Getting rid of his demons
Leader Telegram
By Chris Vetter Leader-Telegram staff
March 23, 2018
Veteran gets mandatory sentence for 7th OWI, but judge seeks to expedite treatment
“We need to get rid of your demons — we need to get you to stop.”
Chippewa County Court. Judge Steve Gibbs
CHIPPEWA FALLS — A U.S. Army veteran who was convicted of his seventh drunken driving offense Friday will serve three years in prison, but his sentence will overlap with the final four months he has remaining on a prior conviction.
Seth A. Schussler, 35, of Wrightstown pleaded no contest in Chippewa County Court. Judge Steve Gibbs asked Schussler about his military service prior to sentencing. Schussler said he served two tours in Iraq. He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I can’t imagine the horrors you saw over there,” Gibbs told Schussler. “I believe that’s affected your life. And I believe you have used alcohol as your way of coping. I wish there wasn’t a mandatory minimum (sentence) here because you’d be a perfect fit for veterans court.”
However, defense attorney Jessie Weber pointed out that Gibbs could make Schussler’s sentence concurrent with his present sentence for sixth-offense drunken driving from Marinette County, which occurred in July 2016. Weber said it will speed up the ability for Schussler to enter a treatment facility.
“I think Mr. Schussler will benefit from it,” Weber told Gibbs. “He’s been trying to gain treatment through the VA.”
Gibbs decided to follow that recommendation, which shortens Schussler’s sentence by about four months.
read more here
St. Tammany Sheriff Randy Smith: Deputies accused of beating veteran followed protocol
The Advocate
BY SARA PAGONES AND KATIE MOORE
MAR 23, 2018
However, Cambre's complaint was turned over to the FBI this week, not by the Sheriff's Office, but by 22nd Judicial District Attorney Warren Montgomery following what he called a "preliminary investigation" by his office.
Army veteran Chris Cambre, who says he was beaten by St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's deputies during a welfare check in January, is shown the following day with a facial laceration. Photo provided by Chris Cambre
St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith is defending the five deputies who are accused of beating a military veteran in January, saying that they followed protocol during the incident, including the agency's policy on use of force.
Chris Cambre, a 48-year-old Pearl River resident, said he was severely beaten, Tased and handcuffed by the deputies on the night of Jan. 21, when law enforcement officials came to check on him at his trailer.
Cambre, who is a veteran of the Iraq War, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and had posted on social media that he was struggling, prompting someone to call the police.
A report written by a Pearl River police officer who was on the scene corroborates Cambre's claim that he had behaved calmly and had showed the deputies that he was not armed when they arrived with their weapons drawn.
The officer and Cambre both say that he did not resist the deputies prior to the beating.
read more here
Ft. Polk hospital helps Vietnam Vet correct military record
KALB News
By Lydia Magallanes
Mar 23, 2018
“All of the people that I’ve met in the week that I’ve been here have made me just feel wonderful,” he said. “It’s the answer to a 53-year prayer.”
Dr. Gregory Grant, chief of medical boards and Marisol Lopez, a physical evaluation board liaison officer are part of the team who helped answer that prayer. Both are inspired by Pillette's story of patience and faith.
FORT POLK, La. (KALB) - In 1965, Sgt. Kibbie Pillette, a combat medic with 5th Special Forces group was on a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam when he was shot in the back and mouth. He lost a third of his tongue and wasn't expected to be able to speak again. The only member of his platoon to survive, the Abbeville native would fight another battle once he got home: living with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I'd have nightmares, I’d have flashbacks I went through it all,” Pillette said. “Then getting over the morphine addiction was probably my toughest battle. Had my mother not been as strong as he was and the help I received from the VA, I don't know where I’d be now.”
read more here
Veteran calls 911 from VA emergency room
ABC 25 News
March 22nd 2018
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (KFOR/CNN) – A patient at the Oklahoma City, OK, Veterans Affairs hospital says she was so distraught from stomach pain that was going untreated, she called 911 from the emergency room.
Robin Harrison says she went to the VA for a routine appointment, but when she left, she started to feel debilitating stomach cramps.
“[They] literally doubled me over, and I fell on the ground,” Harrison said.
Her doctor sent her down to the ER, where Harrison listed her symptoms for a triage nurse.
“I told her I was in extreme pain, that it felt like I was having labor pains in my stomach,” Harrison said.
The veteran was told to wait, and while waiting, she lay down on a bench.
“I’m starting to cry and moan, and it’s like, ‘I can’t help it. This hurts so bad,’” Harrison said.
Harrison says after about two hours, the pain was too much to bear, so she started going up to the registrar’s desk and asking to be seen sooner. No one came.
read more here
Former soldier who died with woman in N.S. was 'broken' from PTSD: friend
The Canadian Press
by Michael Tutton
March 23, 2018
SPRINGHILL, N.S. — A former Canadian soldier returned from multiple tours in Afghanistan psychologically “broken” and struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, friends and family said Friday after his body was found with the remains of a woman who had been living with him in a rural Nova Scotia home.
Marc J. Poulin is shown in a handout photo provided by his friend Jason Hill. A close friend of Poulin, a former soldier who died along with a woman living with him in rural Nova Scotia says he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after coming back from Afghanistan "broken."
THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Jason Hill
“...your demons were so loud that you couldn’t hear how much everyone was trying to help you and be there for you. I’m so sorry that you let them take over.” Kyle Taylor
Jason Hill of North Bay, Ont., said he grew up with Marc J. Poulin and that his childhood friend and former neighbour had told him after returning from three infantry tours in Afghanistan that he was traumatized by deaths and violence he witnessed overseas, which returned to him in nightmares.
Hill said the other person who died, Jennifer Lynne Semenec, was also from North Bay and had been living with Poulin for a relatively short period of time. He said they had moved to the Nova Scotia town together.
The RCMP said the bodies of the 42-year-old man and 45-year-old woman were recovered from the small house on a dead end street in Springhill following a “suspicious fire” at the residence Tuesday. Police have not released the causes of death, but say they are not looking for any suspects.
Hill said before Poulin served overseas he was constantly smiling and friendly, but by 2010 after his last tour of duty in Kandahar, Afghanistan, he was withdrawn and posted on social media about his trauma.
“He was openly sharing his struggles dealing with PTSD on Facebook and how the system wasn’t open to him,” recalled Hill, 42.
“We knew he came back broken.”
read more here
