Scottish illegal immigrant to America awarded prestigious civilian honour

A SCOT who entered the US as an illegal immigrant has been presented with one of America’s highest civil honours by president Barack Obama.

John Keaveney founded a charity for ex-soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder after serving two tours in Vietnam.

The 61-year-old Glaswegian had battled alcohol and his own drug addiction after leaving the US army.

However he turned his life around and founded New Directions, a home for homeless and disabled veterans.

Since 1992, the Los Angeles-based charity has helped nearly 20,000 veterans, some of whom credit it with saving their lives.

Mr Obama said: “After serving our country in Vietnam, John Keaveney faced setbacks that affect too many American veterans.

“With the help of a Department of Veterans Affairs program, he overcame addiction and homelessness, turned away from crime, and committed himself to providing a support system for others returning from war.

“The United States honours John Keaveney for helping America fulfil its promise to serve our veterans as well as they have served us.”

This year 13 people were awarded the Citizens Medal, America’s second-highest civilian honour, which is given to Americans who perform “exemplary deeds of service”.

Afterwards Mr Keaveney said: “Everybody here’s done the same thing. I’m just so happy to be here … I’m not deserving of this.”

He arrived in the US as an illegal alien in 1969 after slipping off a ship, but became a citizen while serving in the military.

As an army infantryman in Vietnam he was a “tunnel rat” whose mission was to destroy passageways dug beneath rice paddies and jungles, and drive out enemies hiding within.

Mr Keaveney emerged from the war with a Purple Heart but also a steel plate in his head, an addiction to heroin and undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Two days after returning to the US, Keaveney punched a police officer during a traffic stop in Santa Monica and ended up in jail.

He moved to Georgia, where he stabbed and nearly killed a man during a bar fight, and served nine years in prison.

The ex-soldier later joined a hunger strike at the Veterans Administration building in Los Angeles. It culminated in his putting a knife to the throat of an official spokesman.

“It was a beautiful California night – I could smell lilacs,” he said.

“I told myself I didn’t want to do any more time, or I’ll never see this again.”

Behind bars, Mr Keaveney prayed. “I asked God – if there was a God – that if he would come into my life, would change my ways and I would help others,” he said.

“I haven’t gone back since.”

Mr Keaveney sobered up, worked as a janitor, and saved money to rent a three-bedroom home so he could take in veterans living on the streets.

He said: “I made sure the programme was at least a year, and in that we could do things – get guys jobs, to save their money, and to go for job interviews.”

New Directions now has five homes for ex-soldiers, providing substance abuse treatment, counselling, remedial education, job training and placement.