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Camouflage Blues

By Ray Parrish

Instead of the rather "dry" information and advice column that you usually get from me, this time you get to hear the story of how VVAW's Military Counseling Service helped a couple of courageous, stressed-out people; a young GI, Spec 4 Eugene Cherry, and his mother, Cozy. I want you to share their journey thru the military's broken system of dealing with PTSD and their joy at avoiding a Court Martial for a 15 month AWOL and getting a General Discharge under Honorable conditions (and keeping his E-4 rank!)

Ray Parrish at VVAW's 40th Anniversary

Cozy Cherry first called me in early 2006 looking for help for Eugene. He came home to Chicago after going AWOL from Ft. Drum, New York following his return from Iraq. In those first phone calls with Cozy, reassurance of support and info about PTSD and the UCMJ was what both she and Eugene needed most. After a few phone conversations, Cozy was able to convince Eugene to talk to me. At first, his calls were sporadic. Soon he was calling regularly. Regs and symptoms were given equal attention. I didn't press him for details of his combat experiences, since that is best done during treatment, but we spent a lot of time exploring the many ways that PTSD can mess up your life. He came to understand the need for treatment and the possibility of recovery. These discussions allowed Eugene to feel empowered enough to plan on turning himself in after getting a PTSD evaluation from a civilian psychologist. I got to know Eugene. His initial enthusiasm after getting trained as a medic was challenged by his initial stateside assignment doing medical disability paperwork. Then came Iraq.

After a few months in Iraq his combat stress related behavior was brought to his attention. Eugene was a combat medic so he knew enough to seek help while he was still in country. His experiences in the field caused the typical symptoms that most combat vets have to deal with; depression, sleepless nights, rage and nightmares. When he took this to the doctors he got the usual treatment; anti-depressants and sleeping pills. These, of course, provided little relief and he continued to suffer. Just before his return to the states he re-enlisted in order to get transferred to Germany to join his fiancée.

Upon reporting to Ft. Drum, he asked for treatment for his problems. Ft. Drum's "behavioral health" unit told Eugene that it would be several weeks before he could get an appointment to be evaluated for PTSD due to understaffing. His relationship with the German woman fell apart after his transfer came thru. Stress on top of stress, compounded by regrets and frustration. The severity of the symptoms convinced him that he couldn't wait, so, instead of going to Germany, he came home to Chicago looking for help.

It took awhile for him to take the steps necessary to get that help. And the reality is that it was only the persistence of his mother that got him moving. He finally agreed to meet with a psychologist. Even though he had grave misgivings about how he would be treated, after months of conversations with the psychologist, his mother and me, he left for Ft. Knox, Kentucky to turn himself in with a medical opinion in hand explaining how his service connected PTSD caused the UA.

Since Eugene had been transferred to Germany, he turned himself in at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, which is supposed to handle such AWOL's. They had no record of him being AWOL! It turns out that the only records that the Army had were the records that they gave Eugene to hand carry to his new duty assignment. The people at Ft. Knox told Eugene that he had to return to Ft. Drum since he hadn't completed his transfer by reporting to the base in Germany. They gave him a bus voucher but didn't even give him a ride to the Louisville bus station. Eugene was in a panic! I got lucky with a few phone calls and Eugene was joined in the station by Linda England and her husband, local MFSO members who happened to be in the area. They bought him dinner and boosted his spirits.

Then Eugene began his efforts for decent treatment and justice at Ft. Drum and my daily phone calls with both him and Cozy. At first they put him up at an off base motel saying everybody was on leave. Then they moved him to an empty barracks and blocked his attempts to go to sick call. Eugene decided that it was time to call in the "big guns." Eugene faxed to Sen. Barack Obama's office a signed request for assistance in his attempt to get appropriate medical treatment and a discharge from the US Army for his totally disabling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder caused by his service in Iraq.

The command lied in their reply to the Senator and continued to interfere with his attempts to go to sick call and even to scheduled appointments for mental health treatment. That's when the Senate began having hearings on the military's mental health system. And, of course, the overworked staff there could give him little more than pills and a few minutes of their time. He was told that they couldn't put him into any treatment programs since they didn't know how long he was going to be around.

It was at this point that they finally filed Court Martial charges for AWOL and Eugene was introduced to his defense attorney. We got lucky. The Captain had just a few months of active duty left and had seen too many PTSD GI's like Eugene so he was willing to go the extra mile. It was also at this point that Eugene got involved with A Different Drummer (the local GI coffeehouse), IVAW, Todd Ensign and Citizen Soldier, all of which proved invaluable. This was the start of Eugene's "political therapy" which continues with his current involvement in peace and justice work. In addition, Cozy started to get involved with MFSO and went to AFSC's Eyes Wide Open boot exhibit. They were both extremely anxious during these four months because of the day-to-day uncertainty. We did "what if" planning constantly.

The crucial point came when, with a little prodding from Todd, the military defense got a "sanity board" convened. The problem is the difficulty of getting evidence of PTSD introduced into the Court Martial Record prior to the "punishment phase" when mitigating circumstances can reduce the sentence imposed. The board determined that Eugene was "sane," which was expected, but they also acknowledged the existence of his PTSD and severity of his untreated symptoms. This meant that the judge could consider this evidence before the Court Martial even began.

Given all of the publicity about the overwhelmed military and VA mental health systems, it's my feeling that the prosecutors didn't want to risk the judge saying that the AWOL was justified and dismissing the charges. So, the day before the CM was scheduled to start, Eugene accepted the prosecution's offer of a General under honorable conditions discharge in lieu of court martial. He was home in his mother's arms a week later.

Currently, he battles the unemployment office because the Army says the job termination was justified. While his claim for VA disability benefits winds its way through the uncaring bureaucracy, he's getting involved in local IVAW actions and veterans support work.

I look forward to my frequent meetings with Eugene and I think you will enjoy the next chapter of Eugene's story, which will be written by him.