Yes, I may be disabled for the rest of my life. No, I may never have an opportunity to engage in gainful employment. However, what I can do is warn veterans about the possible pitfalls that await them. This project isn't about gloom and doom. This is just an account of my efforts to be a productive member of society who has something of value to offer, and of my ongoing efforts to finally earn my college degree.
It's taken many years to unravel the hoax that was created for me. I was enraged when I first saw the doctor's notes and the lies that she told in order to justify her actions. After I calmed down, those notes took on a much greater meaning. I slowly realized, to my horror, that any veteran could be kidnapped and forcibly hospitalized simply by showing up to campus and reporting to class. That's what happened the day I was handcuffed and taken away by campus police.
Another reason this project was so important to me and has been so important since my lawsuit against Bridgewater State College, is that I wasn't the only student to be forcibly hospitalized on that campus. I don't know if the other students were veterans. I don't even know their names or who they were. But through the process of discovery I found out to my horror that there was a total of five students who were forcibly hospitalized. Two were men of color, and the other three were white women.
God forbid that any of those poor souls were veterans of our military. If they were, then I want my voice to be the one to tell of the pain and devastation that comes in the wake of forced hospitalization and false imprisonment. More importantly, someone must show, prove and explain how a doctor can create patients out of thin air using stereotypes about service members, laced with bold-faced lies about their careers.
This series isn't only about my experience as a veteran on a college campus. It also includes stories of, what I believe is, the discrimination I endured at the hands of people who are paid to help people get back on their feet after they become disabled; the administrators who get paid handsomely, but have utterly no regard for the lives of students.
If nothing else, this project will allow me to eventually put down the ghosts of a nightmare long past. To this day, I am haunted by memories of the waking dream I lived through during the time I was on psych meds. I do this so I won't have live out my existence as a spectator of life, without a voice. Finally, I hope to help somebody else overcome the unjust and evil acts of low-minded individuals of ill-will, in positions of power and influence, who neglect their duties and serve no one but themselves.
Mister Al