Yet that perception doesn’t match reality. It is a disturbing truth, but veterans of this nation‘s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have higher levels of suicide, homelessness, PTSDs, drug and alcohol abuse, than the general population. And, they end up in prison and judges don’t care that they risked their lives oversees.
Of the 96 men in my side of the building, 34 served in the military. Twelve of those served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Two older inmates are combat veterans of Vietnam. For those fourteen who served in combat “defending this nation’s freedom” as so many commentators like to point out – meant little to them as they faced significant prison sentences. Judges, juries didn’t care that they fought in Fallujah or Helmut Province. But for some hardworking volunteers from the American Legion who come out and meet with these vets and assist them with access to benefits they earned, they are largely forgotten. Like their homeless brothers suffering from PTSD and drug and alcohol problems, there are no thank yous for these vets. America should be ashamed. One of my students is a bright New Yorker named Pauly. He served two tours with the Marines in Iraq and was in the bloody battle of Fallujah. His photos of unit friends, two of whom were killed, line his locker.
Pauly returned to Virginia (his wife’s home) after his second tour. He began taking pain pills (“help me sleep”). When he couldn’t get enough, he forged four prescriptions and four checks to cover the cost. Convicted, a Chesterfield Circuit Judge told him “you survived two tours in Iraq; you can do three years in prison.” Nice comment your honor.There’s Rick. His wife left him while he was in Afghanistan for a second tour. He returned to Southwest Virginia with no job, no wife and a house he couldn’t afford. He took an unloaded shotgun to a local bank and got $6000 (“I didn’t care if they shot me”). The judge told him “a lot of men went to war and didn’t rob a bank” as he sentenced Rick to ten years. I’m not sure what the judge knows about being in a combat zone; he admitted from the bench “he never had the privilege of serving.”
There are dozens of stories like that in here and hundreds of pages of trial transcripts confirming the words. Then there’s Saleem. He served as a medic in Vietnam. He risked his life daily to save the lives of dozens of wounded men. Why was he a medic? Because he was a pacifist. Rather than seek conscientious objector status, he agreed to serve. Later, during a drug deal gone bad – a drug habit that began in Indochina in that war zone – Saleem killed a man. He received a life sentence with parole eligibility after twenty years. Every year, since his twentieth year in, he comes up for parole. Every year, for twelve straight years, he has been denied parole. It is possible Saleem will never leave prison. That is wrong.
DC’s father served in Korea as a black infantryman. He fought in some of the bloodiest campaigns there and endured terrible racial hostility. “I went because that’s what I was supposed to do.” DC’s older brother, a baseball star drafted by the Phillies, died in Vietnam. All these men who fought bled and in some cases died, did so because they believed in the ideals this nation espouses. They deserve the same. They deserve second chances.
General William Tecumseh Sherman said “war is hell”. So is prison. These vets deserve our gratitude, our forgiveness for their wrongs, and their freedom.
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