Prosecutors have called court-ordered guardianship a superhighway that you can’t exit from and that’s exactly what one Macomb County combat veteran says has happened to him.
Gerald F. Harten says he survived the horrors of the Vietnam War only to now feel like he’s been captured by the enemy decades later. But this time, he says the enemy is Michigan’s guardianship system.
Harten admits he’s fully into his golden years and he’s not quite as physically capable as he once was, but he insists he is not mentally incapacitated. Harten says he wants his voice to be heard by the American court system that he fought for so many years ago.
“This is not right. This is illegally keeping me. Might as well go to jail — at least got more people there to talk to. Get three squares there, they’ll give you your medicine. I’ve been in ‘jail’ for a year. That’s the way I feel,” Harten told the 7 Investigators.
The 77-year-old Army veteran’s journey into guardianship started last November after he had back surgery and other health complications.