BRUNSWICK, Maine — Family, friends and soldiers who served with Iraq war veteran Scott Couture offered more than words of consolation when they learned in April that the Maine Public Employees Retirement System again denied disability retirement benefits he sought after post-traumatic stress disorder prompted him to leave his job as a Maine Marine Patrol warden.
But even as Scott and his wife, Darcie Couture, prepared to tell their two teenage sons that with mounting medical and legal bills, they couldn’t afford the mortgage on the old farmhouse they called home, Darcie’s brother launched a GoFundMe fundraiser that, as of Wednesday morning, has brought in nearly $21,000.
Last week, as the fund neared the $10,000 mark that triggered an anonymous matching donation, Darcie said they were overwhelmed though equally uncomfortable accepting the money.
“But to be perfectly honest, it will make the difference between us keeping the house [and not],” she said.
Scott served in the Army Reserves with the 94th Military Police Company in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, for what would become the second-longest deployment of any U.S. military unit since World War II, including 15 months in combat zones such as the notoriously violent “Sunni Triangle.”
In February, Scott recounted his tours in Iraq for the Bangor Daily News, describing experiences that led him to feel “like I was losing my humanity.”
The Veterans Administration determined Scott is 80 percent disabled and provides him benefits. But in December 2014, the Maine Public Employees Retirement System, or MePERS, which Scott paid into as a marine patrol employee instead of Social Security, denied Scott’s application for retirement because of disability, despite acknowledging he suffers from PTSD.
Retirement system representatives argued Scott did not prove he is permanently disabled and unable to work.
Regardless of the MePERS decision, those who know and served with Scott Couture were determined to support him.
Curtis Mills, who twice was deployed with Scott as part of the 94th MP Company, donated $100. Mills wrote in a Facebook post that whenever his path crossed with Scott’s in Iraq, it “was always a reason to celebrate as if I was getting to see family in some time. … These little breaks were a much-needed mental vacation. I could never thank Scott enough.”
Michael Gifford, who served with Scott and wrote of the experience in the book “Taking Anbar: A Frontline Account of the Hunt for Iraq’s Lethal Insurgency,” offered financial assistance through his nonprofit organization, OnBehalf.org, a nonprofit organization that raises funds and organizes professional services for combat-wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. Gifford said Tuesday he’s frustrated with and angered by a system that doesn’t adequately address the needs of veterans.
“We still haven’t figured this out,” he said. “We’ve been dealing with PTSD and shellshock for decades, and no one really has a good handle on how to treat it and how it meshes with your private life once you leave.”
On Tuesday, Scott said in an email to the Bangor Daily News that he’s overwhelmed by the support his family has received.
“This has been a humbling experience for me and my family,” he wrote. “We appreciate the overwhelming support that we have received from so many people, some who are likely worse off than me. Please remember, I would like to raise awareness of all veterans struggling with PTSD and to possibly fix a system that seems ill-equipped to deal with us.”
The Coutures have appealed the executive director’s decision. According to their attorney, Bruce Merrill, a hearing officer will rule on the appeal and can disagree with the decision of the executive director and recommend that disability retirement be granted.
Darcie said she’s determined to fight to change the disability retirement requirements at MePERS.
“This fight has cost us a lot in a lot of ways, and I don’t know if we’re going to survive it,” she said, noting that the couple has recently separated. “I don’t know what there is to salvage for Scott and I. I plan to continue to work to correct this for all the people who are going to come after us. I know there are more. It makes me sick at heart to realize so many people are going to have to go through the same struggle.”