Matthews urges better care for troops

WASHINGTON - The Dave Matthews Band is urging fans to push Congress to do more to ensure that U.S. troops coming home traumatized by combat get the help they need.

A petition on the band's Web site has 23,000 signatures so far, singer Dave Matthews said in an interview aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

The Pentagon and Congress are reviewing possible changes to the military's much-criticized mental health system. A task force last month found that more than one-third of troops and veterans suffer from problems such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, and it urged stronger leadership, more money and greater focus on prevention and screening.

"It just struck me as a profound injustice that someone who had given so much of themselves and clearly showed such a quality of personality that the gratitude we're showing them was basically a dishonorable discharge," Matthews said.

The petition asks Congress to investigate reports that some troops' service-related mental health problems have been misdiagnosed by the military as pre-existing personality disorders.

The effort is nonpartisan, the Grammy-winning musician said. "It's only about how we treat people who have given their, essentially, their lives, put their lives in the hands of our country."

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On the Net:

Dave Matthews Band: http://www.dmband.com

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