I am a proud mother of a wonderful son who honorably served his county. My son Marine Sgt. Joshua N. Orndorff served 2 tours of Iraq. I am blessed that my son came home alive. Although war changes every soldier, we all welcome our hero’s home with open arms. Little do we realize just what battle does to brave young men and women? Only time will reveal how each soldier copes with the tragedies seen in battle. Many American are not aware that 1 out of 8 soldiers returning from war are suffering from PTSD, TBI and or depression. The RAND studies show that among male and female soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, rates range from 9% shortly after returning from deployment to 31% a year after deployment. Only about 50% of our Veterans seek help out of the 50% who do seek treatment, only half of them get minimally adequate treatment.
As a mother I have struggled with where and how do I get my son help? As a Parent or Spouse we want only the best for our loved one who is suffering from the effects of deployment and we pray for their peace of mind and healing. Statics show more than 180,000 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans suffering from PTSD, TBI and or depression are incarcerated. We Americans have a responsibility to stand up and help our Veterans who put their life on the line to keep all Americans safe.
Many of you have been kind enough to reach out in various ways to ask what you can do to help Joshua. Up until now, we have just been looking for letters of encouragement, monies on his commissary and sending books etc.
Joshua has been struggling to get through the appeal process with the hopes of lessening his sentence on his own. He has taken the first few steps needed and now he needs the assistance of someone in a professional position that knows how to submit the correct papers. We are now reaching out to friends and family as all other options have been exhausted. We have tried to find someone that would assist a Veteran for a nominal fee but we have been unsuccessful with that as well.
We want this to be clear, Joshua is not in any way, minimizing the horrific events that took place May 28, 2013. Joshua is only asking that the actual events that occurred that day be considered as to what caused the end result. There was a lot of information left out during trial due to insufficient counsel, which could have yielded a very different end result. Having the opportunity to now introduce this evidence comes with a cost that no one person is able to take on at this time or any time in the foreseeable future.
In short, we have humbled ourselves in requesting help through this avenue. Rather than contact everyone personally, we hope this approach will reach more people and we are praying for a small miracle. We need a total of approximately $8,000.00 and we need it soon. Once Joshua receives paperwork back from his last filing, he is very limited to complete the final piece of the process. Any amount will help, if all of Joshua’s friends, and brothers would just give a humble amount, collectively we can reach the goal. We know times are tough, and we would not be asking if there were any other options available to us, we are desperately seeking help.
Please continue to send up prayers for Joshua and his family. If you are interested in specifics regarding any aspect of this plea for support, please message Susan through Joshua’s Support page or directly.
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