article 32

this soldier, officer, with an EXEMPLARY record COULD get life in prison. her record speaks for itself. she VOLUNTEERED to go to iraq. however, while there, she had a psychiatric episode and attempted to commit suicide. it was in the presence of a psychiatric nurse.

now she is charged with kidnapping, endangering another solider and attempting suicide. the attempting suicide part is true. her doctors at walter reed are on her side. the army is not. they are thinking (quite hard) about prosecuting her.

did you know if you're a psychiatric patient at walter reed, your family is not eligible for the amenities other families are allowed?
'A Soldier's Officer'

Dana Priest and Anne Hull Washington Post Staff Writers
In a nondescript conference room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 1st Lt. Elizabeth Whiteside listened last week as an Army prosecutor outlined the criminal case against her in a preliminary hearing. The charges: attempting suicide and endangering the life of another soldier while serving in Iraq.
Her hands trembled as Maj. Stefan Wolfe, the prosecutor, argued that Whiteside, now a psychiatric outpatient at Walter Reed, should be court-martialed. After seven years of exemplary service, the 25-year-old Army reservist faces the possibility of life in prison if she is tried and convicted. Military psychiatrists at Walter Reed who examined Whiteside after she recovered from her self-inflicted gunshot wound diagnosed her with a severe mental disorder, possibly triggered by the stresses of a war zone. But Whiteside's superiors considered her mental illness "an excuse" for criminal conduct, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. .............