Soldier's suicide: 'This young man should not have gone back to Iraq'

[sabra]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-military-suicide_03mar03,0,1703157.story

Army struggles with rising suicide
A soldier's tale illustrates the prevention battle inside the service as 2007 set a new high for troops taking their own lives


All Spec. Travis Virgadamo ever wanted was to be a soldier.

But two years after his father signed papers for him to enlist at age 17, things went terribly wrong. Last August, three months after arriving in Iraq, he walked outside his barracks and killed himself with his rifle.

When the news crackled over the Bonecrusher Troop's radio, 1st Lt. Kyle Graham knew immediately that it was Virgadamo, the troubled soldier who had been on suicide watch since June, when he threatened to kill himself while on patrol.

"I feel like we all had some responsibility to make sure this didn't happen," Graham said shortly after the incident. "It's our responsibility to make sure we take care of our fellow soldiers."

...

There were signs that he was having trouble long before he deployed. According to his grandmother, Katie O'Brien, Virgadamo had been sent to an anger-management program while in boot camp. She said he also was placed on suicide watch at the Army's Ft. Stewart in Georgia and prescribed the antidepressant Prozac shortly before he deployed. Last June, officials in Iraq placed him on suicide watch again.

...

Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) said Virgadamo's death and the growing number of suicides could signal that the Army is overlooking mental-health problems because it is overstretched by repeated deployments.

"This young man should not have gone back to Iraq," Berkley said.

[Squatch]

1. A soldier on suicide watch should not have access to weapons.

Sounds like a failure of leadership.

[TwilightGardener]

2. Obama is on the case:

http://obama.senate.gov/press/080131-harkin_hagel_ob/

Harkin, Hagel, Obama Take Action to Prevent Suicide Among Active Duty Soldiers
Thursday, January 31, 2008

Washington Post reports today on record number of soldier suicides last year - highest rate since 1990

Washington, D.C. - As news reports reveal growing numbers of suicide among soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chuck Hagel (R-NE), and Barack Obama (D-IL) today introduced major legislation aimed at preventing suicide among active duty members of the military. The Senators' bill, the Armed Forces Suicide Prevention Act, would direct the Department of Defense (DoD) to create a comprehensive suicide prevention program including annual training for soldiers, improved instruction for field medics and post deployment assistance. The legislation authorizes six million dollars for implementation of the programs. A companion measure will be introduced in the House of Representatives by Congressman Leonard Boswell (D-IA).
--snip--

(Hillary cosponsored after it was introduced)

[Tyler Durden]

4. Wrong forum, eh?

[TwilightGardener]

5. Perhaps! But as it relates to the topic, I don't see where I can't mention it--

he IS still a Senator, after all, and my Senator is one of the bill's sponsors.

[Tyler Durden]

7. Not much wiggle room on that one....

I don't suppose you'd sit still while someone shilled for Clinton in a similar situation....?

[Inuca]

8. "Hillary cosponsored after it was introduced"

Now, where have I heard that before....

[Echo In Light]

3. Soldier Suicides at Record Level

Soldier Suicides at Record Level:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/30/AR2008013003106_pf.html

Dramatic Increase Found in Soldier Suicides:
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/42/18/9

[fed-up]

6. VCS and VUFT Press Release: Court Hearing Set for March 3 in Lawsuit Against VA

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/9448

VCS and VUFT Press Release: Court Hearing Set for March 3 in Lawsuit Against VA

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Paul Sullivan and Bob Handy

Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United For Truth
Feb 28, 2008




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MEDIA ADVISORY: FEBRUARY 28, 2008

FEDERAL COURT TO HEAR TESTIMONY ABOUT BREAKDOWNS IN VA HEALTH DELIVERY SYSTEM

Contacts:

* Paul Sullivan, Veterans for Common Sense, [phone]

* Robert M. Handy, Veterans United for Truth, [phone]

* Gordon P. Erspamer and Heather A. Moser, Morrison & Foerster, [phone] and [phone]

* Sidney M. Wolinsky, Disability Rights Advocates, [phone]

WHAT: Hearing with Witnesses on Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction

WHO: Before Senior Judge Samuel Conti, United States District Court, Northern District of California.

WHEN: Beginning Monday, March 3, 2008 at 9:30 a.m.

WHERE: Federal Courthouse, Courtroom #1, 17th Floor, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA

Beginning Monday, March 3, and continuing throughout the week, Senior Judge Samuel Conti will hear testimony from witnesses concerning Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) neglect of veterans who have shown a potential for committing suicide. Opening statements from both sides shall precede testimony. This unusual hearing stems from the filing by Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) and Veterans United for Truth (VUFT) of a Motion for Preliminary Injunction. The motion asks the Court to order the VA to immediately screen and treat all potentially suicidal veterans.

Veteran suicides have reached an epidemic level, with approximately 120 veterans taking their own lives every week. Despite these numbers, the VA argues that veterans are only entitled to health care if the VA decides to provide it, and that veterans lack “entitlement” to any health care. The judge has convened the evidentiary hearings to assist in his decision on the Preliminary Injunction.

In January, the Court cleared the way for this major national class action lawsuit on behalf of disabled veterans to directly challenge the VA failings. The ruling affirms the rights of veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to sue in federal court over the lengthy waiting times that veterans face in receiving needed mental health care, the huge backlog of disability claims, and the inadequacy of care for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The complaint, filed in the United States District Court in July, seeks a judicial finding that the VA’s system of handling claims and appeals is so dysfunctional that it violates veterans’ constitutional and statutory rights. The suit also calls for court orders requiring the VA to provide immediate medical and psychological help to returning troops and to screen them for risk of suicide. For more information about the lawsuit, please go to this web site: www.veteransptsdclassaction.org.

PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that can develop in a person who witnesses or is confronted with a traumatic event. PTSD is the most prevalent mental disorder arising from combat. The suit claims that numerous VA practices violate the constitutional and statutory rights of veterans with PTSD by denying veterans adequate procedural safeguards in VA benefits process, access to the judicial process, and mandated medical care.