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Maui Veterans Affairs
criticized in death of
an who sought help

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By Gary Kubota
Star-Bulletin

HANA, Maui -- The death of a Vietnam veteran on Maui has upset some family members and former soldiers who say he wasn't getting timely medical attention.

Former U.S. Army Sgt. Donald E. Newbrey, 54, buried last week at Makawao Veterans Cemetery, had serious problems with alcohol and mental depression and had been waiting for months for mental health services from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Neal said.

"I feel he should have been helped more," said his former wife, Irene Neal. "I think a lot could have been done. I don't know what the problem was. He said, 'I got to wait my turn. They can just have so much people going.' He was waiting, waiting, waiting. How long he's supposed to wait? This is kind of the outcome of it all."

Newbrey's body was found in a stream bed below an 18-foot ledge near Ulaino Road on Aug. 21.

Maui police detectives say there is no indication of foul play and the cause of death, including the possibility of suicide, is pending toxicology tests. But they believe Newbrey had been drinking and suffered some significant injuries in a fall at night.

Michael Covich, an official with the Vietnam Veterans of Maui County, said the wait for veterans to receive mental health services has been too long -- often more than two months to see a Veterans Affairs psychologist or psychiatrist on Maui.

Veterans Affairs said the wait is a little over a month to see a psychiatrist or psychologist on other neighbor islands.

About 20 to 30 veterans on Maui are waiting for mental health services, according to a VA official.

"Essentially, we're getting the short end," Covich said.

Mitch Skaggerberg, the veterans group's president, said the problem partly stems from the lack of a staff psychiatrist on Maui.

Skaggerberg said when a staff psychiatrist on Maui retired in January, the VA agreed in February to replace him with a full-time psychologist and allow veterans to seek psychiatric services through private physicians.

He said while the VA hired the psychologist, it hasn't finished the process of allowing veterans to consult private psychiatrists.

Dr. Steven MacBride, the VA chief of staff in Hawaii, said the regional office is sending mental health staff from Oahu to reduce the number of patients on the waiting list and is in the process of hiring a part-time psychiatrist.

MacBride said the VA has also increased the number of visits by an off-island psychiatrist from one every two weeks to one every week.

"What we're doing is going through the list rapidly so that within this month there won't be a waiting list," MacBride said.

MacBride said Veterans Affairs has been trying to find qualified psychiatrists on Maui but the search as been difficult partially because of the strict requirements for qualifying a physician.

He said if veterans need immediate help, they are referred to a hospital on Maui or flown over to Oahu to see a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist.

William Staton, the state's veterans representative on Maui, said veterans quite often don't know they're suffering from mental problems as a result of their military service and don't know they need help immediately.

"For most guys, it's so hard for them to call to ask for help. If help is not readily available, they hang up," Staton said.

"The sad thing we know is he (Newbrey) didn't get the services he could get if they had services close and with more staff," he said.

Newbrey's mother, Ida Cruz of Honolulu, said her son tried to commit suicide many times in Honolulu and in Pennsylvania, after he came back from his service in Vietnam in the early 1970s.

"I know his problem was from the war," she said.

Cruz said he would talk about how he left his platoon and returned to find his men dead, their throats cut.

His wife, Cynthia DeGuerra, said that about two years ago, Newbrey went to see a physician in Hana and was told he had psychological problems as a result of the Vietnam War.

Neal said Newbrey had applied to receive disability benefits from the Veterans Affairs for his post traumatic stress disorder.

But she said because he wasn't diagnosed as having the disorder and his problem being related to his military service, his two teen-age daughters won't be able to receive some benefits for their college education.

"That makes me mad," Neal said. "He was asking for help. To me as I look at it, it is a long-dragged out thing."