PTS doesn’t make vets thieves
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that Iraq War veteran Brittany A. Taft has been sentenced for stealing the identities and GI Bill benefits from her friends to the tune of $18,000. Of course, in a round-about way, the journalist blames PTS;
An Iraq War veteran suffering the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury will have to spend three months in jail followed by three months of electronically monitored home confinement…
[…]
Taft pleaded guilty to mail fraud in January and admitted that she applied for and received $3,000 Post-9/11 GI Bill advance payment checks for each of her victims at her home in Waipahu in November and December 2009. She then cashed or deposited the checks into her own bank account using false power of attorney forms she prepared in her victims’ names.
Federal prosecutor Lawrence Tong said Taft obtained a document containing the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of fellow soldiers from a roommate and personally knew two of her victims. He said some of the victims lost their benefits because of Taft’s actions, one had a tax refund check withheld by the IRS and another was forced to pay back the $3,000 to clear the debt.
Supposedly, Taft hit her head on the steering wheel of the HMMV she was driving when an IED went off near the vehicle in front of here and she was knocked unconscious briefly and then drove herself and other wounded soldiers to the aid station.
Taft later learned she suffered a traumatic brain injury.
In addition to the PTSD and brain injury, Taft said she also suffers from attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.
But I just want to make it clear that PTS and TBI doesn’t turn veterans into devious criminals. It sounds to me like Taft would have committed this crime without banging her head on the steering wheel. I know mentioning PTS explains the whole thing to journalists and most civilians who want to think of veterans as time bombs ticking away just one honking horn away from committing a crime, but, no, sorry, millions of veterans who suffer from PTS didn’t rip off their room mates today.
The story is also linked at Stars & Stripes.
Category: Veterans Issues
Of course the druggies, scammers, dropouts, and welfare slugs are NEVER a problem, it’s the Vets that everyone needs to watch out for, eh?
I’m sure the newsie has enough background in medicine and psychology to explain how a bump on the head would create a change of personality which turns someone into a scheming thief?
Yup, any minute now…
Gee, I spend most of the winter 2011-2012 watching “Bomb Patrol” and in one episode, the vehicle with one of the cameraman hit an IED, which trashed the vehicle. Everyone had bumps and bruises. The driver hit his lower face on the steering wheel. Nobody, including the cameraman, claimed PTSD over that explosion.
I say “BOGUS!! BOGUS!!”
P.S. to #3 – I’m not dismissing the IEDs or saying severe injuries don’t happen, but her claim is totally bogus.
PTS and TBI are convenient scapegoats, at times. I have lived with both for 7 years now. I assure you, mine were/are much worse and multiple. Anyways, in those 7 years I have never turned to illegal or immoral things due to my diagnosis.
The only thing that makes a person a thief is being a thief. Mental diagnoses cover for mental health issues, not criminal behavior.
She’s a con artist, a thief, and she’ll be back before this or other judges in the fuyure. Three months home detention? Hpw about six in the pokey–yeah, pokey.
Shitbaggette.
Would like to see exactly her service was. Weird how many shitbirds just CLAIM to have “Caught the PTSD” when they get caught doing stupid shit. Dollars to donuts she wasn’t even within a country mile of any signifigant IED Blast and there is no record or witness to her supposed injury. Assholes like this are the reason so many veterans are hesitant to bring up issues.
@8 with or without cream cheese? …I know I know; it’s in poor taste…
“PTS doesn’t make vets thieves”.
I disagree.
If you are a liberal (here in the Great NW) then it does.
Yeah.
Rock on.
Back to the ‘Shine.
Finals suck.
Check the reporter’s style guide. 9 times out of 10, if the shitbaguette is a veteran and is diagnosed with PTS/TBI, that veteran status and diagnosis MUST be in the story, regardless of the nature of the story. For example, had the shitbaguette been a pr0n queen, or stole ice cream from a baby, the newspaper’s style guide would require PTS/TBI be included, and made prominent. “Veteran with PTSD turns to Pr0n after suffering TBI” and “Battle-scarred Veteran with PTSD steals babies ice cream – flashbacks caused by TBI”
Among the symptoms of mild TBI are, “behavioral or mood changes, confusion, and trouble with memory, concentration, attention, or thinking”, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Nowhere did I read anything about TBI causing fraud, or turning people into liars and thieves.
Had my retirement physical MAR 2012. Doc asked me if I’d ever had a concussion. I said yup, 1979, high school football championship game, got my bell rung bad. Put “possible TBI” in my records. So I can go rob people now?
What a stupid B-word.
That’s strange, I’ve eaten a few hatches after IEDs in my time an I have yet to become a thief.
There is only 1 thief in the Army. Everyone else is just trying to get their stuff back.