Petal widow pushes for change in PTSD treatment
Petal military widow Alicia McElroy cares for her 4-year-old son in the absence of his father.
“I see myself as raising a hero’s son and not as a poor, single mom,” she said.
Staff Sgt. James “Mac” McElroy had served in some of the most dangerous – and deadly – war zones.
A deployment with the U.S. Marine Corps to Afghanistan in the early 2000s.
A tour in Iraq with the Mississippi Army National Guard in 2005.
A return to Afghanistan in 2010 for a tour of duty with the National Guard.
But it wasn’t on a battlefield where James McElroy lost his life.
Instead, nearly a year ago, the 30-year-old died suddenly – and unexpectedly – on American soil in a military hospital while undergoing treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Now, his widow has joined a list of families who want to see change in military standards for treatment of PTSD.
“I trusted the military to take care of my husband,” McElroy said. “They didn’t take care of him.”
She said – after months of treatment that was difficult to watch her husband go through – her life changed at his funeral services.
“At that point, I said, ‘I’m going to find out what happened to you, who did this to you, and they’re not going to get away with it,'” she said.
Hattiesburg American
6/3/12
Magnolia Tribune
