Press Conference: Spc. Trevor Loope appears before sanity board at Ft. Drum 6-18-09

Citizen Soldier held a press conference June 18, 2009 in Watertown, NY just prior to Specialist Trevor Loope’s appearance before a sanity board at Fort Drum later that morning. Sp/4 Trevor Loope is facing a possible court-martial trial for going AWOL. After returning to base from a combat tour in Afghanistan, he was unable to obtain needed treatment for PTSD with severe depression. He left the base for his home city of Austin, Tx. Eventually he was seen by Dr. David Ogren, a clinical psychologist from Houston who diagnosed Trevor as hsuffering from PTSD and severe depression. At the time of the press conference, it was uncertain whether Dr. Ogren would be allowed to address the sanity board. Tod Ensign, a lawyer and director of Citizen Soldier, spoke and introduced Dr. Ogren and Eric Werthman, a psychiatric social worker in NYC. A reporter from WWNY TV, the Watertown CBS affiliate, posed questions.

-thanks to Tompkins County Against War & Occupation

Update on Trevor Loope -Report from Fort Drum on June 18th

Trevor Loope might be be facing a court-martial proceeding on July 1. Or maybe the proceeding will be delayed. Or maybe (we hope) the charges against him will be dropped and he will be a favorable, non-punitive administrative separation –in effect acknowledging his PTSD and severe depression, and the failure of the military to provide the treatment that he requested upon his return from his combat tour in Afghanistan.

We need to be prepared to travel to Watertown and pack the observation boxes in the court room if indeed the command does decide to try to make an example of him and proceed with a punitive court-martial. That could be as early as July 1st. Are you ready to drop what you are doing for the day and join us? If so, please use the contact form to let us know that you will be there for Trevor.

The video above was taken outside the PX facility at Ft. Drum on June 18 after Trevor appeared before a sanity board. Trevor Loope is joined by, Dr. Ogren, the psychologist in Houston who diagnosed Trevor while he was AWOL in Texas, and Tod Ensign, a lawyer who directs Citizen soldier. Additional video from the press conference earlier in the day will follow, along with a summary of Trevors case.

Specialist Trevor Loope, 23, of Austin TX, served 15 months in Afghan combat with the 3d Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division. Upon returning to Ft. Drum in 2007 he was unable to obtain adequate treatment for mental health issues. This caused him to leave the base in search of effective treatment.

Dr. David Ogren, a clinical psychologist from Houston, TX with fifteen years experience treating victims of mental trauma, spent hours examining and testing Specialist Trevor Loope. Dr. Ogren’s report concludes that Trevor suffers from a severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and a Major Depression, Severe. He also has a detailed treatment plan which was prepared by his therapist in Austin, TX.

On December 3, 2009, Specialist Trevor Loope addressed Ithaca's Common Council requesting the Common Council's active support upon his return to the base to potentially face criminal charges for being AWOL. As of late December, it looked promising that he would get an administrative discharge. Drum commanders, however, scheduled a sanity board to assess Loope's mental health status on Thursday, June 19th 10:00 am at Ft Drum's Mental Health facility. They also proffered criminal charges against Loope for AWOL with trial by a Special Court Martial set for July 1st, 2009.

Early in June, Dr. Ogren telephoned Ft Drum's mental health chief, Dr.Todd Benham offering to serve as an expert witness before the sanity board.. Ogren’s offer involved no expense to the military, since he is willing to pay his own travel expenses from Houston. On Monday, June 15th, Dr. Benham finally returned Ogren's call, asking him why he had phoned. When Ogren told him of his desire to testify at Loope's hearing, Benham remarked that that this was ridiculous and that since it was a closed hearing, he didn't think that Ogren would be allowed to testify. Dr. Ogren arrived at the base and waited in the lobby of the health center. He was invited to respond for ten minutes regarding any corrections or additions to the report he had written, a copy of which the board had already received. He was in conference much longer than ten minutes.

The video was taken outside the PX facility at Ft. Drum after the sanity board. Trevor Loope, Dr. Ogren, and Tod Ensign, a lawyer who directs Citizen soldier are interviewed. Citizen Soldier, a GI/veterans rights advocacy organization based in NYC, is supporting Trevor in his struggle to receive an administrative discharge from Ft. Drum. Tod Ensign, a lawyer and Director of Citizen Soldier and co-ordinator of the Different Drummer Cafe in Watertown, accompanied Trevor to Ithaca. He urged Council to extend broad support to war resisters like Trevor consistent with its “Community of Sanctuary” resolution, which was passed by Council on October 1, 2008.

-thanks to Tompkins Against War & Occupation and Cris McConkey for the video interview

Trevor returns to Fort Drum

Stories from sources around the country

http://www.rochesterivaw.org/story/ithaca-common-council-members-support-awol-soldier-trevor-loope

http://www.couragetoresist.org/x/

    (Pay attention to this site and support them if you can; they are wonderful people who do a lot of good work for resisters.)

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20081205/NEWS03/312059965


http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008812060341


http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59226

Trevor Loope addresses Ithaca Common Council

This link is to an article in the Ithaca Journal. It takes place at the Ithaca Common Council meeting earlier this week. Trevor came to ask them to write or sign a letter of support that he would bring with him to Fort Drum the next morning when he would be returning to the base. He came to Ithaca because they unanimously passed a resolution declaring themselves a "community of sanctuary" that would "respect and not interfere with the lawful activities of military personnel, veterans, and all others who are opposed to the immoral wars in and occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan" back on October 1st.

He made his request and several other people spoke in support of the issue. The chamber was filled with supporters.

All but one of the council members said they would write or sign a supportive statement for him by the morning. The other member made no statement regarding the issue.

 

Trevor's lawyer, Tod Ensign from Citizen Soldier in NYC, asked that people call the base commander, Major General Oates, to check on the status of Trevor. There is a concern for Trevor's well-being if he gets lost in the system.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008812040321

Trevor Loope