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This is bull .
If a soldier comes back from war all busted up, we should let him smoke as much weed as he wants.
Branson, Mo. — Newlyweds Scott and Samantha West drove their SUV through the gate of the exclusive housing community, winding upward to an empty cul-de-sac that offers commanding views of the surrounding valleys.
For months, the young couple visited this site and dreamed of their bright future, ever since a charity that serves wounded veterans announced last year it was building a house for Scott at no charge.
The gift, like his new bride, seemed heaven-sent to Scott West, 23, who had lost his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq in December 2005. The new home would feature wide hallways, voice-activated lighting and other amenities tailored to Scott's needs.
And when a developer offered to give the Wests a free lot in Saddlebrooke, a community where house prices range from $350,000 to more than $1 million, the couple thought it was too good to be true.
"This was a place where I thought I could live the rest of my life and never have to worry," West said.
On this night, the couple didn't linger long at the vacant lot. The winter wind was bitter. So too, are the memories.
In January, just two days after the couple had returned from their honeymoon, the charity took back its gift after learning that Scott West had been arrested on marijuana charges in 2007 and pleaded guilty in December to a felony of possession with intent to distribute. Last week, a judge placed West on five years probation.
West acknowledges that he deserved to be punished. Despite his guilty plea, he insists he never sold marijuana. He believes the charity, Massachusetts-based Homes for Our Troops, overreacted. "It was something to help me," West said of the donated house. "It wasn't like a privilege to be taken from me."
Homes for Our Troops founder John Gonsalves did not respond to several requests for an interview. The nonprofit organization has built more than three dozen homes nationwide since it was established in 2004. It has about two dozen more homes under construction.
A spokeswoman for the charity said it was grateful for West's service and sacrifice. She described the decision to drop West from the program as the most painful Gonsalves has had to make.
"It hurts him; it haunts him," spokeswoman Vicki Thomas said.
NOT WHO HE IS
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Scott West said he never tried alcohol in high school and only used marijuana once. Then he graduated, joined the Army and reached his first duty station at Fort Stewart, Ga.
"I was drinking and smoking a week later," he said.
Within a month, he deployed to Iraq where alcohol, marijuana and hashish were available, he said.
West served as a reconnaissance scout in the 3rd Infantry Division. Three days before he was scheduled to leave Iraq, a roadside bomb detonated beneath West's Humvee while on patrol. He spent 14 months recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where he learned about Homes for Our Troops. He decided to apply.
He returned to Branson in February 2007 and moved into a two-bedroom condominium he had purchased with a $100,000 insurance payment he received for his injuries. He was lauded in local news reports, granted honorary membership in local veterans organizations and spoke to elementary and high school students about overcoming adversity. And he smoked marijuana.
In October 2007, a police officer pulled West and two friends over for driving without headlights or license plates.
That very day, West said he had cashed the first of his monthly $4,000 disability checks and had gone to an electronics store to buy a 65-inch television, a laptop computer and other electronics. The purchases were in the back of a pickup he'd recently purchased.
On the way home, he picked up a friend, who, West said, had gone to buy marijuana for the group.
The police officer smelled marijuana and asked to search the vehicle. He reported finding 2.5 pounds of marijuana in several containers, a scale and several pipes. (It would later be determined the actual amount of marijuana was less than 12 ounces.) The officer also found $800 in cash on West.
The Sheriff's Department seized the electronics, cash and the truck, which was later repossessed. West spent three days in the Taney County Jail. "I'd never been in trouble," he said.
Two weeks later, West ran into Samantha Eubanks at the local Wal-Mart. They recognized each other from attending the same high school. Not long after they met, he told her about his legal problems.
"I didn't meet a drug dealer," she said. "That's not who Scott is. I met the real Scott."
She described him as outgoing, kindhearted and upbeat despite all that's happened. Still, she told him she wouldn't put up with any drugs.
About two weeks after they met, West traveled to Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas for more surgery on his leg. On many nights, he would fall asleep while talking to Samantha on the phone. He returned to Branson and enrolled in a substance abuse recovery program. In March, he proposed.
Then in May, Homes for Our Troops, notified West of his selection for a free home. He signed a contract in July. "They never asked about the arrest or any past information," West said. "I answered all their questions."
Meanwhile, the criminal case was moving forward.
West's attorney, Barney Naioti, said West was more likely to receive a lenient sentence if he didn't fight the charge, so West pleaded guilty to the felony, even though he says the drugs were for his personal use. A prosecutor said West's plea speaks for itself.
Soon after, the Springfield News-Leader published a story about West receiving the home. Afterward, the reporter received an anonymous tip about West's conviction and called him to ask if it was true. West said he explained what happened and thought nothing more of it.
While Samantha and Scott were on their honeymoon in Jamaica, the newspaper contacted the charity, which was unaware of West's legal problems. When the couple returned home, West's voice mail was filled with messages, including from Homes for Our Troops.
When he called the organization, West said Gonsalves told him he was rescinding the free house and lot because of the legal troubles.
The following day, the News-Leader ran a story about West losing the home because of his drug arrest. West said he didn't want to be seen in public. "I was embarrassed and ashamed."
'A DIFFERENT ROAD'
The couple still resides in West's small condo, where it's difficult to use a wheelchair. At night, when he removes his prosthetics, he walks on his hands. That makes it difficult to reach the sink or thermostat, or open cabinets or the refrigerator.
Robert V. Holland, a Navy veteran of World War II and a member of a Disabled American Veterans chapter in the Branson area, said many veterans used drugs to get through combat. Adjusting to civilian life afterward isn't easy, he added.
"It's a trap that it seems that not only him, but others fall into," said Holland, 85. "But they went over there and fought just like I did."
West said he is sorry and feels he let many people down. He had hoped to have a new home, go to college, have children. Those plans seem less certain. For now, he delivers pizzas.
"What I did will have consequences for years to come," West said. "I'm going to have to travel down a totally different road now."
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This is bull .
If a soldier comes back from war all busted up, we should let him smoke as much weed as he wants.
That's ed up. I'm not going to get into the drug debate this will likely spawn, but someone at that charity needs to get slapped. They clearly had the resources to properly vet this guy's background, why the didn't they use them before making an offer to him?
If they want to be mega hardasses with their money it's ultimately their perogative, but to pull the rug out from under someone like that because they didn't perform their due diligence is horrible.
They gave him the house. They have the right to take it away as well.
how do you take back a gift? and how was a pizza delivery guy gonna pay the taxes anyway?
Here is homes for our troops contact info
http://www.homesforourtroops.org/sit...name=contactus
Mailing Address:
Homes For Our Troops
37 Main Street
Taunton, MA 02780
Phone: 508-823-3300 or Toll Free: (866) 7 TROOPS
Fax: 508-823-5411
I think a violation like that soldier's should bump him down on the list of people in line to get a new house but not disqualify him completely.
I think he should be re considered for a house if/ when he successfully fulfills his court ordered probbation.
It's not his fault they didn't do a proper background check on him. They offered him a house without doing their due dilligence. It's their fault, not his.
As for the drug thing, he had a clean record before that and he even went to a drug rehab program. What else do they want him to do?
Nevermind the fact that he put his ass on the line for his country.
n/m - figured out timeline. I had misread it at first.
My opinion doesn't change because pot isn't any worse than any other legal substance and in most cases it pales in comparison to the addiction and destruction of alcohol which I doubt would have cost him the house had he entered in to AA. You don't offer something and take it away. I wonder if he has a case for breech of a verbal or contractual agreement.
He probably could sue, unless there is some sort of character clause ( is that what they call it?) specified in the contract.
I agree that the agency should have better researched the soldier before awarding him the house, if character of the recepient matters greatly to them.
Now their decision looks like a knee jerk reaction in the interest of them saving face and reputation.
Even so, I question whether the soldier currently deserves the new home as there are other wounded vets without law violations whom could benefit from the house.
I fail to see how his violation and the severity of his injuries have anything to do with each other. If the company deemed he was in need of assistance that fact doesn't change, violation or not.
never flaunt when ridin dirty...
They have to apply, Angel. It isn't given to them just because they're war vets.
This guy applied and did everything they asked of him.
Regardless of how many wounded vets there are, they didn't apply for the free house. This guy did.
They can choose to give or take their gift to whomever they choose. Besides, selling pot is illegal. that bag for blaming the Army for his drug use and drinking anyway.
Valid point. I am not disputing the soldiers need.
I was just pointing out that unless the company builds houses for every soldier in need, they must have additional points on which they qualify people.
Perhaps the company wants to give houses to men who are exemplary both as soldiers AND civilians.
I do hope that soldier gets his life all the way together and that he and his family find a nice home. All the best to him.
Yea, because the Army is beyond reproach.
I'm not sold that its just that easy to commit to someone and then back out. If this were anything other than charity we'd all side with the guy. Verbally agreeing or contractually agreeing to something holds weight. This guy might have possibly made significant alterations to his life that center around the verbal agreement. He was accountable for his actions they should do the same.
The pot has absolutely nothing to do with the charity. Does the application request criminal history be divulged. Do the same laws of discrimination apply?
it's a shame he lost his legs, cuz that schmuck reporter definitely needs an ass kicking.
Regarding the dumb question about how the pizza guy can pay his property taxes, he gets $4k per month in disability from the military for losing his limbs.
The mans life is ruined over a personal agenda driven war only come back home and be ed with because he made the mistake of turning to a muscle relaxer for comfort.
gee, let's go hard on the charity that doesn't want to give a free home to a convicted drug dealer.
priorities.
should roll by in his wheel chair with m16 waitin...
I agree !
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