Retired Fort Collins Special Forces Major urges veterans to get help for PTSD

Former Fort Collins councilman convicted of drunken driving, urges fellow vets to get help for PTSD
Apr 4, 2013
Written by
Trevor Hughes

With his service dog at his side and tears in his eyes, a former Fort Collins city councilman and retired Army Special Forces major pleaded guilty Thursday to drunk driving and said the incident got him the help he so desperately needed.

Diggs Brown said an incident in Afghanistan four years ago where soldiers under his command accidentally killed four children left him with PTSD that roared to the surface of his brain while drinking at an Old Town bar last year.

“That one day, if I could just take it back ...” the 34-year Army veteran said Thursday in court. “It’s just made my life hell. You blame yourself.”

Brown, 56, said his experience is prompting efforts to push for a special veterans-only court in Larimer County. And he urged other veterans to get the help they need. Brown’s service dog, a black Lab named Arthur, wakes him from nightmares and helps comfort him on bad days.

Colorado State University police arrested Brown in October 2012, and he resigned from his position as deputy Larimer County clerk and recorder as a result. Prior to working for the clerk’s office, Brown served in the Army and was a member of Fort Collins City Council, helped establish the community’s memorial to veterans and ran for the Republican nomination in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District in 2010.
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