Big headlines still are being made in the war zones where U.S. soldiers continue to be killed or wounded in firefights or roadside explosions.

But according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan already have produced at least 34,000 returning U.S. veterans who suffer psychological problems.

They are the war’s more quiet casualties and get far less attention.

“I have sacrificed my wife, my friends and my job. It would be nice to get some recognition – some compensation. I feel like the forgotten soldier,” said Andrew Jones, a 27-year-old Lawrence resident back from the war in Iraq who is struggling to return his life to normal.

Some veterans and their advocates say there is little special treatment awaiting returning soldiers such as Jones. For government services, they must take their place in line with veterans from previous wars.

Some say America’s newest combat veterans are falling between the cracks. When they do get the help to which they are entitled, it sometimes comes after long waits and much red tape.

Ted Jarvi, president of the National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates, said veterans frequently enter his Tempe, Ariz., law practice seeking help.

He said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have created more disability claims from veterans compared with earlier wars simply because advances in medical care for wounded or injured soldiers have produced more survivors.

“More soldiers are surviving their wounds,” he said. “They have better medical care than those of past wars.”

Jarvi said the number of Iraq cases has slowed the VA’s claims and appeals system, especially for World War II and Vietnam veterans. He said his office represents 150 veterans, which is a “tiny, tiny” portion of the veterans who have claims.

Jarvi said the wait to get a decision on an appeal is about two and a half years.

“The system is incredibly slow.”

Honorable discharge

In 2003, Jones served six months in Iraq while enduring migraine headaches that became increasingly worse. He survived gunfire and an explosion, but then a seizure took him out of commission.

The Army determined he could no longer serve and gave him an honorable discharge. He received several medals, but no disability benefits.

“They said the migraines were nonservice connected, and then they kicked me out,” Jones said.

He said he has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and continues to have painful migraines that keep him from holding a job. He also said his medical bills are mounting.

Distressed mothers

“I am his mama and I want to fix this, but I don’t even know where to start,” said Christy Jones, Andrew Jones’ mother. “It irks me that they say, ‘You have PTSD, but we don’t have anything to help.'”

She isn’t the only one.

Leisa Price, Lawrence, said she had trouble finding sufficient help for her stepson, Brandon Price, 22, who served in Iraq.

After returning home, he had trouble trying to escape the clutches of alcohol and dealing with what may be PTSD. Despite an honorable discharge, he couldn’t get disability benefits or medical help from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“I don’t think they are taken care of,” Leisa Price said of Iraq war veterans returning with psychological problems. “When you are talking about any kind of mental or emotional scar, then that’s a completely different story.”

Price advises other families who are having trouble finding help “to make a lot of noise” by talking with politicians, congressmen and the media.

Despite her best efforts, she said she and her stepson still received the runaround from the VA. Brandon Price moved to Portland, Ore., where he was reported missing three weeks ago.

Psychological injuries

There have been few comprehensive studies so far about the mental health effects of the Iraq war on American military.

Dr. Jonathan Shay, staff psychiatrist at the Boston VA Outpatient Clinic and the author of “Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character” and “Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming,” said the best study was one published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The 2004 study by the Army found that one in six soldiers in Iraq experienced depression, anxiety or PTSD.

A 2005 study by the Department of Veterans Affairs found that of nearly 170,000 Iraq war veterans, about 34,000 were diagnosed with psychological disorders.

And according to one VA report, “Preliminary findings suggest that PTSD will be present in at least 18 percent of those serving in Iraq and 11 percent of those serving in Afghanistan.”

Shay said all his patients are dealing with a service-related psychological injury.

“For the past 20 years, the only patients that I’ve had have been combat veterans with severe psychological injury,” he said.

The only way to prevent such injuries, he said, is to eliminate war.

“Anytime you send people into war, you are going to get psychological and physical injuries,” he said.

Local treatment

At Colmery-O’Neil Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Topeka, there are 24 beds in the stress disorder treatment program headed by Dr. Jonathan Farrell-Higgins. It is where the most serious cases of PTSD in the Lawrence area are treated, and, generally, the unit is nearly full.

About a third of the patients in the seven-week inpatient program are veterans of the Iraq war, he said, but the program also continues to treat those who served in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, Panama and Somalia.

Farrell-Higgins said the length of time it takes people to recover from PTSD varies. It can range from three months to long-term.

Migraines take over

Jones, who was deployed with the 425th Transportation Company in Salina, said he worked with other units in nuclear, biological and chemical warfare while in Iraq. He also assisted with refueling efforts, was a medic and occasionally helped cook.

He said he was attacked and shot at several times and survived an explosion he said he can’t talk about for security reasons.

He said his migraine headaches became so severe they began to affect his duty. They would last for days and he began spending more time in the emergency room. In August 2003, Jones said he had a seizure while hanging out in a tent.

That’s when the Army sent him to Landstuhl, Germany, where he stayed about two weeks before being sent to Maryland, where he had another seizure.

“By that time I wanted to die, I hurt so bad,” Jones said.

After three days in Maryland, Jones said he was sent to Fort Sam Houston where he was evaluated and diagnosed with PTSD. While there, Jones said, his headaches were so intense he couldn’t walk, talk or get out of bed. The migraines lasted for days.

But the pain earned him no sympathy because he had no visible wounds.

“When somebody would look at you, they would be like, ‘You didn’t get shot,'” he said. “I would catch so much flak from people because I wasn’t physically hurt.”

He returned to Fort Riley on Sept. 18, 2003.

Discharged soldier

Jones was released from the Army on April 21, 2004, because his contract was up and the Army determined he no longer could serve because of his condition. He said he was honorably discharged but given no disability or help transitioning back to civilian life.

“Basically, one day I had a uniform on, and the next day I did not,” Jones said.

Capt. Max Devine, of Fort Riley, said the Army has regulations in place that require help be offered to exiting soldiers, and that it is unlikely Jones did not get that advice and assistance.

“When they are going through the process, even before they actually get discharged, we set them up with a VA representative and educational counseling and all of that stuff so that they are informed of what their options are and what they can do when they get out,” Devine said.

But Shay, of the Boston clinic, said the system isn’t perfect.

“They (the Army) really are full of very good intentions and they know what the basic themes are of what they should be doing,” Shay said. “The trouble is that the reality on the ground just often doesn’t match it.”

Shay also said soldiers who are psychologically hurt may have a tough time registering the information the Army provides.

“If a service member is psychologically injured and especially if he’s morally injured : they can be extremely uncooperative with things like a briefing on how to get medical help after you leave the service,” Shay said. “They can be sitting in the room and it just goes completely past them.”

Dealing with effects

For the past two years, Jones said, he has been trying to find medical and psychological help.

He said he applied to VA for disability benefits and was denied. His goal is to return to school and become a nurse, but his migraines keep him from even completing job training.

He recently found some help through Kim Zima, a social worker for the VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System, and Dr. Roscoe Shepherd of Lawrence.

“I finally found someone who will listen,” Jones said.

He is working part-time as a delivery driver at Pizza Hut, where he has worked off and on since age 17.

“It is the only job that I keep right now,” Jones said. “It’s part-time and it’s low stress.”

About a month ago, the migraines became too overwhelming. Christy Jones said her son called her and said he’d had enough and had cut his wrist. She picked him up and took him to the VA hospital in Topeka.

“He couldn’t walk. He was vomiting. He was sobbing,” she said. “He was tired and hurt and nobody would listen. It was just awful.”

Brent Irwin, a high school friend, said Jones used to be a free spirit who liked to go out and have fun. Now, he can’t get him out of the house.

“He deals with it very well considering what he has been through,” Irwin said.

He said his friend hasn’t said much about his experience in Iraq. But he does talk about his headaches.

“I wish I had the old Andy,” Irwin said.