After Goodrum checked into the civilian hospital on Nov. 7, Jethanandani treated him. After determining that Goodrum's condition allowed it, the physician let him out before Thanksgiving, but wanted him to stay nearby for further outpatient treatment. On Nov. 15, he sent a first fax to Fort Knox, saying that Goodrum was hospitalized under his care.

On Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving, Goodrum received a voice-mail message from his company commander at Fort Knox, Capt. Deborah Savage, who reported to Stephens. On the tape, Savage said she would approve some sort of leave for Goodrum, but that his civilian doctor could not excuse him from Fort Knox. "Only I have the authority to put you on leave ... However, I agree to authorize your leave, but you need to call me back so I can let you know ... If I am not here, leave me a message because I am going to be putting you on leave."

Goodrum called her back. Goodrum and Savage agree on their recollections of their conversation. Savage told Goodrum she was not going to grant him convalescent leave, but that she would grant him leave if he agreed to take it out of his personal time -- that is, his vacation. She told him he had to come back to Fort Knox to the next morning at 7 a.m. on Thanksgiving day to sign the forms. After Goodrum protested, saying that he had a serious medical condition, "I said, 'If that is what you want, I will consider you AWOL,'" Savage recounted later in her testimony. Goodrum, panicked at the idea of being charged with desertion, agreed to take the leave out of his personal time, but told Savage he was in no shape to drive and asked if she could fax the papers. She repeated that he had to come in person. At this point, in despair, Goodrum asked her to talk to his doctor.

It is not clear whether Savage called Jethanandani. Savage did speak to the physician's office manager, Jeanette Willis, around this time and told her that Goodrum was in danger of being charged with desertion.

Whether Savage spoke to him or to Willis, Dr. Jethanandani learned about the military's hard-line position and protested vehemently. On Dec. 3, he sent a fax to Fort Knox in which he wrote, "Unfortunately, recent intimidation, threats of being arrested for staying on medical leave from his superiors has resulted in recurrent psychiatric symptoms. Until 11/26/03 Mr. Julian [sic] Goodrum was progressing fairly well ... It does not help that Mr. Goodrum was in combat with a unit in Iraq, where a superior officer ignored safety protocol jeopardizing the safety of soldiers and resulting in the death of one man. Instead of following up on his complaints, it appears that some of his superiors on stateside may be penalizing him for reporting his superior officer in Iraq."

After his conversation with Savage, Goodrum, afraid and confused, called the inspector general (an independent military investigator) at Fort Knox and asked him to look into the matter. Goodrum claims that after the IG did so, Savage backed off her threats and told his civilian doctor Goodrum was not a deserter. (Base spokesperson Shaffery said the inspector general's office is not allowed to comment on its work.)

Subsequent faxes from Jethanandani give no indication that the doctor was concerned that his patient was going to be found AWOL. On Jan. 2, 2004, for example, Jethanandani wrote, "This is to state that Mr. Julian Goodrum needs an extension of his medical leave for another two months. The antidepressants he is on at this time have failed to resolve his depression."

In an interview, office manager Willis also supported the idea that Savage seemed to have dropped the idea of charging Goodrum with desertion. Willis said that she had a second conversation with Savage in which Savage indicated everything had been worked out and Goodrum was not in danger of being charged with desertion. "In one of the two conversations, she indicated that it was going to be OK," Willis said. "I do remember her saying that it is OK, we will try to push through his leave." Willis could not remember the exact date of these conversations, but both took place after Goodrum had been hospitalized.

"That was the last time we heard from the Army," Goodrum says. "The Army just did not tell anybody I was AWOL. I know it is shocking, but it is true. The Army knew I was under psychological care and they knew the doctor. Why didn't they call the doctor to tell him?"

Fort Knox said Savage still works there, but she did not call me back by the time this article went to press. Goodrum's civilian doctor did not, either. Willis, his office manager, told me he would probably not return my calls. "He does not like to stir up trouble," Willis told me.

While a bewildered and fearful Goodrum was trying to deal with this situation, his superior officers at Fort Knox were trying to dig up dirt on him. An e-mail from Jan. 20, 2004, obtained by his defense team, shows that Maj. William Judd, who worked for Stephens at Fort Knox, asked a colleague to look into a rumor that Goodrum might have used a fake name to get psychiatric treatment at the University of Kentucky. "We may be able to charge him with an offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice," the e-mail reads. "If you can get any paperwork from UK that has his [Social Security number] on it and shows that he tried to get admitted, that would be very helpful." The rumor was false.

After Goodrum's superiors cut off the Army's insurance payments to the civilian hospital in Knoxville, Goodrum was forced to check out of the facility. His civilian psychiatrist, believing -- with considerable reason -- that being treated at Fort Knox would not help him get better, suggested that Goodrum go to the Army's flagship hospital in Washington, Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Goodrum was shocked and angry at being charged with desertion and was afraid to return to Fort Knox. But he agreed to go to Walter Reed.

When he got there, on Feb. 9, 2004, Walter Reed's doctors immediately placed him in the lockdown psychiatric ward for evaluation, a relatively standard step to determine if a soldier is a risk to himself or others. His medical records from that period portray Goodrum as "cooperative and polite" but also "anxious and depressed" and "largely preoccupied with concerns about legal charges and financial stressors."

A note in Goodrum's medical records shows that four days later, Stephens and the officer in charge of Fort Knox's hospital, Col. Carol Pierce, visited Walter Reed on Feb. 12. It is unclear what they did there.

Although the records show that Goodrum was improving and that doctors planned to release him from the lockdown psychiatric ward on Feb. 19, Stephens called Walter Reed medical staff on Feb. 18, the records show, and told doctors to keep him in the lockdown ward. "Contacted by DCCS at Fort Knox, LTC Stephens, who provided additional information and expressed concerns regarding potential discharge of LT Goodrum," the records say. Doctors at Walter Reed apparently agreed to keep him there. "Pt is scheduled for intake [for outpatient therapy] tomorrow, however due to recent admin developments concerning command at Fort Knox this may need to be postponed."

Goodrum was held in the ward for the next 13 days, despite the belief of some on his medical team that he should be released. "Several team members have discussed concern that he is [in the locked ward]. Serial Mental Status exams have not revealed signs of psychosis, [suicidal thoughts] or [homicidal thoughts]," the records for Feb. 26 say. "As discussed previously, this inpatient hospitalization has been extended due to administrative concerns," the records for Feb. 27 say. "This treatment could have taken place in an outpatient setting." Walter Reed diagnosed him as suffering from PTSD.

After Goodrum had been held for nearly two weeks longer than apparently needed, I wrote an article about him on March 1, 2004. Walter Reed released him from the lockdown ward on March 2. Goodrum says he believes that his extended stay in the psychiatric lockdown was purely punitive and that if the article had not appeared, he might have been held much longer, perhaps indefinitely.

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