How America Really Treats Combat Vets

How America Really Treats Combat Vets: A Marine's Story Part 2 (SLIDESHOW)
Tim King Salem-News.com
A Marine combat vet who served in Iraq uses medical marijuana to deal with war-related PTSD, and is tossed into the grinder by the California court system.


Marine Corps Sergeant Phil Northcutt in Iraq

(SALEM, Ore.) - In part one of this special three-part series report, we learned that Marine Corps Sergeant Phillip Northcutt of Long Beach, California, began his enlistment in the Marines in 1998 as the platoon "Honorman" or "Guide" - the one recruit selected from the platoon who works with the drill instructors to help the 100 or so young Marine Corps hopefuls actually become U.S. Marines.

Courtesy: content.answers.com

It is the hardest job in one of the most difficult programs created to train warriors. Marine Corps boot camp lasts for months, it is a grueling experience, and the platoon guide has more responsibility than anyone else in the recruit ranks.

After serving four years, Northcutt was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps. He returned to Southern California and attended college on the GI Bill.

Life was great until the Marines called him and told him he was needed to offset the tremendous numbers of casualties, and he agreed as long as this meant he would go to Iraq to actually help other Marines.

He ended up as a .50 caliber machine gunner in the turret of a Humvee at Ramadi, Camp Hurricane. On his last day of combat Northcutt was injured and evacuated from Iraq.

Coming home

When Sgt. Phil Northcutt returned home from Iraq, his one-year non-extendable tour was extended over his battlefield injuries. The combat vet had PTSD and could barely walk. He says he just wanted to go home.

"I had promised my wife one year and no more. She had enough and decided the Marine Corps was my real wife and left me. After much debate, he was finally allowed to go home to Long Beach to await orders."

Because he was on active duty, Northcutt could not go to the VA for medical care even though it was only a mile from his house. Instead he had to get treatment at Camp Pendleton. Anyone who knows Southern California traffic also knows that the trip between Camp Pendleton and Long Beach is a long and slow journey.

Even worse, is Northcutt's claim that in spite of all the inconvenient traveling, he never got the treatment he needed.

"Every time I went for some help they gave me more pills. I was so medicated I couldn't drive myself to my appointments. My wife left me, so I was on my own. I ended up missing many appointments, which were giving me no relief and I began to drink heavily. I stayed in hotels so I could go right to the hotel bar when I woke up. This lasted for about 6 months."

During this time the PTSD overtook Northcutt, and soon he began racking up speeding tickets, he also crashed his car and motorcycle. That is about the time that Phil visited a new doctor.
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