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BATTLE SCARS FROM IRAQ RUN DEEP -- "There are sleep

issues, anger issues, there are marital issues, and in some cases

there are drinking issues that can get people in trouble."

 

 

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Battle scars from Iraq run deep

By Adam Silverman
 

The transition from U.S. Army warrior in Iraq to civilian in Vermont proved more arduous, more perilous, than a young, tough soldier such as Daniel Desautels ever could have imagined.

Like a bird of prey, the journey swooped down on Desautels and carried him away in its talons, depositing him last week in a Burlington courtroom to answer for crimes he, his attorney and even the prosecutor blame at least in part on deep psychological battle scars.

Desautels, 21, of Winooski, a former specialist with the Vermont National Guard who served six months last year in volatile Ramadi, Iraq, has accumulated eight charges since this winter, including a felony weapons count.

In February, according to police, a drunken Desautels drew a 9 mm Glock handgun from the waistband of his pants and fired a shot while trying to break up a fight in Winooski. That case prompted three charges, including felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Four months and five additional charges later, Desautels was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and has started seeking treatment through the Guard and the Department of Veterans Affairs facility in White River Junction.

"He went from an honor student and an honorable Guard member to all of a sudden having behavior problems," said Desautels' attorney, Bill Norful. "The only clear intervening cause was the war in Iraq. The only thing that tripped him up was the war."

Desautels' experience is an extreme example of the difficulties veterans face when they return home from war, especially from a conflict in Iraq underscored by daily gun battles with clandestine enemies, the peril of armor-shredding explosions from roadside bombs, the continuing killings of fellow service members, and the looming possibility of death.

A third or more of U.S. service members on duty in Iraq will suffer from combat-related mental illness, experts said -- a figure borne out in Vermont. One in three soldiers from Desautels' unit -- the 3rd Battalion of the 172nd Mountain Infantry Regiment, known during its deployment overseas as Task Force Saber -- requires some form of assistance after returning home, said Jim MacIntyre, the leader of a Guard outreach and intervention team. Soldiers' needs range from minor adjustment counseling to intensive therapy to treat combat stress, MacIntyre said.

"Many people in Task Force Saber are coming forward after they've been home for more than a year," he said. "There are sleep issues, anger issues, there are marital issues, and in some cases there are drinking issues that can get people in trouble."

Desautels is working with prosecutors to resolve all the criminal charges against him with a plea bargain that would allow him to accept responsibility while accounting for his disease. In the meantime, he's trying to heal.
A changed man

Desautels, known to most as DJ, was a three-sport athlete -- soccer, basketball and track -- and honor-roll student at Winooski High School. "A jock," said friend Matt Bushey. "Definitely one of the jocks."

A self-described member of the "loser" crowd, Bushey, 19, of Winooski and Desautels struck up a friendship through a shared love of cars, and they've been close since Desautels graduated in 2004. Desautels headed off to Becker College in Worcester, Mass., but returned home to be with his pregnant girlfriend, he said.

After a while Desautels decided to join the Guard. He needed something to do, he said. His mother, Diane, said her son enlisted to support a friend who also signed up. Commanders deployed Desautels to Ramadi in January 2006. He served as a gunner in a Humvee.

Three Saber soldiers were killed during Desautels' time in Iraq. He has difficulty describing his experiences there.

"I don't know," he said softly outside the courtroom last week. "Getting shot at every day. Getting attacked."

Bushey noticed changes in his friend after he returned home in June 2006.

"He wasn't himself," Bushey said. "He was insecure for a while. I don't blame him. Getting shot at is pretty crazy."

Said Diane Desautels, "I knew he'd grow up some, but there were a lot of changes. When he'd go into a room, he'd look different ways all the time. He was drinking a considerable amount more than normal, staying out late, couldn't get along with his wife."
Eight quick charges

So began Desautels' downward spiral.

He got a divorce and found himself in a custody fight regarding his 2-year-old son. He acted anxious and nervous, felt unsafe, and started carrying a gun. He turned to alcohol, as many war veterans do to shield their senses from the enduring pain of combat.

The Feb. 10 gun incident was Desautels' first run-in with law enforcement, according to records on file at Vermont District Court in Burlington. The former Guardsman, visibly drunk and smelling of liquor, told Winooski Police Officer Michael Cram that he was driving through the city with his girlfriend when he saw two men fighting on Center Street, according to the officer's written account of events.

Desautels jumped out of the car and waded in to break up the fracas, Cram wrote. But the combatants started fighting with Desautels, and four other people began to push him, so he pulled out his gun. Witnesses disagree about whether Desautels pointed the gun at anyone; he says he didn't, while others claim he did, an accusation Cram substantiated. Everyone agrees Desautels then raised the gun and fired a single shot into the frigid air.

Police took Desautels to a detox facility and then cited him into court. He pleaded not guilty and was released on a number of conditions, including a ban on consuming alcohol.

A month later, though, police accused Desautels of the first of three charges of violating his conditions by drinking, the other incidents occurring in April and June. Law enforcement also accused him in April of negligent driving on suspicion of speeding through Colchester at 80 mph to prevent another car from passing him. Authorities also brought an allegation that Desautels violated a municipal ordinance by firing the gun.

Norful, the defense attorney, directed his client not to speak about the charges because the case remains active. The lawyer, though, said Desautels' service in Iraq scarred him and prompted uncharacteristic behavior -- which combat-stress experts said is possible.

"He saw some things a young man probably shouldn't see," Norful said. "Sometimes when people see that type of environment it causes emotional turmoil. This is what my whole generation went through with Vietnam."
Broader problem

About 30 percent to 40 percent of all U.S. military members returning from duty in Iraq are suffering from "some kind of psychological distress that leads to a diagnosable mental disorder," said Dr. Andrew Pomerantz, chief of the mental-health and behavioral-sciences program at the White River Junction VA Medical Center.

Pentagon figures show 1,575,201 members of the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy have served in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in support of the "global war on terror," launched following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist strike on America. The Defense Department does not break down aggregate figures by country of service, spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington said. Currently, he said, there are 164,000 U.S. warriors in Iraq.

Pomerantz's figures suggest that between 49,200 and 65,600 of service members on duty today will be diagnosed with a disease such as post-traumatic stress disorder. What's more, the doctor said, is that "everyone" has difficulty readjusting to life back home. For some, their symptoms disappear with time, but for others, the problems linger, Pomerantz said.

Common symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, often called PTSD, include difficulty relaxing and relating to others, changes in temperament, financial problems and increased alcohol use, Pomerantz said.

His office and other local experts do not track the number of criminal cases that appear connected to combat-related mental illnesses, but Pomerantz said state courts have referred "a few people" to the VA. Anecdotal evidence indicates such occurrences are rare, said MacIntyre, a retired Guard chaplain now heading the six-person intervention team.

At least one similar incident has occurred in Vermont. In late 2004 a Marine captain was celebrating his return from Iraq with his family in Colchester when his eyes suddenly glazed over, he crouched down as though he were holding a gun and then began throwing punches at his parents, they told The Burlington Free Press several months later. The family called 911 hoping for medical intervention, but instead police arrived, and the captain was arrested and charged with assault. Eventually he pleaded guilty and received a deferred sentence.

"One of the things we're seeing is irritability, anger," Pomerantz said. "Often people start drinking as a way of getting through their symptoms. They think, 'Well, things will be better tomorrow, so I'll just drink tonight.'"
Plea possible

Those involved with Desautels' case said they're working on a plea bargain in which the former soldier would admit several misdemeanor charges and agree to extensive probation and counseling in exchange for dismissal of the other allegations.

The plea was expected Friday, but the hearing was postponed to Sept. 21 after the prosecutor said his office needed written proof of Desautels' military service and PTSD diagnosis before it approved the arrangement.

"It's a very serious charge. Mr. Desautels' conduct is very serious," Deputy Chittenden County State's Attorney Brooks McArthur said in court Friday. "Once we receive that confirmation, we believe that resolution is appropriate."

Desautels served five days in jail following his most recent arrest, in June, for a conditions violation. That was enough, defense attorney Norful said, because the plea bargain's requirements will help ensure public safety and Desautels' continued recovery.

Prosecutors disagree. Chittenden County State's Attorney T.J. Donovan said a short prison term is appropriate for the message it sends. "There has to be a punitive response to it that lends itself to general deterrence," he said. "A gun being fired really scares people. It affects how people live their lives."

But he also said Desautels' combat history and PTSD is a key factor in the case and possible resolution. A judge will determine Desautels' sentence at a hearing later this fall.

"The question is," Donovan said, "how do you balance public safety against a person's mental-health needs?"

Desautels, said friends and his attorney, is continuing to improve. He's in a steady relationship and working at a pizza restaurant. Said Bushey, "He's a good kid now."

Contact Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilverm@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com

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Larry Scott  --