Former Soldier Alleges Army Punished Him After Suffering PTSD From Afghanistan

A former soldier who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his service in Afghanistan says that instead of being supported by the U.S. Army, he was punished for behavior caused by the treatment of his condition.

The Epoch Times spoke to Nathaniel Cruz, 24, who joined the U.S. Army in February 2020 with aspirations of being part of the medical community.

“The medical field was always something I had always had my sights on, and I was hoping the military would be a good experience to get started,” he said. Knowing he would one day administer emergency medical treatment to casualties on a battlefield, he said, “I got what I wanted,” referring to the opportunity to become a combat medic.

After learning the skills he needed to perform his job at Advanced Individual Training in September 2020, he arrived at his first duty station: New York’s Fort Drum. The excitement of finally reaching his goal was quickly quelled by a month-long COVID-19 quarantine. “Once I finally got introduced to my unit [in September 2020], it was like boom, a week later you’re getting deployed to Afghanistan,” he said.

On a base outside of Kabul in November 2020, Mr. Cruz was “freshly new to the unit” and the only medic assigned to the installation. “It was a lot of responsibility to shoulder,” he said. “On top of managing a whole entire aid station for the base, I felt like I was thrown into something crazy, as I also began working with the Special Forces and conversing with [the local Afghan community] to keep good relations.”