Warning to Veterans, ask for help, go to jail

I ran across a couple of stories about veterans asking for help because of mental health issues. Nothing dangerous, just some depression. It seems that depression is sort of common in returning veterans and the VA tells us to just ask for help. In the first case Matthew Corrigan telephoned what he believed to be the 'Military's Emotional Support Hotline' because he was depressed and had not slept for several days,"


"The number Corrigan called was in fact the National Suicide Hotline. When he stated that he was a veteran, he was asked if he had firearms, to which he said yes. He said nothing about being suicidal or using a firearm or threatening anyone. After a short conversation, Corrigan hung up, turned off the phone, took prescribed sleeping medication, and went to bed.

So, what does the government do? They send a SWAT team at 4:00 in the morning.

There were floodlights outside his front and back doors and an estimated 8 police officers in the back yard and 20 in the front yard.
"Corrigan turned on his phone and found that Officer Fischer of the 5th District was calling him, asking him to come out, which he did at about 4:50 a.m., locking the door behind him. He was handcuffed and put in the back of a SWAT truck.

One of the police officers asked him to let them into his apartment. He said they did not have consent to enter, they didn't have a warrant. So the officer stated: 'I don't have time to play this constitutional bullshit!' Really? What happened to the oath they swore to uphold and defend the Constitution? Don't have time to abide by the law?

"I don't have time to play this constitutional bullshit!" Let that sink in for a minute.

Corrigan says police took him to a VA hospital, broke his front door and entered his apartment without a warrant, where they confiscated his guns, vandalized his place and took his dog to an animal shelter.

A Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team, entered Corrigan's home without a warrant and searched for explosives," the complaint states. "The EOD team opened closed containers and used X-ray equipment to search closed containers.
"After the initial warrantless search, the EOD team brought in a dog to search for firearms. They seized 3 fire arms that were stored in cases that they tore the latches off of. They also seized all the ammo he had.

Corrigan says he spent three days in the VA hospital, because "having weapons pointed at him upon leaving his apartment triggered his PTSD hyper-vigilance and caused irregular heartbeat."
After he was released from the hospital and determined not to be a suicide risk, Corrigan says, police arrested him and put him in jail, where he remained for almost 2 weeks.
"When Corrigan returned to his apartment 16 days after being seized, he found that John Does I-XV had left the front door unlocked and unsecured, had left the electric stove on, had cut open every zipped bag, had dumped every box and drawer, had broken locked boxes from under the bed and the closet, and emptied shelves into piles in each room. All his tropical fish in his 150 gallon aquarium were dead."

It never does say what he was arrested for. Locked up for 16 days and his property destroyed just because he didn't feel good.

The second case involves a Navy Vet


The federal government broke a promise, according to the lawyer for a Navy veteran facing criminal firearms charges after he called for help on what is promoted as a confidential suicide prevention hotline.


The government alleges the former petty officer from Blacksburg committed four felonies by making a homemade gun using a pipe and a shotgun shell. OK, this is a crime, but he turned it over to police. Sean Duvall, a Persian Gulf War veteran, was despondent and contemplating suicide after being evicted from his apartment in June.


On June 8, Duvall called the Veterans Crisis Line, billed as a “confidential toll-free hotline” by the Department of Veterans Affairs. He explained he had a device for committing suicide and he “really needed help,” the motion read. He said he wanted to hand over the device for someone to safely dispose of it.

So the guy want's to do the right thing and he's asking for help. It starts out OK, until the feds step in.

Duvall gave the device to the police officer who responded, along with his backpack and what was to be a final note to his family.

The call for help was a success story for Duvall’s state of mind. He was released after a few days at a psychiatric hospital. According to his motion, he is now on medication and sees a counselor and a psychiatrist regularly. He has a new job and a new apartment.

The same call for help also brought trouble. Duvall first was charged with a misdemeanor – carrying a concealed weapon. Then the federal authorities stepped in.

Duvall now faces four federal felony charges with a possible punishment of 40 years in prison. All four charges are based on the one crude homemade shotgun. Duvall is accused of possessing an unlawful destructive device, possessing an unregistered firearm, manufacturing a destructive device and possessing a destructive device without a serial number.

There is no doubt that he did these things. He had no intention of doing anything with the improvised shotgun except commit suicide. He turned it in and now the government, the one he served, want to lock him up for 40 years. God Bless America.

Duvall’s lawyer, Randy V. Cargill with the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Roanoke, was blunt in asking a judge to dismiss the charges. “It is wrong to break a promise,” he wrote in the motion to dismiss.

Duvall never expected his call to the “confidential” hotline to be used against him by a prosecutor, Cargill said. “It is contrary to Congress’ express goal of helping veterans in need and encouraging them to get help without fear,” he wrote. “This is dishonorable; it is wrong; it is unfair; it shocks the conscience.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs defended its procedures in a written statement, but did not address whether its efforts might be hampered by the Duvall charges.

The V.A. noted it is permitted under law to disclose otherwise private information “when necessary to avert a serious and imminent threat to the health and safety of an individual or the public,” according to the statement provided by spokesperson Phil Budahn.

“Alternative solutions are always explored with the Veteran, and if none can be found that guarantee safety, local law enforcement is notified. At that point, the responder is trained to keep the Veteran engaged and safe. Once help arrives, responsibility for the situation is turned over to the local authorities. All policies and procedures of the Crisis Line are based on respecting callers’ rights of confidentiality,” the V.A. statement said.

Two mental health professionals involved in national discussions of suicide prevention for service members and veterans suggest Duvall’s prosecution could undermine prevention efforts.

The Va is always telling us to call for help. Of course if you do you face the possibility of going to jail. They ask if this is going to cause Veterans not to call for help. Of course it is. When agents of the government ransack you possessions and lock you up for no reason it's going to make the next one think about not calling.

All veterans are being treated like second class citizens and even terrorists under this administration. DHS sent out a report that if you are a Veteran and por-gun or have certain bumper-stickers on your vehicle you are to be watched. Even though we took a oath to support and defend the Constitution, we are suspects even before we do anything. Just because we might need a little help.

Two mental health professionals involved in national discussions of suicide prevention for service members and veterans suggest Duvall’s prosecution could undermine prevention efforts.

“Actions such as this only serve to compound the problem, fueling the impression that the essential networks are not there to help but, as in this case, punish and prosecute,” said University of Utah psychologist M. David Rudd, scientific director for the National Center for Veterans Studies.

Washington psychologist Alan L. Berman, president of the International Association of Suicide Prevention, agreed. “The threat of punishment will deter help-seeking, the very thing that Mr. Duvall did in calling the VA Crisis Line to begin with,” Berman said.

No kidding. After reading these to stories I know I would think twice about calling anyone. The young Veterans returning from the sandbox with PTSD are going to be treated like common criminals. They are having a hard enough time adjusting without the threat of being persecuted for something they haven't done thrown in the mix. And what about the ones that have lost body parts? Think they might have a little stress in their lives?

Throw into all of this the fact that even getting our benefits from the VA is a fight that can take months and even years. Giving truth to the saying "we are from the government and we're here to help.