Father Blames Military for Son's Suicide

[William33 110]

Sad indeed, but self inflicted. This individual voluntarily enlisted, and chose to take his own life.

Sad, but the military is not to blame here.

Why is this newsworthy?

Agreed that the military is not to blame. The blame is more specific and likely one of several equally independent possibilities- improper mental health providing within the ranks, improper handling of said example. Etc. We need to understand that whether it be combat stress or preexisting mental health conditions that are hard to treat even in the civilian world... a war zone is in itself a dangerous place where death is as much a part of the equation as understanding that voluntary enlistment is very much an acceptance by the individual enlistee that there are risks involved.

I'd be more interested in reading about how the military does not value adequate mental health monitoring to obviously prevent (and treat) issues like these. Of course, some will instantly dismiss that those that slip through the wide cracks are negligible girlie men or some equally ridiculous nonsense that belittles the issue.

One must also consider the civilian ranks, operating in the background, with the same sacrifices in mind......being a party to that, I can sympathise.

[jundp 191]

Air Force brat here, daughter of a career military man, sister of Navy boys, and friend to many in the service and here's my $.02 --> our service today does NOT take care of its boys (and girls) the way it should. Not during their service, nor nearly enough after they're out. And by "taking care" I am not speaking to the financial aspect so much as the emotional. Don't tell me that people who are "sensitive" shouldn't serve their country, please. Some of the experiences these young people have had in Iraq have left them mentally in shambles, and the DoD does NOT adequately care for their needs once they go home. Same thing happened after Desert Storm, Viet Nam, and Korea. I don't know about WWII, as I do not have any living relatives affected, so I can't say.

This is a tragedy, absolutely. I don't think the father is trying to blame the people 'with the most money' as he's not suing for reparations. What's the point? His son is dead and he's a military man himself so he knows how it works. He's trying to bring about change in the system. What's so bad about that?

[KandD 1]

Air Force brat here, daughter of a career military man, sister of Navy boys, and friend to many in the service and here's my $.02 --> our service today does NOT take care of its boys (and girls) the way it should. Not during their service, nor nearly enough after they're out. And by "taking care" I am not speaking to the financial aspect so much as the emotional. Don't tell me that people who are "sensitive" shouldn't serve their country, please. Some of the experiences these young people have had in Iraq have left them mentally in shambles, and the DoD does NOT adequately care for their needs once they go home. Same thing happened after Desert Storm, Viet Nam, and Korea. I don't know about WWII, as I do not have any living relatives affected, so I can't say.

This is a tragedy, absolutely. I don't think the father is trying to blame the people 'with the most money' as he's not suing for reparations. What's the point? His son is dead and he's a military man himself so he knows how it works. He's trying to bring about change in the system. What's so bad about that?

Yes i Know , there is a lack of mental health providers that will accept tricare insurance cuz it just doesnt pay enough. Its sad these men and women deserve the best care. After all, they are signing away up to their giving their life to our country. God Bless our ADSMs and Retirees.

[Reba 2]

In other local articles about this family, (I live in North Carolina) it was stated that the psychiatrist that saw the young man on base was not yet fully licensed, and was unsupervised by his licensed superior as he should have been. The young man was insufficiently treated, and mistreated by the Army both by the Chaplain, as well as the psychiatrist, IMO, and the family has every right to be angry and blame them. Just as any other family would have the right to be angry at medical malpractice that resulted in the death of a loved one. Its not like the boy died in combat or by an IED, which would be expected of a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. He died by his own hand, because the people who are supposed to take care of his mental health just brushed him off as a faker.

My husband is a Marine vet, and he can well attest to having NO treatment for combat stress, or grief at the loss of several friends. 20+ years later, he's still having problems, and still just trying to "suck it up".

Edited February 7, 2009 by Reba

[one...two...tree 2,762]

In other local articles about this family, (I live in North Carolina) it was stated that the psychiatrist that saw the young man on base was not yet fully licensed, and was unsupervised by his licensed superior as he should have been. The young man was insufficiently treated, and mistreated by the Army both by the Chaplain, as well as the psychiatrist, IMO, and the family has every right to be angry and blame them. Just as any other family would have the right to be angry at medical malpractice that resulted in the death of a loved one. Its not like the boy died in combat or by an IED, which would be expected of a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. He died by his own hand, because the people who are supposed to take care of his mental health just brushed him off as a faker.

My husband is a Marine vet, and he can well attest to having NO treatment for combat stress, or grief at the loss of several friends. 20+ years later, he's still having problems, and still just trying to "suck it up".

[Peikko 1,575]

NPR had a story about military suicide last night. 24 in the last documented period (not sure if it was a month?) which is a totally unprecedented number and they have no idea why!

Link

Last month's total is not just the highest monthly total since the Army started counting in 1980; it is more deaths than were sustained in combat last month by all branches of the armed forces combined.

[alienlovechild 75]

Don't tell me that people who are "sensitive" shouldn't serve their country, please. Some of the experiences these young people have had in Iraq have left them mentally in shambles, and the DoD does NOT adequately care for their needs once they go home.

You don't want overly sensitive people carrying weapons, please. All soldiers are human beings with emotions but some of them can't handle the stress. This happens in all wars you're not going to have stress-free wars.

The military is responsible for the health and welfare of the troops and his unit did a poor job with him. He should been kicked out of the Army and gotten some treatment as a vet. There a lot of young people in the military and vast majority don't kill themselves over an AR 15. The probable reason this guy wasn't taken seriously is that the Army doesn't want more guys going on sick call and faking symptoms to get out the military; unfortunately, there are soldiers with real problems and more disiplinary punishments and peer pressure from the unit won't help.

My husband is a Marine vet, and he can well attest to having NO treatment for combat stress, or grief at the loss of several friends. 20+ years later, he's still having problems, and still just trying to "suck it up".

I wonder how effective treatments are for PTSD are? Talking about their experiences and taking drugs are that effective? Believe it or not, I saw a story that playing shooter video games are a treatment to have soldiers explain how they felt in combat and how they are in control of the situation in the game.

[Peikko 1,575]

Don't tell me that people who are "sensitive" shouldn't serve their country, please. Some of the experiences these young people have had in Iraq have left them mentally in shambles, and the DoD does NOT adequately care for their needs once they go home.

You don't want overly sensitive people carrying weapons, please. All soldiers are human beings with emotions but some of them can't handle the stress. This happens in all wars you're not going to have stress-free wars.

The military is responsible for the health and welfare of the troops and his unit did a poor job with him. He should been kicked out of the Army and gotten some treatment as a vet. There a lot of young people in the military and vast majority don't kill themselves over an AR 15. The probable reason this guy wasn't taken seriously is that the Army doesn't want more guys going on sick call and faking symptoms to get out the military; unfortunately, there are soldiers with real problems and more disiplinary punishments and peer pressure from the unit won't help.

My husband is a Marine vet, and he can well attest to having NO treatment for combat stress, or grief at the loss of several friends. 20+ years later, he's still having problems, and still just trying to "suck it up".

I wonder how effective treatments are for PTSD are? Talking about their experiences and taking drugs are that effective? Believe it or not, I saw a story that playing shooter video games are a treatment to have soldiers explain how they felt in combat and how they are in control of the situation in the game.

Why wouldn't one believe it?

I have heard about this although I am not sure if it has got past the investigational stage in terms of how effective it can be long term, but it seemed reasonable to me when I heard about it.

[Jasman0717 9]

Sad story but can it really be blamed on something specific like the military. People this serious about taking their live usually do it no matter how much help they get.

It can be blamed on the one with the most money

Bill Gates

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

NPR had a story about military suicide last night. 24 in the last documented period (not sure if it was a month?) which is a totally unprecedented number and they have no idea why!

Link

Last month's total is not just the highest monthly total since the Army started counting in 1980; it is more deaths than were sustained in combat last month by all branches of the armed forces combined.

Did NPR mention how many civilian suicides there were last month? Just more anti war rhetoric. Anything negative they can dig up about the war is all that matters.

[Ban Hammer 13,355]

surprising no one has realized it was a failure on the part of the leadership - his chain of command.

[Caladan 19]

A sister of a friend of mine works as a doctor whose job it is to evaluate soldiers for post-traumatic stress disorder, and according to her, she sees the soldiers well after they should have been treated because they've often been bounced around a lot, plus many are reluctant to seek treatment. We're not serving these guys well, and even though they were volunteers, it doesn't do anyone any good to send them over there and have them come back suicidal, sometimes violent and at risk for drug addiction and domestic violence. Part of a cost of a war should be taking care of those who serve.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Seems pretty obvious that there's a connection between length of time served and the suicide rate.

[Peikko 1,575]

NPR had a story about military suicide last night. 24 in the last documented period (not sure if it was a month?) which is a totally unprecedented number and they have no idea why!

Link

Last month's total is not just the highest monthly total since the Army started counting in 1980; it is more deaths than were sustained in combat last month by all branches of the armed forces combined.

Did NPR mention how many civilian suicides there were last month? Just more anti war rhetoric. Anything negative they can dig up about the war is all that matters.

It's quite clear you didn't bother to click on the link and read it. The story didn't have any 'war' agenda whatseover.

[tmma 467]

surprising no one has realized it was a failure on the part of the leadership - his chain of command.

Absolutly it is.