Hi my name is Hannah June. My husband is a soldier at Fort Campbell and he is currently suffering with PTSD. He was deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom and was awarded a combat action badge and an Army Commendation Medal. Though the honor of serving our country has been something he prides himself in he came back in 2010 with sever Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It started out with just dreams and kicking in his sleep and over the last two years has worsened. In the last six months he has slept walked countless times, woke up in our truck with it running, his pistol in his hand, loaded with a round in the chamber (he sold his pistol after that). He's pulled a knife out on me during one of his sleep walks, punched me in his sleep, woke everyone in his parents house up during a visit while searching for the key to his gun safe in order to start shooting "haji's" and has woken up in his parents sand volleyball court or by our rental management office in the middle of the night. He has tried countless times to go for help. Most of his NCOS refuse to help him and say that it will make him look bad going for help for it now since he just PCSd here from Fort Bliss. He went to sick call in the morning and they sent him to mental health who told him they couldn't do anything for him then sent him to his primary care doctor who said he couldn't help him because it was a mental health issue then sent him back. He went again to mental health and they told him that he's not depressed enough and isn't suicidal so they tell him it's not severe enough. We've called hot lines, talked to people at the church we go to, and even tried going through people who are said to be able to help with PTSD and almost all the places we've talked to have told us that he needs to do something drastic like say he's going to commit suicide in order to be sure to get help for his PTSD. WHAT!!!!! If he were to say something like that he would actually be to that point. He and I refuse to let that be on his record and lie about it especially with him trying to adopt my daughter and be her legal father not just her step father. The church told us to pray about it and gave him counseling and a name but the person said the same thing. "Do something drastic." It affects his work and his NCOS that he's been trying to go to for help are trying to demote him or find reasons to say he is not qualified for his job. This is a mental issue. He needs help and if he isn't there mentally then he won't be there to do his job correctly. His commander at Fort Bliss told me directly that he is the best at what he does and here they try to say he has "lack of job knowledge." His First Sgt is the only one who's been trying to help but going directly to him he risks getting in trouble for jumping rank and nothing he does will be able to change what Mental Health says. He is not the same man I married which I don't expect him to be exactly the same since he came back from his deployment but over the last year and a half he has lost confidence in who he is and what he does. Many families break during this and I'm trying to keep strong for him but he needs help. I know he's not the only soldier dealing with this and I'm hoping getting this information out there it will help people see we have soldier's serving our country who need help and are reaching out for it and getting door after door shut in their face. Please help us get our story out or at least help these military families such as ourselves get their loved ones help.
Sincerely,
Hannah June
