Sheriff Randall Liberty Combat PTSD Advocate

Kennebec County sheriff addresses PTSD and treatment of veterans
Randy Liberty, who created a veterans block at his jail, started the presentation with an MPBN documentary on veterans and PTSD in which he, as a returning veteran struggling with PTSD, is the focus.
Kennebec Journal
By Susan McMillan
Staff Writer
February 10, 2014

AUGUSTA — Military culture values toughness, stoicism and self-sufficiency.

When Kennebec County Sheriff Randall Liberty was an Army drill sergeant, it was his job to ensure that new soldiers developed those traits. Sometimes that involved yelling at homesick teenagers.

After dealing with his own post-traumatic stress and seeing the effects of combat trauma on people in the criminal justice system, Liberty has come to appreciate that the coping mechanisms that help troops get through war can become harmful once back at home.

“It serves us well in combat — ‘follow me and away we go,’” Liberty said. “You can’t think about it or feel too much. But when you get out, it all comes back.”

In a discussion Sunday at the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine, Liberty talked about the treatment that helped him and what he’s doing to try to help other veterans.

The event included a screening of “A Matter of Duty: The Continuing War Against PTSD,” the Maine Public Broadcasting Network documentary about the veterans block Liberty has created at the Kennebec County jail and the Veterans Treatment Court overseen by Justice Nancy Mills in Kennebec County Superior Court.
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