LETTER: Blazing Guns By DAV

My husband (James Kaiser) is a Disabled American Veteran (DAV) who on April 16 had a flashback. He has PTSD, chronic depression, COPD, diabetes with neuropathy, esoph cancer, and high blood pressure.

While at the VA Hospital at York on April 15 he hit his head and was sent home with a concussion. They gave him a shot of something to help with the pain and sent him home. He already takes 32 meds, including some strong narcotics. He uses a scooter or walker and can barely walk.

He had nightmares all night the 15th, got up the next morning ate, took meds, sat in his chair and woke up back in Viet Nam. He was shooting out the back bedroom window and telling me to stay out of there. I thought he was coming out of it when he called 911 for help. Then he was gone again.

He went into the woods with two guns. The police showed up cause he called them. He was shooting into the woods not at them. He is expert with a rifle. They opened fire also as their brass was all over the place.  My husband asked them for more ammo thinking they were friendly troops cause he saw the uniforms. He came out of the woods on his own.

They took him to the VA hospital where he was admitted to Acute physic ward. They came three days later to arrest him at the hospital. But he needed to have his meds adjusted. The jail could not dispense narcotics due to its past history of abuse. He opted to face the legal consequences.

Get online read about PTSD. Talk to to Operation Standdown, NEMA, the Vet Center in Murfreesboro. I dare you to print an article on these service members. On Memorial Day thank a Vet for their service. Do an article on the things they bring home and their families have to deal with. Take a walk through a VA hospital and see all the vets old and young with problems they cant deal with. Sometimes things are not what they seem.

Deanna Kaiser
Liberty, TN