The Washington Post - USA (2021-11-11)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11 , 2021. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A

wake-up call to work harder, and a

deployment to Iraq seemed like

the opportunity to prove his

worth.

It was a week into his tour as an

F-16 crew chief when a car bomb

exploded outside his base, rattling

Johnson’s bones, leaving him hy-

pervigilant and anxious. The re-

lief he expected upon returning

home was short-lived when John-

son’s marriage collapsed.

“I was so broken, I didn’t know

my left from my right,” he says.

Infractions piled up again,

sometimes for offenses such as

failing to mow his lawn to military

standards. The Air Force kicked

him out in 2009 with a general

discharge under honorable condi-

tions, which allows veterans ac-

cess to some benefits but prohib-

its use of others, including GI Bill

educational stipends.

Along with other punitive dis-

charges, advocates say, such dis-

charges can stigmatize veterans

in their next chapters of life. John-

son, who has tumbled from job to

job in the years since his separa-

tion from the military, was even-

tually diagnosed with major de-

pressive disorder, social anxiety

and post-traumatic stress, he

says. His request for a discharge

upgrade was rejected.

Now, Johnson is the reluctant

face of a lawsuit against the Air

Force, joining a fellow veteran in

accusing the service of sidestep-

ping regulations that require con-

sideration of mental health inju-

ries and their role in misconduct.

The Air Force has declined to

comment on the litigation. The

suit, filed in September by the Yale

Veterans Legal Services Clinic,

seeks a sweeping review of theirs

and other veterans’ discharge-up-

grade denials and improvements

to the review process. Thousands

of veterans could be eligible to

join the case, according to the

legal clinic, which has secured

victories in similar lawsuits

brought against the Army and the

Navy.

Johnson says he only recently

sought mental health support,

having overcome the embarrass-

ment of his discharge and navi-

gated the confusing spaces be-

tween honorable service and ev-

erything else. “I’m not doing this

for myself. This is for people who

don’t know who to talk to, who

need the help.”

[email protected]

[email protected]

allowed Hendrick to see its flaws.

The military has no accommoda-

tion, for example, for nonbinary

personnel. Still, Hendrick is hope-

ful that recent changes — such as

the Army adopting a gender-neu-

tral fitness test — will help make

the military’s perennial struggle

with issues of gender and sexuali-

ty recede.

“I’m sure there will be discrimi-

nation against trans and queer

people for a long time to come,”

Hendrick said. “But the more op-

portunities we’re given to show

that we can perform well, the less

it would become.”

Martin Johnson

Martin Johnson had a tough

time adjusting to military life,

racking up minor infractions and

the punishments that came as a

result. The hard landing was a

members struggling to under-

stand their options — work that

continues today, nearly two years

after retiring from the military.

The Biden administration rein-

stated the policy allowing trans-

gender troops to serve openly, but

there have been problems with its

implementation, Hendrick says.

Most issues occur because mili-

tary commanders, finding them-

selves in unfamiliar territory, del-

egate to their subordinates the

responsibility for approving

troops’ plans for gender transi-

tion, Hendrick says.

“That’s way too many people

knowing all that personal infor-

mation,” Hendrick says. “Many

commanders are very good about

it, but other times, other people

try to get their hands in there.”

Helping transitioning service

members navigate the system has

says. Time, he believes, is what he
needed to come back from the
edge, and no suicide method is as
fast or as fatal as a firearm.
Veterans own guns at higher
rates than other U.S. adults do,
and they use them to commit
suicide far more routinely, ac-
cording to federal health data,
underscoring the issue’s urgency.
Washington and others say
more secure gun storage may add
precious seconds to a fateful deci-
sion, enough time to convince
someone in distress to stop and
seek help. Everytown for Gun
Safety, a gun-control group where
Washington sits on the veterans
advisory board, also has pushed
for laws that could help family
members or law enforcement
temporarily take possession of
firearms when loved ones are in
crisis.
Gun access can be a thorny
topic for veterans, Washington
acknowledges. But conversations
with family and friends — having
a plan, he says — can be a deciding
factor in whether a veteran sur-
vives an emergency.
“Talking about it. That’s how
you do it,” he says.

Deirdre Hendrick

Deirdre Hendrick came out as
transgender in 2016. They had
been in uniform almost 30 years
at that point, on active duty and in
the reserves, but initially Hen-
drick chose to inform only civilian
colleagues. Sharing this with fel-
low soldiers, Hendrick worried,
carried too great a risk of discrim-
ination, even though the Penta-
gon had ended its prohibition on
transgender personnel serving
openly.
For a time, Hendrick presented
as female in one job (as a civilian
auditor for Army Cyber Com-
mand) and male in another (as a
lawyer in the Army Reserve), deli-
cate day-to-day footwork made
more onerous with both positions
based at Fort Meade in Maryland.
That changed in 2017, when Hen-
drick came out to military col-
leagues, too. But soon thereafter,
the Trump administration re-
versed the Pentagon’s policy, caus-
ing upheaval for thousands of
transgender service members in
the process of transitioning or
considering whether to do so.
Hendrick faced an onslaught of
requests for help from service

VETERANS FROM A

PHOTOS BY JOVELLE TAMAYO FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Michael Washington, a combat veteran, stands on the Tacoma, Wash., bridge where he once tried to end his life. Washington says

he is alive in part because he had no firearm at the time, and is now involved in advocacy focused on gun safety and veteran suicide.

A photo of Sgt. Michael T. Washington, the son of Michael

Washington. Washington’s son followed him into the

Marine Corps and deployed to Afghanistan, but was killed.

After his death, his father s piraled downward for years.

Global leaders assessed the goals for the

COP26 summit, how to accelerate the

transition to clean power and the stakes

for future generations.

To watch exclusive video highlights from

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