In 1998, Andrew Brannan was pulled over for a traffic stop. Upon getting out of the vehicle, he would begin dancing and taunting the officer in question. Dash camera footage from the officer’s cruiser even shows Brannan encouraging the officer to shoot him. After the officer wouldn’t be goaded into the confrontation, Brannan took out a weapon of his own and killed the officer. Andrew Brannan became the first inmate put to death in the United States in 2015 at the age of 66.
Statistics on PTSD in Vietnam Veterans
1. 15.2% of male veterans and 8.5% of female veterans meet the definitions of suffering from current PTSD from actions taken or experienced in the theater of war.
2. Those with high levels of war-zone exposure had significantly higher rates, with 35.8% of men and 17.5% of women meeting criteria for current PTSD.
3. Rates of PTSD are consistently higher for Vietnam theater Veterans than for Vietnam era Veterans and civilians.
4. 80%. That’s the percentage of Vietnam veterans who were diagnosed with PTSD up to 25 years ago and are still experiencing symptoms from it.
5. Vietnam theater veterans with high levels of war-zone exposure are significantly more likely than those with low exposure to develop the psychological disorders.
6. For men, family instability, childhood antisocial behavior, and a younger age at entry to the war predicted total PTSD.
7. PTSD in women was largely influenced by family instability.
8. 91% of Vietnam Veterans say they are glad they served in the war and 3 out of 4 of them say that they would go back and serve again, even though they know the outcome of the war.
9. The percentage of Vietnam veterans who were unable to transition successfully back into public life after the war: 15%.
10. 87% of the American people hold Vietnam veterans in high esteem.
11. Two-thirds of those who served in Vietnam were volunteers. The same percentage of soldiers were drafted in order to serve in World War II.
12. 97% of Vietnam veterans were discharged under honorable conditions, which is equal to other discharge circumstances from other wars with which the US was involved.
13. Vietnam veterans are 3x more likely to be suffering from PTSD than veterans of the Gulf War or the war in Afghanistan.
14. The total number of veterans from Vietnam that have been diagnosed with PTSD after their service: 479,610.
15. Almost 50% of all male Vietnam veterans suffering from PTSD have been arrested or in jail at least once since their service.
16. 11.5%. That’s the percentage of Vietnam vets that have been charged with a felony after their service.
17. VA statistics in 2004 showed that 161,000 veterans were still receiving disability compensation for PTSD.
18. Up to 31% of men and 27% of women had suffered from PTSD at some point in time after their return from Vietnam.
19. More than 5 million of the nation’s more than 7 million Vietnam-era veterans are between 60 and 70 years old. Retirement is expected to bring a whole new wave of PTSD diagnosis to the Vietnam veterans as those who threw themselves into a career after the war now suddenly have nothing but time on their hands.
20. The total number of Vietnam veterans who have been executed for crimes they have committed since the war: 6 [including Brannan].
The Debate Over Punishment and Repercussions
Most of the time, people for and against the death penalty are very different sides of the lawful execution debate. In the case of Brannan, however, many law enforcement officials and capital punishment supporters found themselves asking the same questions that those who oppose the death penalty ask. Why? Because Andrew Brannan was a Vietnam War veteran and had a confirmed diagnosis of PTSD when the traffic stop took place in 1998.
Vietnam veterans had one of the worst journeys to walk in life of any other veteran group. Not only were the tragedies of that war great, but these veterans came home to a general public who didn’t understand the stresses that PTSD can put onto someone. Andrew Brannan saw his fair share of stress. He had to twice take command of his unit in Vietnam because his commanding officers had all been killed. Brannan was given partial disability for his PTSD. Now he might have been convicted and put to death because of it as well.
As the statistics of Vietnam veterans and PTSD show, this war that happened decades ago still has a profound effect on society. Was Brannan wrong to kill a young police officer? Absolutely. Was he mentally fit to stand trial for such actions? That’s where the great debate lies.
Impact of Mental Illness
As with many other conditions that involve the mind, PTSD is often present with co-existing conditions. As for Andrew Brannan, he was diagnosed as being bi-polar in 1996 by his VA psychiatrist and was hospitalized at least twice because of his patterns of mental illness.
Brannan isn’t the only Vietnam-era veteran with a tragic story. Manuel Babbitt was put to death in 1999 for savagely beating an elderly woman. He had suffered an injury in Vietnam that left him unconscious. When he awoke, he was on a trailer full of dead bodies because it had been assumed he was dead as well. Babbitt was even awarded a Purple Heart while on death row.
“I am proud to have been able to walk point for my comrades, and pray that the same thing does not happen to any of them.” These are the last words that will be remembered of Andrew Brannan. Nothing can excuse him from taking a father and a husband away. What is also inexcusable is how US veterans are being treated today. The statistics of PTSD prove that the system continues to be ineffective more than four decades later. If we don’t fix the problem, then more families and more veterans will find themselves hurting, lost, and broken.