Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 25, 1993 TAG: 9306250407
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Passing the high school equivalency test was just a short mile in Toby Burnett's long road to recovery.
Even so, it's a sign that he's on his way back.
"I'm learning to fit back into society," he said. "I'm just taking it one day at a time."
Burnett, 42, is among 34 people who will participate tonight in an adult graduation ceremony at Christiansburg High School.
This is the fourth year the Montgomery County school system has held the ceremony for the adults who receive their GED certificates or high school diplomas.
Burnett was a high school junior when he dropped out of school to join the Army in 1968.
"It was a no-brain thing to do, but at that time I thought I had all the answers," he said. "I was unteachable."
At 18, Burnett found himself fighting in the Vietnam war.
He'd been there six months when his unit was hit by friendly fire - killing all but nine men. Burnett, who was hit in the right shoulder, returned to his native South Carolina.
"It made me an angry, angry young man," he said.
Burnett was diagnosed as schizophrenic and was discharged "It made me an angry, angry young man," Toby Burnett said of his Vietnam experiences. from the Army in 1972. For the next 13 years he suffered flashbacks that would send him into violent fits of rage.
"I was bouncing people off walls," he said. "I just couldn't relate."
Burnett's marriage of 11 years ended in 1981 and he went into deep depression and withdrew from society.
In 1985 he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and sent to the VA hospital in Augusta, Ga. The treatments didn't work and Burnett moved to California and became one of the thousands of homeless Vietnam veterans.
Burnett hitchhiked back to South Carolina in 1991 and sought treatment at a veterans outreach center in Greenville. The center referred him to the new post-traumatic disorder center at the Salem VA Medical Center.
It was there that he finally found the help he was looking for.
"The staff really cared," he said. "They saved my life."
Burnett, who has remarried, said his wife, Azra Surhio, encouraged him to return to school.
"She has been the stabilizing force in my life," he said. "Since I met her in 1991 I have given up drugs and drinking."
The couple recently moved from Christiansburg to a new house in Montgomery County on Suitchback Road.
Burnett was "scared to death" when he began taking night classes in November.
He was pleased when he realized that his two decades of "life knowledge" made it easier for him to complete assignments.
"My experience helped me to relate to social studies and history - but not math," he said. "Math was the hardest part."
He credits his teacher, Carol Altizer, with helping him understand arithmetic.
"She was a great teacher," he said. "It was nice to see that I still had some brain power."
Burnett, who passed the GED in January after only two months of classes, also has re-established contact with his three children from the first marriage.
His 18-year-old daughter also graduated from high school this year, but "she got all A's and graduated with honors."
Burnett's next challenge is college.
The veteran is taking sign-language course at New River Community College this summer and plans to enroll full time at the community college in the fall.
Burnett hopes to transfer to Radford University in two years and earn a bachelor's degree in social work. He wants to combine sign language with counseling to help the deaf.
"I know how hard it was for me to communicate, and it must be even harder for a deaf person to communicate emotions," he said. "I just have a strong need to put back into the world."
\ MONTGOMERY COUNTY ADULT GRADUATION\ \ WHEN & WHERE: Tonight at 7:30 p.m. in Christiansburg High School's auditorium.\ \ WHO'S GRADUATING?: 31 adults will receive GED certificates and three students will receive high-school diplomas.\ \ SPEAKER: The Rev. Vernon D. Miller, pastor of Christiansburg Presbyterian Church, will give the commencement address.
by CNB