Subject: Please help save Private Ryan: This Lakota Warrior served two tours
in Iraq, participated in over 160 missions, now the Army at Ft.Carson, Colo.
wants to kick him out without help
  Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:33:54 -0600

  The Army is even calling this wounded soldier, "Dead Wood" Write letters,
contact your Congressional Delegation, send funds, DO SOMETHING! This Lakota
Warrior needs help. The address to help is at the bottom of this article.
  Gay Kingman

  Column: Help lacking for hidden war wound - Sunday. August 26, 2007

  Pfc. Ryan LeCompte
  It's been hell trying to save Private Ryan.

  Pfc. Ryan LeCompte, an Army scout, has been diagnosed by military and private
doctors with post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury after
serving two tours in Iraq with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.

  He came home with a wounded mind and a broken body.

  Now senior officers want to get rid of him.

  The 27-year-old Lakota warrior from Lower Brule, S.D., was a standout
soldier, earning accolades for working tirelessly, without complaint, despite the long
hours and harsh conditions he faced, according to a December 2003 award
recommendation.

  He participated in more than 160 combat missions.

  He was an unstoppable force that ranks him among the best in the Thunder
Squadron.

  That was then.

  Now senior officers at Fort Carson, Colo., argue he should be kicked out of
the military without benefits for misconduct, charges that include missing a
unit formation and allegedly hitting two soldiers.

  LeCompte's chain of command has made every effort to mentor and rehabilitate
him into a productive citizen and soldier, wrote the Army's congressional
coordinator, Kenia Bultman, in an April response to an inquiry from Sen. Tim
Johnson, D-S.D.

  LeCompte's actions continue to defy the good order and discipline of the unit
and have a negative impact on the rest of the soldiers.

  Tammie LeCompte, Ryan's wife, asked the senator's office for help. She said
her husband was receiving poor medical care, was harassed by supervisors and was
facing a dishonorable discharge after seven years of service.

  The soldier had been on post at Fort Carson for more than a year before he
was admitted to the Sheridan, Wyo., Veterans Administration Hospital for a
six-week program, including treatment for substance abuse and post-traumatic stress
disorder.

  He was released in June. But his supervisors had already been building a case
to have him discharged.

  On Aug. 20, Ryan attended a hearing to argue against misconduct charges. But
Col. Henry Butch� Kievenaar said he would proceed with the separation,
despite being aware of Ryan's combat-related injuries.

  The previous month, Kievenaar had discussed â?oa medical separation for
post-traumatic stress disorder with the LeComptes and an investigator with Veterans
for America, according to a letter sent to the senator's office by Mary
Foster, director of the military personnel division at Fort Carson.

  Maj. Gen. Robert Mixon, Fort Carson's post commander, will make the final
decision in days to come.

  But the outcome doesn't look promising for Ryan.

  And it doesn't bode well for thousands of other military service members
returning from war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan with emotional and mental
problems.

  Dr. Steven Knorr, director of mental health at Evans Army Community Hospital
at Fort Carson, issued a memo to unit commanders, urging them to move swiftly
and decisively when deciding the fate of soldiers with emotional issues.

  An excerpt from the memo posted on the National Public Radio Web site reads:
PROCRASTINATING ON DISCIPLINE AND SEPARATION. Delaying administrative
separation is counterproductive. Get rid of dead wood.

  Jason Forrester, a spokesman for Veterans for America, said about 38 percent
of soldiers returning from Iraq suffer from mental health problems, but the
military has inadequate resources to assist them.

  They need to be more proactive in screening people when they come back and
start treating them rather than punishing them, Forrester said.

  The General Accounting Office is investigating other allegations made by Fort
Carson soldiers who say they were mistreated or kicked out of the Army after
admitting they suffer from PTSD.

  In fact, several multi-layered investigations are under way by the GAO,
involving PTSD, traumatic brain injuries and deployment-related health problems.

  We've had a lot of requests for reports in this area,â? Laurie Ekstrand, GAO
director of health care, said Friday. This is a huge issue.�

  The first GAO report is expected in December. The rest will follow next year,
Ekstrand said.

  Meanwhile, dozens of pages of military medical records show Ryan's PTSD and
traumatic brain injury have led to nosebleeds, memory loss, panic attacks and
headaches. He also falls asleep at inappropriate times.

  His tendency to sleep is probably a welcome escape from his bleak internal
landscape, wrote Dr. David Polefka, a psychologist at the veterans hospital in
Sheridan, Wyo.

  The military treated Ryan with prescription drugs. This spring, he was
oversedated while a patient in the Cedar Springs Behavioral Health System in Colorado
Springs, Colo.

  He had to be resuscitated, according to a July report from Dr. Roderick
O'Brien of the U.S. Air Force Academy Hospital.

  Ryan's family members say he no longer resembles the 20-year-old who signed
up for military service in 2000.

  Orville Langdeau of Lower Brule, S.D., said his nephew can't even make a
simple decision by himself. He wants Ryan back among the Lakota, where he can heal
and be honored as a combat veteran.

  In a July 23 psychiatric report, Dr. Anne League described Ryan as â?overy
sleepy, looks depressed. When I asked him questions, he either stared back at me,
answered, I don't remember,' or I don't know,' or looked at his wife for help.
  The Fort Carson military psychiatrist said Ryan did appear confused or to not
understand what I was asking him. He was alert and orientated, at least after
he woke up. He also could not remember the last time he felt happy.

  Yet, in a medical evaluation requested by Ryan's command, League in a July 30
letter described Ryan as alert, exhibits good eye contact and understanding of
his situation and has been able to establish one-to-one relationships. His
activities of daily living functioning remain intact.

  Asked about the contradictory statements, written within a week of each
other, League said, I can't speak with anyone without a release from the soldier.

  And if Ryan were to sign a release?

  Well, if he's not competent, it raises a lot of issues.

  In May, Tammie LeCompte testified before the House Committee on Oversight and
Government Reform during a hearing called Invisible Casualties: The Incidence
and Treatment of Mental Health Problems by the U.S. Military.

  But the hearing didn't give her the platform to say what her life with Ryan
was really like.

  I'm alone and fighting the U.S. Army, she said last week.

  She quit her job to take care of Ryan and five children. Money is so tight
the family is eligible for food stamps. The soldier's wife recently sold their
bedroom suite for $600. The kids' beds are gone, too.

  Two months ago, Tammie sold the family living room set for $900.

  Anything at home and worth some money is at the pawn shop, she said.

  Jodi Rave covers Native issues for the Missoulian. Reach her at (406)
523-5299 .

  You can help

  Friends have established the LeCompte Combat Lakota Warrior Fund. Electronic
fund transfers can be sent to:

  Armed Forces Bank and the Air Academy Bank in Colorado Springs, Colo.

  Routing No. 101108319

  Account No. 5157153

  The LeComptes' mailing address is:

  Ryan and Tammie LeCompte

  4314-D Inchon Circle

  Fort Carson, CO 80913