Troubled soldier says he went AWOL to get mental health help

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http://www.amny.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--troubledsoldier0514may14,0,6835492.story

Troubled soldier says he went AWOL to get mental health help

By WILLIAM KATES
Associated Press Writer

May 14, 2007, 4:04 PM EDT

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A 10th Mountain Division soldier facing a bad conduct discharge for going AWOL says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is being court martialed because he went home for help after the Army failed to provide him with adequate treatment.

"They don't want the liability so they deny I have a problem, and because I tried to help myself, now they want to make me a criminal," Spc. Eugene Cherry said in a telephone interview from Fort Drum, where he is restricted to post pending a court martial.

Cherry served as a combat medic in Iraq for a year with the division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, returning to Fort Drum in June 2005. That November, he took an unauthorized leave from the Army, returning to his native Chicago to live with his mother and find mental health treatment.

"This is not a borderline case. There is no question about his diagnosis," said Dr. Hannah Frisch, a clinical psychologist who diagnosed Cherry with post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression.

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[Monkeyman]

1. When You Have To Go AWOL to get help there is a major problem