PTSD On Trail:Family says horrors of fighting caused unconscious act with guns

When they come home with PTSD nightmares and flashbacks, they are not here. They are not home safe, away from the enemy. They are right there back in a battle for their lives. They are not with their families or friends. They are surrounded by people trying to kill them. This is what people need to understand. There will be more domestic violence and more deaths until they are all treated and helped to be healed. This will keep happening as long as families do not understand their "normal" reactions to a PTSD veteran often escalates conflicts. A veteran is wounded, families are wounded, police officers are wounded and communities are wounded when we fail them.

George and Karen Odom of Cocoa hold back tears as they talk about their son. (Craig Rubadoux, FLORIDA TODAY)

Man's 'enemy' follows him home from war
Family says horrors of fighting caused unconscious act with guns
BY R. NORMAN MOODY • FLORIDA TODAY • March 29, 2009


COCOA -- Joseph Brian Odom's mother said her son went to bed one night and woke up the next morning in jail.

Karen Odom said that during sleep, the Army 82nd Airborne Division veteran's mind raced through combat missions in Afghanistan.

Family members said post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by the 31-year-old's service in Operation Enduring Freedom was the enemy. He has fought frequent nightmares, daily headaches and brief flashbacks.

Odom's battle in the early morning of Thanksgiving Day 2007, however, took place in real life at his home near Cocoa. Since then, he has spent 16 months in the Brevard County Detention Center awaiting a trial expected to begin Monday.

Sheriff's deputies said Odom shot at his wife, who called 9-1-1. He was wearing a military-style bulletproof vest and carrying a shotgun and an AK-47 rifle when he confronted officers who arrived at the couple's home just before 2 a.m.

Odom -- who had no criminal record -- walked toward a deputy and refused orders to stop and drop his weapons, deputies said.

Rita Odom said her husband did not mean to cause her harm. She argued that he shouldn't be incarcerated but should be in residential treatment for PTSD brought by his military service.

Local military
Hundreds of Brevard County residents serve in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere, including:
167 soldiers from the Melbourne-based 715th Military Police Company serving in Afghanistan
175 from the 920th Rescue Wing deployed to Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere
133 from the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force base deployed to various locations, including Afghanistan
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Man's 'enemy' follows him home from war

UPDATE March 31, 2009
MELBOURNE — The trial of Joseph Brian Odom, accused of shooting at his wife then confronting sheriff’s deputies while carrying two guns, has been postponed.

The trial had been scheduled to begin today but was delayed.

A pretrial hearing in the case has been set for April 7 at 8:30 a.m. At that time a new trial date likely will be scheduled.
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Afghanistan vet's shooting trial postponed
Florida Today - Melbourne,FL,USA