Veteran’s court honors first graduating class
Senior Judge Gerald R. Solomon speaks to the attendees and graduates during the 1st Annual Veteran’s Court Graduation Ceremony.
Vietnam veteran Samuel Faris, speaks to those in attendence of the Veterans Court Graduation Ceremony recently, expressing his gratitude for the program. Faris was one of 12 veterans honored in the first graduating class.
Graduating veteran Robert Weatherspoon wipes away a tear during the Veteran’s Court Graduation Ceremony at the Fayette County Courthouse in Uniontown. Weatherspoon sits among six other graduates who recieved a certificate and pendent that day for completing the rehabilitative program successfully.
Robert Kuhn Sr., a graduate from Veteran’s Court sits in attendance during the ceremony at the Fayette County Courthouse.
Veteran James Howard accepts a certificate from Senior Judge Gerald Solomon during the Veteran’s Court Graduation Ceremony at Fayette County Courthouse.
Vietnam veteran Samuel J. Faris has an Army Commendation Medal, Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.
When he came home after the war, there wasn’t a parade to thank him. There wasn’t help readjusting to society.
“They just said go to work,” he said.
He did just that for 32 years, working in maintenance before he retirement.
Then, he started realizing he also had to work on the issues from the war.
“The stress got to me,” said Faris, who has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and in 2014, committed a crime he characterized as “an uncontrollable impulse decision to take the law into my own hands.”
The 72-year-old stole a juvenile probation officer’s badge.
When he was arraigned for that crime, he saw a pamphlet for veteran’s court at the magistrate’s office, and told the judge he was a veteran. The judge, in turn, contacted Kate Vozar, Fayette County’s problem solving court manager/liaison. Vozar, he said, helped get him into the county’s veteran’s court program.
Faris was one of 12 veterans recognized recently as part of the first graduating class from the program.
He said it helped him get on track personally, and extend himself outward, helping other veterans by working with volunteers to remodel a house in Uniontown that will give homeless veterans a place to stay and reshape their lives.
“I recommend it to all veterans,” Faris said of the court program. “This means more to me than my Purple Heart in Vietnam because this didn’t hurt.”
The county first started the program in 2011, but it stalled and was relaunched in 2014, Vozar said.
The goal of the program is to assist veterans charged with crimes and who are struggling with addiction, mental illness or disorders. Participants come before judges on a regular basis and receive support and guidance in different programs to find underlying problems that have occurred from their service to their country.
Vozar said before a veteran is placed into the program, they’re evaluated to find their needs, and connected to the services that can most help them. Once they start in the program, she said, participants go before a judge monthly to discuss their progress.
“You set the standard,” said Fayette County Senior Judge Gerald Solomon, who has been the presiding judge of the veteran’s court since the beginning, told the program’s graduates on Nov. 4. “I’m proud of each and every one of you.”
The first graduating class included David Campbell, Randy Castrodad, Craig David, Samuel Faris, James Howard, Robert Kuhn Sr., Robert McCoy, Tom Myers, Richard Show, Robert Weatherspoon and two deceased members, Edward Bevin and Herbert Springer.
Veterans can enter the program if they’re charged with anything from a misdemeanor to a felony, but Vozar said they won’t accept any violent or sexual offenders.
She said seeing the first graduates of the program was a refreshing sight.
Robert King, 38, of Uniontown is currently going through the program.
King, who served in the Marine Corps and currently serves in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, entered the program in June 2015, on a drunken driving charge.
“It’s a slippery slope, coming back from where we were at,” King said. “The biggest problem–the hardest part–the reason I asked for help because I was in jail for 13 hours. I hit rock bottom.”
King said he learned about the program as his friend and platoon sergeant was friends with Vozar and put him in touch with her.
“Judge Solomon and Kate (Vozar) have been extremely supportive and put me in contact with people who gave me the help I needed,” King said. “Everyone in the program is extremely approachable and all the information they gave to me was extremely helpful.”
King, who was present at the graduation ceremony to volunteer with handing out programs, said seeing others make it through the program reinforced his belief in the program.
“It really does work to assist us,” King said. “Kate has gone above and beyond the call of duty to help me.”
Vozar, who is leaving her position on Dec. 1, said the program has will continue to have veterans of different ages, but always wants to see more veterans participating.
“They’re not reporting that they’re veterans,” Vozar said, noting that any of the county’s district judges can provide a veteran with information on the program at the earliest stage of criminal proceedings. “We’re trying to put it out there that we have resources available to them.”
King, who is a platoon sergeant, said he will tell his deployed unit about the veteran’s court when they return.
He wants them to know there are resources available, but also realizes that getting asking for assistance can be difficult some.
“They have to want help,” King said. “For any veteran, it’s extremely difficult to swallow pride to ask for help.”
For more information on the Fayette County Veteran’s Court, call the Fayette County Adult Probation Office at 724-430-1251.