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Date: June 12, 2008 5:28:19 PM CDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: [vfp-all] URGENT!! Help Get
Justice for PFC James Burmeister!!
Reply-To:
vfp-all-owner@yahoogroups.com
PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO YOUR
FRIENDS AND LISTS
You may remember an email I sent a
couple months ago asking for donations
for trainfare home for an AWOL soldier
and veteran of Iraq who left the Army
because his severe PTSD. Many of you
responded generously, the full fare was
raised--but PFC James Burmeister has not
been able to use it. He turned himself
in at Ft. Knox around the same time, and
at first it appeared that he would be
discharged within the week, this was
what was expected. Then he was given the
opportunity to receive a medical
discharge--James has PTSD as well as a
brain injury from an IED attack-- which
is preferable, and he has been waiting
patiently at Ft. Knox, sometimes medical
discharges take some time. Then
suddenly, last week, the Army filed
charges against James for missing
movement and intends to court martial
him, meaning that he would face jail
time.
I am attaching a message from Sonia, a
good friend of James that he met while
he was in Canada, it explains more about
his situation and also what kind of
person he is.
Your help is urgently needed. Next week,
members of James' family are traveling
to Ft. Knox, and plan to visit the base
along with veterans and families of
veterans and soldiers. James' mother is
also scheduled to speak with the media
next week. They would like people to
send letters of support, letters asking
that James be given an Other Than
Honorable discharge immediately and not
face a court martial. You can send
letters and postcards to James at the
address below. Depending on what the
Army decides to do, there may be a need
for phone calls to the base next week,
details about this to follow if this
seems necessary.
THESE LETTERS ARE VERY IMPORTANT. If
people start sending letters now, they
will begin arriving early next week to
coincide with the visits to the base of
family members and veterans. Please ask
others to also send letters or
postcards.
PFC James Burmeister
HHC Bldg 298
Gold Vault Rd
Fort Knox, KY 40121
Depending on events next week, there may
be some sort of action planned at Ft.
Knox in support of James. Right now,
James' family and friends and other
veterans and family members intend to go
to Ft. Knox daily next week. Others are
welcome to join them, particularly
combat veterans who can attest to the
effects of PTSD themselves. If you think
you have the time and the means to join
them at Ft. Knox at any time next week,
please contact Anita Dennis, mother of
Iraq veteran and war resister Darrell
Anderson, at 859-948-4274, or if you
can't reach Anita, who will be going to
Ft. Knox, you can call me at
405-606-9598 for details. Things are
right now up in the air, further actions
will depend on the Army's response, but
if you think you can make it to Ft. Knox
let one of us know.
Jeri
Sonia's message about
PFC James Burmeister
I thought I would send you a few bits of
info on James to give you an idea of his
story.
As you may be aware already, James
Burmeister is being held at Fort Knox,
KY. James voluntarily turned himself in
to the military on March 4th, 2008 after
having been AWOL from the U.S. Army
since May 4, 2007. His reason for having
gone AWOL is untreated PTSD and wanting
to get back to his family in Oregon
which lives with hardship (mother has
MS; sister has just undergone serious
hip surgery and has diabetes, they are
very poor)
James is an Iraq combat veteran. He
manned machine guns on top of humvees
and spent 6 months in the line of
gunfire. He survived three IED
explosions, the last of which knocked
him unconscious.
James has been at Fort Knox for 101 days
and counting.
James has chronic PTSD. He has gone
largely without treatment since his
arrival. He seems to be exhibiting signs
of depression. He needs a full medical
and mental evaluation. A cocktail of
powerful drugs was prescribed but no
effort has been made to help James get
the important cognitive therapy he
needs. Doping him up on meds is not what
he needs. As it stands, James has high
blood pressure and cannot sleep without
taking sleeping pills. His pay has been
largely withheld and of very irregular
sums with no clear explanations. His
last pay cheque was in the amount of 54$
for 2 weeks of service. Not enough to
even cover food or phone calls to his
family.
I first met James back in May 2007 upon
his arrival in Canada. Over the months
that followed, I had the privilege of
getting to know James not only as an
AWOL soldier, but as a visiting U.S.
citizen who behaved in an exemplary
fashion while in Canada. In the short
time James spent in my country, his true
character and strong moral sense emerged
numerous times. James saved the life of
a man who was having a heart attack only
days upon his arrival. He acted as a
brother, friend and father figure to a
number of other younger AWOL soldiers
who sought asylum, friendship and
guidance while in Ottawa. He took part
in countless fundraisers and educational
activities to raise awareness of the
plight of fellow soldiers and to share
the knowledge he gained first-hand from
his experiences with war.
James helped me, personally, to deal
with the loss of a close family member,
and he even managed to rescue (and
adopt) a young puppy who had been put
out on the highway to get hit by passing
cars. I could go on and on, Mr. DeFazio.
I think what emerges most clearly from
these few examples are James' sense of
duty and responsibility towards others.
Never does James forget to give with one
hand, a portion of what he is receiving
with the other. Indeed, the very little
James managed to live off of while he
was in Canada, he usually split with
anyone else whom he may have found to be
in need, even complete strangers. James
does this without hesitation. I
understand that James' strong moral
sense was useful to his fellow soldiers
as well when he was stationed in Iraq.
James always behaved with a sense of
duty and responsibility, even in battle.
Originally, I understand that James
truly wanted to serve in the military as
a proud American. He also thought he was
serving in an Army that would take care
of him when it came time for him to need
help. Never did James think his army
would end up treating him so inhumanely
after he made the ultimate sacrifice of
facing battle everyday while he was in
Iraq.
James is a combat veteran who needs
help. You cannot have an army send out
young boys and young women out into
battle and then drop them after that
when they are forced to carry the
anguish of war with them everyday of the
rest of their lives. There are more US
soldiers coming back with PTSD and
committing suicide for lack of treatment
than there actually are soldiers dying
at war in Iraq.
While in Canada, James called home to
speak with his sister and parents almost
daily. His homesickness and his sense of
responsibility to his family were always
apparent. I lived with James for over
six months and saw first hand how he
struggled with symptoms of PTSD:
spontaneous nose bleeds due to high
blood pressure and circulatory problems,
eye twitches and arm twitches on one
side of his body, petit mal seizures,
traumatic and disturbed sleep.
Most of the time, James was too
concerned with others' well being to pay
attention to his own condition. This is
still the case today on the base at Fort
Knox. In the daytime, he focuses on
others, and at night, while visited by
ghosts from his experiences in battle,
James largely suffers alone. On February
11th, I had to bring him in to the
Emergency department of our General
Hospital. His seizures had taken to a
new level and for the first time, I felt
completely powerless and incapable of
helping James.
Is the military waiting for James to
kill himself???? Would that take the
burden off their shoulders? PTSD is the
killer that sneaks into the suitcases of
our servicemen and servicewomen abroad.
Like a parasite, it enters their system
and slowly gets the best of them unless
treatment and help is provided in a
quick, pro-active, consistent way. James
is a brave young man who deserves to be
immediately out-processed from the
military so that he can finally begin to
heal in the company of his family back
home in Oregon. James has already given
the military 101 days and they are
threatening to imprison him and ruin him
more than they have. Let him go, he is
no good to you anymore as a soldier,
that is what I want to tell the army:
let James go, his soul is broken, he
will never shoot for you again.
The community, his family and his
friends from around the continent are
asking that he be given an OTH (Other
Than Honorable discharge) in lieu of a
court martial. No amount of jail time,
none whatsoever will be deemed
acceptable. Anymore confinement than he
has already done will take James further
away from his recovery and treatment for
PTSD.
Sonia
PFC James
Burmeister
HHC Bldg 298
Gold Vault Rd
Fort Knox, KY 40121 |
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