Bad Paper (General) Discharges

A story on NPR about this subject this morning (12/12/2013);  an estimated 100,000 Iraq/Afghanistan veterans with this problem.  Nothing new there, what is new is the number of "Bad Paper" discharges generated by PTSD issues when units rotated back into garrison, After WW II and Korea, the men got of the boat and spent a week or so in a transit center (?) until their paperwork was done, so there were far fewer individuals locked out of the Veterans Benefits system, and of course, you could go down the street and get a job in the plant, or at least a job as a janitor that would pay your bills.

And the discharge process after Vietnam was even more expedited, Fly them home and put them on the street.  Plenty of guys where happy to finish their two years and go back home and get a job in the plant too, I see one of the major issues as being that $8 an hour at a Walmart or Amazon warehouse just does NOT support a life any more. 

And even guys with MAJOR issues, the goal was to put them out the door without creating a lot of bureaucratic complexity.  Long ago, I edited a series of Oral History Interviews on Company Command in Vietnam (I explained I have a diverse and odd background...).  One of them was a Medical Service Corps Officer who ran an "In Country" detox center (In Vietnam), the goal was to hold the (Heroin?) addicts long enough, if necessary throwing them in a Connex to detox Cold Turkey, that they would NOT test positive on the drug screen, so they could be put on an Airplane back to the World.  And out the door, presumably with an Honorable Discharge, and no longer the Army's problem.  But maybe someone will correct me if I am wrong about the nature of the discharges granted.