Judge Sentences Green Beret, and Himself, to a Night in Jail

Have you ever heard of judge sentencing a man to jail and then serving the sentence along with him?  Well, it just happened, and it’s a pretty amazing story of the loyalty and camaraderie that is part of our military.

Judge Lou Olivera, a Gulf War veteran, is a district court judge over the Veterans Treatment Court in Cumberland County, North Carolina. He had to sentence Green Beret Joe Serna to one night in jail for a probation violation.

Serna, a recipient of three Purple Hearts, is retired from the military and is having a hard time adjusting back to life after experiencing the battle of war in Afghanistan. Through his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, he turned to alcohol to help him deal with the issues he was having mentally.

This path of destruction soon lead him to the Veterans Treatment Court which helps struggling veterans get back on track. This is where Serna meet Olivera.

Unfortunately, this story happens far too often.  Servicemen who serve in combat zones are having experiences that they find impossible to process emotionally, and thus return as damaged goods with psychological wounds that are every bit as real as physical injuries.

The story continues:

When Serna lied in court about a urine test, Olivera knew he had to hold him accountable for his actions. He sentenced him to spend the night in jail.

But as Serna entered the jail cell, the painful memories of losing companions began to flood his mind and he felt this would be the longest night of his life. Anxiety gripped him and flashbacks began to play in his mind as the door closed behind him.

This is the tragic pattern.  Events trigger memories and emotional responses with which the mentally ill person cannot cope.

Without telling Serna what he planned to do, Olivera drove him to the jail and asked the jail administrator if he could spend the night with Serna. The administrator had never heard of such a thing.

“Joe was a good soldier and he’s a good man,” Olivera said. “I wanted him to know I had his back. I didn’t want him to do this alone.”

As Serna’s mind began to go to the dark place of being trapped in the vehicle and losing his buddies, the jail cell door opened and he saw the judge’s smiling face. “When he came in, I knew everything was going to be okay,” recalled Serna.

“I was at peace,” he continued.

…

They spent the night talking about their families, lives, and service. The judge knew Serna needed to face the consequence for his actions, but he also knew he didn’t want him to go it alone.

“He is a judge, but that night, he was my battle buddy,” Serna said. “He knew what I was going through. As a warrior, he connected.”

That judge is a hero.  And in doing what would be considered unthinkable, he demonstrated that justice can be accompanied by mercy.  And that there are some shared loyalties that cannot be broken.

Source:  Liftable