AWOL soldier returns

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

AWOL soldier Jeff Hanks said he walked away from the Army in the middle of a deployment to Afghanistan because his problems with anxiety and stress from combat have been ignored. On Veterans Day, he returned to face the consequences.

The 30-year-old Army infantryman said he has suffered post-traumatic stress disorder since his 2008 tour in Iraq. He tried to seek treatment at Fort Campbell, Ky., last month during his midtour leave from Afghanistan. He said when his commanders failed to help and told him he would have to go back immediately, he instead went home to North Carolina.

The specialist could face less-than-honorable discharge or jail after turning himself in Thursday at Fort Campbell.

“All I wanted was to be treated. Going AWOL is not what I wanted to do,” Hanks told reporters outside the gates of the Army post.

Hanks said in an interview before he left his home in White Lake, N.C., that he chose to return on Veterans Day because he didn’t want to exceed 30 days of being AWOL and face the more- serious charge of desertion. His actions and the timing were supported by Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Hanks said he understands that his actions could be considered disrespectful to other veterans but said the military would continue to see high rates of suicide and substance abuse if it ignores soldiers’ mental-health problems.