Soldier in 18-hour standoff to leave hospital

Soldier in 18-hour standoff to leave hospital

Mother says sergeant is suffering from PTSD, needs more treatment
By Rob Perez - Honolulu Advertiser
Posted : Thursday Jul 10, 2008 8:36:36 EDT

A Schofield Barracks soldier who was hospitalized last week after threatening suicide during an 18-hour standoff with police is scheduled to be released as soon as Thursday despite concerns from his family that he is not ready.

Stephanie Kerry, the mother of Sgt. Jesse Kerry, said her son still is having trouble dealing with the traumatic effects from deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq and questioned whether the military has provided adequate treatment for him and many other soldiers in similar situations.

“I think Jesse and other soldiers like him are battling things that require more time,” she said. “This is extremely serious, and people need to realize that.”

A spokeswoman for Tripler Army Medical Center, where Kerry was taken for psychiatric evaluation after the June 30 standoff in Waipahu, said federal law prohibited her from commenting on individual cases. But the hospital issued a general statement: “Every patient is assessed individually. Based upon clinical evaluation, a personalized treatment plan is given, which works toward a discharge date.”

In a phone interview from her Valley, Ala., home yesterday, Stephanie Kerry said she was told by her son’s physician Monday that the soldier probably would be released tomorrow.

She said that when she expressed concern that her son wasn’t ready to be released, the doctor told her the military can’t hold someone for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation for more than 72 hours.

Stephanie Kerry said her son told her previously that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and that the effects are so serious that she believes he needs more treatment. She wasn’t sure whether he would be able to stay at Tripler beyond tomorrow, even if he asked to do so.
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