The United States of 'Merica VS Michael Russo, Combat Veteran - This is MY Life!
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http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/260652841-story
Anybody that has read my books, tweets or blog know that I am the girlfriend of a Combat Veteran. A Marine. A Marine that served in the 2nd Battle of Fallujah in Iraq and was one of the lucky enough ones to return home. You also know that he brought home a nasty little side effect of war - Combat PTSD.
In my books I write about how sneaky of a Monster the PTSD is. How it causes our Warriors to drink themselves to death. Slap the wife. Kick the dog. Start screaming matches out on the front lawn. In front of the neighbors. In front of the kids. You see, Combat PTSD is pretty good at making our Warriors do things that are unlike themselves. This isn't what this story is about though. I'm one of the SEVERAL lucky ones. My Warrior is not physically violent - to me or anybody. Millions of them are not to be feared by any means.
Most commonly, Combat PTSD makes a previously social person withdraw into him or herself. That's probably the most common symptom of PTSD. However, there's a plethora of other things that Combat PTSD can do. Things that I wouldn't have drempt of in my wildest imagination. Until now.
You see, like many other Veterans, my love has a problem with apocalyptic thoughts. Apocalyptic thoughts lead to certain behaviors that some people would consider odd. One of them is hoarding. Because of these thought processes, Michael has a tendency to collect things. Not useless things like you see on the TV show "Hoarders" such as old newspapers and used cat litter but things that can be of value in the event that "THE SHIT HITS THE FAN". He has tons of food. He has an excess of cars and car parts. He has several tools.
He even used to have a lot of guns. I say "used to" because prior to "us" Michael was accused of a felony that he maintains he did not commit. He says he was pulled over four houses from his house and went and parked the car in the driveway. The local police charged him with a handful of violations. One of them being "fleeing and eluding". When Michael went to court he was given a choice - either plea to the "fleeing and eluding" or ROT IN JAIL. Fearing incarceration and being in a bad mental state due to repeated ordinance violations and pressure from the city for his "hoarding" behaviors, he pled.
Anyhow, fast forward a few years and going through several years of pain and further physical disability, Michael has since filed a lawsuit against the city police department for excessive force. Apparently during one of his many arrests for land use issues, one of the officers put a knee in his back - in the same spot where he was injured in Fallujah from falling off of a building. Ever since, Michael has been experiencing nerve damage and numbness. This has all been documented by the VA and he's on a handful of drugs including Lyrica.
While I'm sure you Combat Vets were all nodding at the "prepping" behaviors, you're probably also scratching your heads at "jailed for land use" issues? I know that I was! I was like "What the hell? They threw you in jail over having junk in the yard?". Admittedly from the city themselves (you'll see from the video) that is EXACTLY what they did. They sent in the SWAT team and arrested Michael for not conforming to ordinance issues and jailed him - allegedly with excessive force.
Back to the original story though, Michael is now a convicted felon. He used to teach gun safety classes. Now he can't even own one. Go figure. Having said this, TWO business days after the city was served with the lawsuit, Michael had an unexpected knock at the door. It was the FBI. They had a warrant and they were searching for guns and ammunition. Coincidental that this happened two days after the city found out that they were being sued? I would venture to say "probably not" but I'll let you form your own opinion on that one. Two and Two always makes Four though, doesn't it? At least where I went to school.
Anyhow, during the raid they found about 200 rounds of random ammunition - by random, I mean some of this and some of that. I bet you can take a guess at who was given a ride on the taxpayers to jail. Likewise, they also allege that Michael purchased a 1000 rounds of ammunition online. However, that doesn't appear to have been found.
I know you're probably wondering what my hand is in all of this? Nothing - besides my own personal fears regarding this. I'll get to that later though.
I have never seen a gun in the house much less found 200 rounds of ammunition anywhere. From the way the house looks after the search, it wasn't exactly laying around out in the open. Was it in a couple of uniforms from Iraq? Was it in a box with some car parts or up in the attic in an old duffel bag? I have no idea and neither does Michael.
Going back to this PTSD thing though, I would like to think that this is a PRIME EXAMPLE of how Combat PTSD is a sneaky son of a bitch. Was it whispering in his ear to not thoroughly check all places of the house to recover anything that could be used against him after the felony? I think we've already established that it has made him to like to have an excess of most EVERYTHING.
However, this is just YET ANOTHER thing that we have to deal with concerning the city and now the State Police and the Feds. (Of whom, by the way, were very nice and professional. So please don't get me wrong, this is not an "all cops are assholes" rant. It isn't.) Frighteningly though, this is something that we have to deal with. And when I say "frighteningly" it is because I have another well-documented fear. The fear that the Combat PTSD monster might start whispering in his ear again. Maybe this time it will tell him that he would be better off dead? That the fight with the city will never end until he is six feet under. That he needs to become a member of "Club 22" and be one of the 22 Veterans that kill themselves daily in the United States. WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT THAT?
The answer to this is that I can only do what I can do. I've contacted the Wounded Warrior Project to get him into the Wounded Care Network program. (Of whom, by the way, tells me that they hear these stories ALL THE TIME regarding Combat Vets and municipalities.) I've spoken with his lawyer. I've done everything I can to make sure that he will remain alive and in good spirits - in spite of the fact that he has a HUGE problem due to this development. However, now it is my problem too. I'm also in fear. I'm afraid that I will be next on their list for harassment.
Will they pull me over for no reason? Will they target me next for my association with Michael? Am I putting myself at risk for being a supporter and caregiver to a Wounded Warrior? I pray not. But then again, who gets jailed for land use issues?
