By Tim Douglass

tdouglass@pctribune.com

The quality of the photo wasn’t great, but Pope County Commissioner Paul Gremmels used the picture he took of five of his fellow marines serving overseas, to make a point to the Pope County Board.

“Even though there is an ever-increasing pool of data surrounding the difficulty veterans have reentering society, I am not going to bore you with a statistical PowerPoint presentation,” Gremmels said.   “Instead, I’m going to show you a picture of a Marine Corps fireteam I was assigned to.”

That’s how Gremmels addressed the board at last Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting.  He wanted the board to consider the potential of establishing a Veterans Court in Pope County.  A Veterans Court is a specialty court program that addresses the unique needs of veterans that become involved in the judicial system.  He pointed out that it is not a “get out of jail free” program.

As the photo was put on a large screen behind the commissioners, Gremmels said it was a picture he took of his Marine Corps Fireteam, call sign “Honky Tonk.”  “It isn’t a very good picture, but it’s the only one I have.  Allow me to introduce them to you,” he said.

The five marines in the picture were real people.  Young men that “raised their right hand and swore to uphold the Constitution and defend our country from all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

“All of these young men in the photo would go on to be awarded numerous medals, awards and citations for bravery and heroism above and beyond the call of duty,” Gremmels explained.  “They were my friends and I trusted them with my life,” he added.

Gremmels  introduced his fellow Marines by their nicknames.  The first from the left was Paco, graduated number one from Recon school and often walked point during patrols. Second from the left was Bugs.  The nickname was short for Bug-eyed.  He entered the Marine Corps on medical waivers because he did not have eyesight correctable to 20/20. He carried a M-60 machine gun “because he didn’t have to be real accurate with that weapon.  At 600 rounds per minute, you just had to point it in the right direction,” Gremmels explained.

In the middle is Smokes, a demolitions expert with nerves of steel.  

Then second from the right is Biggs.  “As you can see in the picture he is a head taller than the other Marines and if he were squared up in the picture you would also see that his shoulders were as wide as a boxcar,” Gremmels said.  “After being selected to join a Special Operations Group, he was killed in action during the evacuation of an American installation in West Africa.  He lays at rest in Arlington National Cemetery.” 

On the far right is Slowboy.  “He was our radioman and one of the funniest people I’ve ever known.”

“So what became of them?” Gremmels asked.  

“We know what Biggs’ fate was.  He died a hero and was given a hero’s burial.  The others weren’t so fortunate,” Gremmels said.  

After spending years searching for the rest of them, something that was made easier by the internet,  Gremmels said he was able to locate them, or at least find out what had happened to them.

• Paco was honorably discharged. Fell into drug abuse.  Was in and out of prison and ended up putting a suicide note in his pocket and killed himself by jumping off a bridge.

• Bugs was honorably discharged.  Fell into drug abuse.  Was in and out of prison and died of a drug overdose.

• Smokes was honorably discharged. Fell into alcohol abuse and was in and out of jail.  He died homeless and penniless from exposure on a dirty street in Detroit.

• “And last but not least, Slowboy.  The comedian.  The funny man,” Gremmels said.  He was honorably discharged, fell into drug and alcohol abuse and was in and out of prison.  “He put a gun to his head and ended his own life exactly 10 years to the day of his enlistment anniversary.”

Gremmels paused from emotion and closed with this admonition: “We can put up yard signs that say support our troops or thank a vet and talk about how we’re 100% behind our service members.  But unless we are willing to take care of them after their tours are completed, that is nothing more than fluffy, feel good rhetoric.”

He said he believes that a Veterans Court could have saved these men’s lives.  By at least guiding them in a different direction and “I believe that we, as a county, establishing a Veterans Court, would not only be supporting our troops, we would be saving lives.  We owe our veterans a least this much.”

What is a Veterans Court?

Veterans Treatment Courts seek to treat veterans suffering from a substance abuse and/or mental health disorder, while helping ensure public safety, according to the Minnesota Judicial Branch.  These special courts combine rigorous treatment and personal accountability, with the goal of breaking the cycle of drug use and criminal behavior.

Veterans Court is usually a joint effort designed to recognize that veterans may be struggling as a result of their service to the country and those collateral consequences may have contributed to their contact with the criminal justice system. 

The Pope County Commissioners thanked Gremmels for his presentation and questioned Pope County Probation Department Head Terry Jaworski about a Veterans Court.  Jaworski said that about a decade ago he and Judge Jon Stafsholt applied for and received funding for a Pope County Veterans Court that funded a full-time vet advocate.

“It was very rewarding for me,” he said, working with Veterans caught up in the criminal judicial system. He said there were 10 to 15 vets that went through the court system but after a couple of years the county’s veteran numbers diminished and the Veterans Court funding ended.  The county then created a “Veterans Case Load” in 2014 that was supervised by Jaworski and helped work through issues unique to veterans going through the criminal court system.

Jaworski also stated that it might be better to include other area counties in the Veterans Court proposal and even suggested a look at the entire Eighth Judicial District, which could mean dealing with more veterans who find themselves in criminal court.

Gordy Wagner said he was 100 percent behind the idea but asked about the cost and if Jaworski’s department could handle it.

Gremmels added that there would be some cost because the Judge would have to go through some special training.

Pope County Administrator Kersten Kappmeyer stated that he would like to know if there were other counties within the 8th Judicial District with the program and what the population of veterans was within the 8th Judicial District.

Jaworski reiterated that it would likely be beneficial to go with a bigger geographic area like the 8th District, but said he’d like to see more involvement in the process from a judge and the Pope County Attorney’s office.

The board directed Gremmels to establish a committee to examine adding a Veterans Court in Pope County or within the 8th Judicial District.  The committee would be made up of Commissioner Gremmels and Wagner, Jaworski, Pope County Veterans Officer Jay Stewart, County Attorney Neil Nelson and Judge Melissa Listug.  That committee will ultimately provide a recommendation on the matter to the board.