Soldier sacrifices for country, faces problems with VA, military

One local veteran isn’t feeling very appreciated on this Veterans’ Day. Josh Dillard of Seneca is in the Army Reserves and served for 16 months in Afghanistan. He dislocated his shoulder and had his hand crushed while there. “It was pretty rough,“ he says. “I was in five ambushes where one of my friends got shot in the neck and is paralyzed.“

Once he was released from active duty, he came home and everything seemed fine. But then he went into what he calls a downward spiral, having nightmares and suicidal thoughts. His fiancée urged him to get help. A Veterans Administration psychiatrist diagnosed Dillard with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Anxiety Disorder, and ruled that Dillard is not fit for military duty.

Now, he’s received orders calling him back to active duty, this time to be sent to Iraq. “I’ve read the Army regulations, and there’s Army regulations in there that say specifically if you’ve been diagnosed with mental disorders then you’re unfit for duty,“ he says. When he contacted the Army, he was told to send his paperwork from the Veterans Administration and he would receive a medical discharge from any remaining service obligation. He sent in that paperwork but has not heard anything from the Army.

We took the problem to U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, who was in Columbia for the Veterans’ Day parade. He said his office would help Dillard.

“Clearly, if he’s got a medical condition that’s inconsistent with service, he will not have to serve another tour,“ Sen. Graham says. “He will be medically discharged. He will get a paycheck from the Department of Defense. Then he will be enrolled in the Veterans Administration for follow-on PTSD treatment. What happens is when you’re medically disqualified from service, you’re not left out in the cold. The Veterans Administration takes up your case and treatment. That’s what we’ll do for this gentleman.“

He also said the VA system is overwhelmed right now because of all of the injured soldiers coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq, and that can lead to cases falling through the cracks, like this one. He supports a bill pending in Congress to streamline the process, so a soldier given a disability rating by the military doesn’t have to get a separate one from the VA and vice versa.

Dillard says he’s relieved to hear that Sen. Graham will help. “That makes me feel very happy, to have someone on my side because, you know, it’s the government versus me,“ he says.