#PTSD #PurpleHeart #deportation #WarOnDrugs
"Park was flown back to the U.S., honorably discharged, and awarded a Purple Heart. Though his body began to heal, he said his mind did not.
'I was suffering from PTSD severely,' he added. 'From sleeping nightmares to like, having just fearful thoughts all the time. Couldn't watch horror movies, couldn't hear loud noises.'
Back then, Park didn't know he was dealing with PTSD. So, he never sought help and the trauma slowly took a toll. He eventually turned to drugs to cope.
' I had to find some kind of a cure for what I was going through,' he said.
Throughout his 20s and 30s, he battled a crack cocaine addiction. One night in New York, while meeting up with a dealer, police appeared and arrested Park. Later, he skipped one of his court hearings.
'I just couldn't stay clean, he said. So finally when the judge told me, 'Don't come back into my court with the dirty urine,' which I knew I would, I got scared and I jumped bail.'
Park was charged with possession of a controlled substance and bail jumping, which derailed his chances of naturalization or getting relief from a deportation order.
Park said for a long time, citizenship was not a priority because he did not fully grasp the consequences of remaining a noncitizen. Although the U.S. offers expedited naturalization for those who serve honorably in the U.S. military for at least one year, or a single day during wartime, Park was discharged before he had served 12 months and the invasion of Panama was not classified as a period of hostility."
https://www.npr.org/2025/06/24/g-s1-74036/trump-ice-self-deportation-army-veteran-hawaii