he looked like.’ The attitude toward men who reported it is that ‘you must have asked for it’ and ‘it’s your fault.’ That’s what women used to hear, and now the shoe is on the other foot.
There are a lot of gross jokes on this blog about prison rape and Bubba-and-Thor, but when someone says it doesn’t really happen to men, that response is pure bullshit. If a Chicago soccer coach allows his senior players to sodomize younger players and threatens them with more of it if they don’t do perfect drills, it isn’t pedophilia, it’s sexual assualt.
When I went to Lovell FHCC to enroll in VA health care, the nurse practitioner asked me if I had even been sexually assaulted. I don’t consider the hateful, misogynistic, spiteful stuff that I got from gay guys trying to hide their homosexuality in the 1960s and 1970s to be a form of SA, so I said ‘No’. They’d have been kicked out of the Navy back then if they had admitted to being ‘queers’, so they took their crap out on the women who worked with and for them.
And because sexaul assault is about domination and control, Anon, the pompous-assed way you wrote your post has me seriously doubting that you actually are a VA health care counselor. If you were, I’d want your name so that I could make an appointment with you, just to yank your self-important chain.
Also to Anon:
Anyone who’d lay still to be “sexually assaulted” in bootcamp wasn’t assaulted. There’s no such thing as “alone time” in USMC bootcamp. Hell, a recruit can’t even jack off without 40 other recruits knowing about it.
I stand by my diagnosis, I say he has Sandinmanginitis!
If he has a Sea Service Ribbon he went somewhere. That requires 90 days aboard ship at sea. But if he got off the ship anywhere besides a liberty port he’d have some other awards.