Posted by Rachel on: 12.12.2007 /
The Washington Post news report A Soldiers’ Officer tells the story of 1st Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside, who is currently facing the threat of a court-martial. Ms. Whiteside is accused of attempting suicide and endangering the life of another soldier while serving in Iraq and could receive a sentence of life in prison if she is tried and convicted.
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Comment by: joe
1 12/12/07 3:17 AM | Comment Link |Not sure there is really enough information there to make an informed opinion, Rachel.
Comment by: David H
2 12/12/07 12:01 PM | Comment Link |I am not a doctor. And perhaps there is room for misinformation or ill-informed opinions from this newspaper report. I have also never met this soldier. However, given what is presented here — opinions from the Army Surgeon General, legal briefs presented by the commanding officers for this soldier while in Iraq, and a host of other sources — I would be hard put to say she deserved what the US Army is attempting to do to her. The only counter being offered is from combat vets now in charge of her care who judge talk of mental illness to be psycho-babble. If they had not been placed in charge of her care their opinion would not outweigh that of all those others.
Perhaps Joe has not been following the sad and sordid tale of how the US military is handling its veterans — especially those with mental problems. Until a couple of weeks ago, Post-Traumatic Stress was either ignored or soldiers suffering it were dishonorably discharged. There have been many stories done here about officers admitting they were told not to allow PTSD claims because that would hinder the officer’s promotion. Recent stories have noted that discharge for personality disorder — essentially the soldier is a bad person who should never have been admitted to the military in the first place — are up 5 times since the beginning of the Iraq conflict. Judgment of personality disorder allows dishonorable discharge with no benefits, while PTSD requires care and after discharge benefits that may last a lifetime.
I personally know the family of a soldier who had all the classic symptoms of PTSD after his first tour in Iraq. His problems were exacerbated by the knowledge he would have to return for a second tour in less than a year. But his mother told me he was seeking private psychological help to avoid problems from his superiors.
Given Whiteside’s exemplary service record she should be given the benefit of the doubt in her treatment. It is the absolute least the Army owes her.
Comment by: Jeff
3 12/12/07 12:46 PM | Comment Link |My first thought were, this just sucks. She should not be court-martialed, but what are the options? It seems that the Army has the impression of “No man (or person)left behind” until you are done serving, then everyone is left behind.
Comment by: David H
4 12/12/07 1:13 PM | Comment Link |Better to die in the field than suffer for doing your duty, seems to be the military code. There is, after all, no honor in going crazy. Even if it is in the service of your country.
Comment by: Jeff
5 12/12/07 3:08 PM | Comment Link |Are there any military or service people that could weigh in on this issue? My lenses are limited and it would be good to have additional insight.
Comment by: Eliza
6 12/12/07 4:16 PM | Comment Link |At least they’re not seeking the death penalty…
Comment by: Benjamin Ady
7 12/12/07 9:03 PM | Comment Link |This is outrageous. PTSD is a huge problem that the military doesn’t want to face because, as David points out, the costs are huge. But it’s stupid to think that we can avoid the costs. I mean what percentage of people with substance abuse disorders, who are homeless, who show up in emergency rooms time and again and again and again, are Vietnam and now Iraq war vets? The dollar cost alone is staggering, let alone the human cost. And PTSD responds better to treatment earlier rather than later, as I understand it.
Seems to me that in the U.S. miltary there is *such* a culture of “If you have a mental disorder from the bullshit you’ve had to go through, then you are *bad* and *weak* (synonymous!)”
I mean purely pragmatically it’s probably going to cost less, dollar wise, in the long run, to treat this individual for PTSD than to imprison them.
What a screwed up system. It makes a certain sense, however. I mean an army is designed to destroy people. Why do those who are part of such a machine think they can avoid the destruction themselves? Of course they can’t.
Comment by: David H
8 12/12/07 11:27 PM | Comment Link |I’m not in the military, but I covered crime for years as a reporter. In 10 plus years of covering crime in rural and urban areas (5+ years in the Philadelphia suburbs) I can’t recall a single event where someone did something like this and, after them into treatment, the response was to a) try to get them out on the street (as was the case with the woman who killed herself) or b) incarcerate the person prior to cutting off their treatment.
I covered many cases where the deranged person was arrested in order to force them into treatment. But here you have the woman in treatment with doctors (including the military surgeon general) insisting she needs more. And the response from her superior is to court martial her.
Comment by: Rachel
9 12/16/07 11:40 PM | Comment Link |According to this Washington Post article, there has been a development in Lt. Whiteside’s favor: Leniency Suggested for Officer Who Shot Herself