Our view: Broken soldier

In that terribly mixed-up mental state, he got caught shoplifting from the Elmendorf Base Exchange.

He doesn't even remember doing it.

But he took a plea bargain, got a less-than-honorable discharge and lost his military medical benefits. He has been dumped onto the street, with no treatment for the mental wounds he suffered while serving in Iraq.

That's not right. Mayo got PTSD while in service to his country -- harrowing duty in which he saw soldiers shot and blown up, and faced death himself working on convoys carrying supplies and prisoners. The country should help him get back to health.

The punishment -- loss of his job, his home, his military health coverage, possibly all of his benefits as a veteran -- is out of proportion to the crime.

Mayo, a 22-year-old with a wife and son, was in the Warrior Transition Unit for soldiers recovering from injuries at the time of the shoplifting. Obviously, the treatment wasn't working for him.

The military justice system didn't seem to seriously consider whether it's fair to hold him fully responsible for his minor crime, given his mental state.

Instead, he was pushed out the door and left to fend for himself with his service-related medical problems.

For members of the Warrior Transition Unit in line for honorable discharges, the Department of Veterans' Affairs rolls out the red carpet. A program advocate begins meeting with soldiers before they are discharged to let them know about their veterans benefits.

Once a soldier has an honorable discharge in hand, VA health benefits could start the same day, says Marcia Hoffman-DeVoe, public affairs officer for the Alaska VA Healthcare System.

But a mentally wounded warrior with less than an honorable discharge has to fight for any benefits, and they are not guaranteed. No red carpet treatment. Just lots of paperwork and lots of waiting.

Patrick Kelley, benefits manager for the Veterans Service Center here, couldn't say how long the average case takes. All he could say is that it would be more than a month because the agency has to wait 30 days to give applicants a chance to comment.

He couldn't say exactly how the agency decides whether it's appropriate to restore the benefits for the veteran. It depends on service and medical records and any mitigating circumstances, said Kelley.

A Rand Corp. study quoted in the Daily News article on this young man estimates that nearly one out of five of those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan report signs of PTSD or depression.

It's not good for the country, and it's not good for communities, to have soldiers or ex-soldiers with PTSD living out their nightmares with no treatment. And it is not fair to the men and women who served their country -- even if they made a mistake along the way.

BOTTOM LINE: This veteran of the Iraq war isn't getting the health care he needs and deserves -- even if he did commit a minor crime.