One North Carolina judge has just shown how more officials of the law should treat America’s veterans. In an unprecedented act of compassion and understanding, the judge spent a night in jail with a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who suffers from PTSD.
Lou Olivera, is currently a district court judge and a veteran of the Gulf War. He was forced to sentence Green Beret Joe Sterna to a night in jail for violating probation and lying about his urine test.
While Olivera was forced to uphold his duty to the law, he then went above his call of duty to do something that showed the veteran there is more to life than cold, hard law and order.
Check out why the judge offered to spend the night with the prison! Because Serna broke the law, he had to face the punishment – even though he is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan.
“I gave Joe a night in jail because he had to be held accountable,” Olivera told CBS News.
But a night in jail for Serna would be torture. The victim of PTSD would be subjected to acute stress and painful flashbacks to his time in war.
“When I walked into the jail cell and they closed the door behind me, I started feeling this anxiety,” he said. “It came back – a flashback.”
Serna did three tours in Afghanistan and is now a retired Army Sergeant First Class. He experienced Hell in the Middle East. But the worst experience he had was…
when he was in a truck with fellow soldiers, when the road gave way and they fell into a creek.
“We were following the creek and the road gave way,” he told CBS News. “And the vehicle went into the creek.”
Serna was the sole-survivor.
“I lost my whole crew,” he said in an interview with People. “They were in the water with me. That tore me up. I couldn’t escape that truck. I stayed there until somebody saved me.”
Serna arrived home, but he was not in one piece. He had both physical and psychological scars from the torturous time at war.
“Physically, I was taking care of myself. I didn’t think about the mental,” he said, adding: “I was having issues, and would feed that with alcohol. I thought I was going down the right path. I didn’t know I was going the wrong way.”
Serna showed up in Judge Olivera’s courtroom with several alcohol-related charges.
“When Joe first came to my court, he was so tight,” Olivera told People. “His shoulders were so tense. Over time, you could see his shoulders relax.”
Olivera, a veteran himself, understood Serna’s situation. But that doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be punished for his crimes. He sentenced Serna to jail, knowing he would suffer from PTSD. Then Olivera told the jailer, who was also a veteran, that he wished to spend the night with the man he had just sentenced.
The jailer brought in some mats so Olivera could sleep on the ground. Serna was shocked and demanded to know why the judge was joining him in jail.
“He said, ‘We’re in the foxhole together,'” Serna recalled.
“I was at peace” the former soldier said. “When he came in, I knew everything was going to be OK.”
They passed the time discussing their military careers.
“I’m a judge and I’ve seen evil, but I see the humanity in people,” Olivera said. “Joe is a good man. Helping him helped me. I wanted him to know he isn’t alone.”
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