AWOL soldier: Army didn’t help with PTSD
By William Kates - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Nov 14, 2007 17:04:30 EST
SYRACUSE, N.Y.— A soldier who served two combat tours in Iraq was arrested Wednesday as he was preparing to surrender to Fort Drum officials after spending more than a year AWOL seeking treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.
Sgt. Brad Gaskins, 25, of East Orange, N.J., said he left the northern New York post in August 2006 because the Army wasn’t providing effective treatment after he was diagnosed with PTSD and severe depression.
“They just don’t have the resources to handle it, but that’s not my fault,” said Gaskins, speaking at a press conference in Syracuse just hours before he was arrested at the Different Drummer Cafe in Watertown, less than 10 miles from Fort Drum.
Gaskins, an eight-year Army veteran who also did a peacekeeping tour in Kosovo, was taken into custody by two civilian police officers from Fort Drum and two Watertown city policeman, said Tod Ensign, an attorney with Citizen Soldier, a GI rights group that is representing Gaskins. Ensign said he was on the phone with military prosecutors at Fort Drum working out the details of Gaskins’ surrender when the soldier was arrested.
Fort Drum spokesman Ben Abel said after a soldier is AWOL for more than 30 days he becomes classified as a deserter, and a federal arrest warrant is issued.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/11/ap_awolsoldier_071114/
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