Posted on 09/14/2015 9:19:08 AM PDT by huldah1776
Mad at his former girlfriend and probably drunk, Joshua Eisenhauer's only brother hopped into his red Camaro and peeled away from the party at his house.
The Camaro screamed down Basswood Boulevard - past newly built homes in an affluent bedroom community of Fort Worth - until the road jagged to the left.
Maybe it was the speed, or the fog, or the road construction.
Whatever the reason, 19-year-old Eric Eisenhauer missed the turn. The Camaro clipped a barricade, slammed into a berm and flipped before skidding into the Texas scrub.
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
"VETERANS AND THE LAW: U.S. Supreme Court Takes On PTSD in Combat Veterans"
"In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court confronted the issue of the overwhelming impact that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has on combat veterans. This decision sends a signal to courts, lawyers and the medical/legal community that PTSD cannot be ignored when veterans are tried and sentenced for violent crimes."
http://www.vetsfirst.org/supreme-court-takes-on-ptsd-in-combat-veterans/
Hope they can appeal.
So any vet has a Get Out of Jail Free card?
This guy had a history of crime and violence and tried to pull a gun on a cop before he ever enlisted. He’s had problems for a long time. Maybe he’s mentally ill or maybe he just responds the wrong way to tragedy in his life. But I wouldn’t call him a victim or tragic figure.
Tragedy, grief and regret can lead you down some mighty dark roads.
Why not, many illegal aliens our government supports, aids and abets do.
This guy has had a hell of a life.......more unfair then most. He is a tragic story in itself. This guy more then any other needs a break and compassion and possible a psychologist for awhile and then get back to his life a better person. He does not need to be stuck in jail....what good would that do?
The author answers, “Mad at his former girlfriend and probably drunk,...”. The he asks, “Maybe it was the speed, or the fog, or the road construction.”
He was drinking, driving, and mad. It’s a familiar refrain with or without PTSD.
I do not follow you here. Are you saying he should be treated differently because he allegedly suffered from PTSD? I do not see how he was treated poorly.
First of all, if you drive wildly, especially while drunk, what ensues is not tragic but inevitable, sad though it may be. Second, he already had a propensity for this type of behavior before the war, so I do not think you can blame PTSD. It may have exacerbated the situation but I do not think PTSD is the cause. (are you saying he had PTSD from his brother’s accident? If so, can any bereaved person get a free pass for acts committed while grieving or only vets? How long may one’s grief last?) Third, if he wasn’t responsible for his actions he should be institutionalized or at the very least removed from situations where he can cause harm. Drinking and driving should be forbidden. If he is caught doing either, he should be locked up. But if you start doing this to PTSD victims then there will be a long line of vets locked up. If you are responsible for your actions, then you accept the punishment.
I’ll concede that PTSD is real and debilitating, but so is alcoholism and drug addiction for some. I do not think a free ride should be offered in those cases or this one. This person should never have been allowed in the military. The idea of the Dirty Dozen is fallacious. True warriors are committed and disciplined. Those who are criminals prior to entering the service tend to maintain their career trajectory.
The loss of these lives is sad but we are the sum total of our choices. Society grows sentimental about the situations these choices leave us in and now wishes to absolve us of the responsibility of those choices.
“He does not need to be stuck in jail....what good would that do?”
Ummm. Maybe save a cop or the person he runs over while drunk driving?
Repeat after me: read the article then post. I withdraw my post.
He has a problem. He is not a criminal. He needs help and then slowly get his life back on track. If he did these things with a sound mind that would be one thing but he is messed up probably from his brother’s death.....just his brother’s death should give him huge compassion....nobody should have a brother die. Sorry but that is just cruel.
What a sad story. He really needs help.
In the end, we're all responsible for our actions. That's the way I was brought up anyway. Sounds like he used his brother's death to behave badly, and there are always fools who try to make excuses for people like him. Plenty of other people in uniform have suffered devastating losses, but they didn't commit criminal acts as a result.
Agreed. There are a lot of people out there who have had tragedy in their lives. A lot of ghetto criminals witness crime and brutality and have parents who are gone or on drugs. We don’t let them off the hook because they have a legitimate sad story. This guy is not some good kid who snapped after seeing the horrors of war, although even that would not excuse murdering someone. Its a kid with a history of crime and anger issues who continued to have those issues and they ultimately ended in the real tragedy — the killing of an innocent person.
no worries.
Of course not. They have intellectually disabled friendly courts and the SCOTUS has ruled that PTSD is to be taken into consideration especially for sentencing. If it is not recorded how can a prisoner request therapy? They do have a right to medical attention, too. His probably having TBI from the blasts should have been discovered. Lots of IED blasts weren’t reported for individuals, either.
Do you know of a criminal who does not have a problem or who you would call fully sane? They nearly all have issues.
Sad his brother died, but people die all the time. In fact, we will all die. it does not give license for ill behavior.
The whole story is bizarre. He was a jerk probably before his brother’s death, he certainly was a jerk after (in fact he embarked on the same behavior path that killed his brother), we expose a jerk to extreme stress in the military and act surprised he is even jerkier.
No. Sorry. He is responsible. If he is not responsible and is a danger to others he should be institutionalized. No matter his problems or our compassion he isn’t free to endanger others.
Let me put it this way; does your trust and compassion extend to the point that you would let him care for your children?
that was his brother who died and Joshua stayed with him for the 6 days he was in hospital. after that the family fell apart.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.