Mood:
accident proneTopic: "A soldier booed?'(7)
In April of the year 2010, Marine Captain Scott Sciple drove the wrong way on an Interstate Highway near Tampa and plowed head-on into another car. According to court records, his blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit. He had also earned three Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for heroism in both Iraq and Afghanistan and had nearly died of blood loss resulting from a severe head trauma. Earlier that evening Sciple had blacked out into a "disassociative episode" caused by brain damage and post traumatic stress disorder.
The driver of the other car was killed. His name was Pedro Rivera, and he was a mechanic, driving home with his wife after helping a friend whose car had broken down. Mr. Rivera is survived by his wife, two children, and three stepchildren.
Sciple is currently in Tampa's jail psychiatric ward award awaiting trial. Prosecutors refuse comment. Sciple's father received a telephone call from his son after the crash and he quotes his son thusly, "I don't know why I wasn't killed any of the times I was wounded. I wish I had been. At least it would have been honorable, and an innocent man would not have died."
The widow is angry at the military for failing to treat Sciple's disorder. Remarkably, in September of 2010 the Marine Corps agreed with her and wrote internally that "It is folly to expect a wounded mind to diagnose itself, yet our Marines still depend on an anemic system of self-diagnosis and self-reporting. . .this investigation reveals a disturbing vulnerability in the support we provide our combat veterans suffering the invisible wounds of post traumatic stress disorder."
Frodo wonders if Capt Sciple would have been booed by the audience at the "Debate" held in Orlando a few days ago? All he knows is that the statue purported to be that of blind justice in American courtrooms, really depicts something much more poignant. The lady is not blind, but her eyes are flush with tears. No matter how the toll is enumerated when the wars against terror cease, the total will omit two; shown here, known to few.
