This is an absolutely appalling account of the torture of a soldier to coerce him into signing a fraudulent discharge (striping the 12 year veteran of benefits). The story began when Army Sergeant Chuck Luther was injured in 2007 when a mortar round hit his sentry tower in Iraq's Sunni Triangle. Skeptical Army Doctors thought Luther was faking his injury, and accused him of being "narcissistic"
How the Pentagon Is Cheating Wounded Vets -- Soldiers Aren't Disposable
Luther's medical records document severe nosebleeds and "sharp and burning" pain. Still, the sergeant says he could sense that his doctors didn't believe him. It was at that point -- frustrated, plagued by blinding migraines -- that he spoke of pain so severe he wished he were dead. "I made clear that I was not going to kill myself, that it was just a colorful expression to explain how much pain I was in." Dewees agreed. In their records, Luther's doctors note a "suicide gesture" and "'off-handed' comments" that the sergeant was going to kill himself, but Dewees said those gestures were "unlikely to have been a serious attempt" at self-harm.
Yet the Army doctors used Chuck Luther's euphemism to claim Luther "remains a threat to himself and others", and confine him.
Luther was taken to an isolation chamber and told this was his new sleeping quarters. The room, which Luther captured on his digital camera, served as a walk-in closet. It was slightly larger than an Army cot and was crammed with cardboard boxes, a desk and a bedpan. Through a small, cracked window, he could look out onto the base. Through the open doorway, the sergeant was monitored by armed guards.
Both Dewees and Lt. Col. Larry Applewhite, an aid station social worker, declared Luther mentally ill, suffering from a personality disorder. The next step was to remove him from the military as fast as possible.
Chuck Luther's ordeal descended into a Kafkaesque nightmare as he was subjected to sadistic abuse by his guards in the form of relentless sleep devrivation, while confined in his tiny makeshift cell.
For more than a month Luther remained in his six-by-eight-foot isolation chamber, weeks he describes as "the hardest of my life." He says the guards would ridicule him and most nights enforced sleep deprivation, keeping the lights on all night and using a nearby Xbox and TV speakers to blast heavy metal into his room. "Every night it was Megadeth, Saliva, Disturbed." The sergeant pulled a blanket over his head to block out the noise and the light, but it was no use.
"They told me I wasn't a real soldier, that I was a piece of crap. All I wanted was to be treated for my injuries. Now suddenly I'm not a soldier. I'm a prisoner, by my own people," says Luther, his voice tightening. "I felt like a caged animal in that room. That's when I started to lose it."
Isolated, exhausted, the sergeant who had been confined for being mentally ill says he began feeling exactly that. Finally Luther snapped. He stepped out of his room and was walking toward a senior official's office when an altercation broke out.
His superiors wanted Sergeant Luther to admit that he had a pre-existing Personality Disorder to save the Pentagon from paying for his benefits, so they pushed him to the edge of insanity. Eventually a severely sleep deprived and traumatized Chuck Luther was hauled before his commanding officer. Luther insisted he didn't have a Personality Disorder. His commander warned: "If you don't sign this, you're going to be here a lot longer" Chuck signed the discharge.
Along with his Chapter 5-13 discharge Sergeant Chuck Luther was presented with a $1,500 bill to repay a portion of his signing bonus.
Even more horrifying is that this extreme case is part of a pattern of the military coercing soldiers into accepting being classified as having a pre-existing Personality Disorders, and signing away their benefits.
According to figures from the Pentagon and a Harvard University study, the military is saving billions by discharging soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan with personality disorder.
From the Disposable Warriors website:
Sgt. Luther's Story
His 12 years of Military Service was ended abruptly with the brush of a Colonel’s pen.
SGT Luther never before had any type of disciplinary actions. He’d received many commendations and awards for his service, and passed eight Army Mental Evaluations as well as numerous Physical Tests. His Counsel Statements praised his meritorious service. His service and duty, he knew, was proudly given to his Country, his Army, his fellow Soldiers, and to himself. Now, this was all stripped away.
When he was in the Seante, Barack Obama railed against Personality Disorder Discharges, and even introduced a bill to put an end to the tawdry practice. Now that Obama is in the White House, Personality Disorder Discharges continue unabated. Sadly judging by his failure to take action, Obama has turned his back on the soldiers getting shafted with Personality Disorder Discharges.