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Courage to Resist. July 26, 2007
On the eve of a court martial last week for resisting redeployment to Iraq, Army medic Eugene Cherry was granted a general discharge. The Fort Drum, New York soldier with the 10th Mountain Division faced a bad conduct discharge for going AWOL to get help for post-traumatic stress disorder after the Army failed to provide him with adequate treatment. Instead, Eugene is now out and will be able to keep most benefits, including lifetime medical from the VA.
According to the New York Times , “Mr. Cherry’s supporters suggest that the publicity, as well as his good record before he went absent without leave, helped persuade the military to cease prosecution and grant him a discharge.” Support for Eugene was organized out of the Different Drummer Internet Café located near Fort Drum.
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 Army Spc. Eugene Cherry By William Kates, Associated Press. Published May 14, 2007.
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. |
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