Senator Hillary Clinton & Brownwood Soldier In Need of Help
The following request for help was sent to Texas Republican Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn and to Brownwood's Congressman, Republican Mike Conaway at www.congress.org. After noticing the failure of this request to be publicly posted, I decided to request help from Senator Clinton. Below is the request posted on Senator Clinton's site:
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Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
1st-term Democrat from New York.
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All messages are published with permission of the sender. The general topic of this message is Defense/Military:
Subject:
Can you help this Texas Soldier in Need
To:
Sen. Hillary Clinton
June 30, 2005
Dear Senator, We are asking that you please see what you can do to help this soldier and his family. The following story was thankfully published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram:
Posted on Sun, Jun. 26, 2005
A war within
A GI's story illustrates the challenges the military faces in delivering mental health services to troubled soldiers
By Chris Vaughn
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
BROWNWOOD - Pfc. Jacob Hounshell wrote his goodbye on notebook paper, wrapped it around a photo of himself in uniform, left it on his bed and climbed into his pickup. ¶ He was supposed to be heading back to Fort Hood. But he had no plans to make it that far. He'd already figured out what he would do -- drive as fast as he could into an oncoming 18-wheeler. ¶ Less than three months after returning from a 14-month hitch in Iraq, Hounshell had come undone.
He could barely remember the excitement he carried to Iraq in early 2004. He was an excellent soldier, by most accounts, even though he was only 18 when he left. On one memorable night, his quick thinking helped his platoon defeat a group of insurgents in Baghdad.
Today, the same soldier, now 20, is wanted for desertion, a particularly loathsome act during wartime and one that could bring a prison sentence.
Hounshell's problems began after he returned to Texas in late February. He couldn't sleep, often wandering through Killeen's all-night Wal-Mart. He had panic attacks and sometimes exploded in anger at the slightest change in plans. He played chicken with other drivers on Central Texas highways.
When he asked the Army for help, he said, he was greeted mostly with indifference.
"I told them numerous times, 'I'm having problems here. I'm seeing ... [things] at night.' They didn't take it seriously," he said. "They did the minimum thing they had to do."
Finally, in May, at the end of an emergency leave, he vowed never to go back to Fort Hood.
It was May 15 when he wrote the suicide note. His mother found it before he could leave the driveway. She jumped in the pickup and wouldn't let him leave.
His family is desperate to get him help, but they have no idea where to turn.
"We're not trying to hurt our soldiers overseas, and we didn't want this fight with the Army," said his mother, Bobbie Hounshell. "But my son had problems when he came home, and all he was told was, 'Drive on.' "
rest of the story @ http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/11990650.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
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On behalf of The Brownwood Human Rights Committee and other concerned residents of Central Texas, I urge you to help this family, and our neighbors, who are in need.
Regards,
Steve Harris
Brownwood Human Rights Committee
brownwood , TX
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