In most countries, Jeans Cruz would be a national hero. But not in America, or at least not for this war. See, Army Spec. Cruz was a scout, and a damn good one. And on a night back in Iraq, he tracked down an enemy who was hiding in a spider hole. He helped capture one Saddam Hussein.
Upon arriving home, politicians tripped over themselves to get their pictures taken with Jeans Cruz, the mayor of New York, officials from his family's town back in Puerto Rico and the borough president all gave him silk sashes for parades and plaques aplenty. But when he needed them most, they all disappeared.
What can you expect from a country that was only outraged about Walter Reed for a few brief weeks, until some new shinier scandal came along.
And now the soldier who was there to capture Enemy #1 sits in behind a bullet-pocked steel door in a New York City housing project, abandoned by all who used him as a prop. Because, this is how America treats its heros.
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But a "black shadow" had followed Cruz home from Iraq, he confided to an Army counselor. He was hounded by recurring images of how war really was for him: not the triumphant scene of Hussein in handcuffs, but visions of dead Iraqi children.
In public, the former Army scout stood tall for the cameras and marched in the parades. In private, he slashed his forearms to provoke the pain and adrenaline of combat. He heard voices and smelled stale blood. Soon the offers of help evaporated and he found himself estranged and alone, struggling with financial collapse and a darkening depression.
At a low point, he went to the local Department of Veterans Affairs medical center for help. One VA psychologist diagnosed Cruz with post-traumatic stress disorder. His condition was labeled "severe and chronic." In a letter supporting his request for PTSD-related disability pay, the psychologist wrote that Cruz was "in need of major help" and that he had provided "more than enough evidence" to back up his PTSD claim. His combat experiences, the letter said, "have been well documented."
None of that seemed to matter when his case reached VA disability evaluators. They turned him down flat, ruling that he deserved no compensation because his psychological problems existed before he joined the Army. They also said that Cruz had not proved he was ever in combat. "The available evidence is insufficient to confirm that you actually engaged in combat," his rejection letter stated.
Yet abundant evidence of his year in combat with the 4th Infantry Division covers his family’s living-room wall. The Army Commendation Medal With Valor for "meritorious actions . . . during strategic combat operations" to capture Hussein hangs not far from the combat spurs awarded for his work with the 10th Cavalry "Eye Deep" scouts, attached to an elite unit that caught the Iraqi leader on Dec. 13, 2003, at Ad Dawr.
There are some 45,000 cases of PTSD from soldiers returning from Iraq, enough to fill four Army divisions. This is just the tip of the iceberg, with primary force of the military still deployed in theater. And since they did not catch the Butcher of Baghdad, what hope do they have?
None, because this is how America treats its heros.