Veterans For Peace convention explores military suicide "epidemic"

Veterans For Peace convention explores military suicide "epidemic"
By Kathlyn Stone , TC Daily Planet
September 21, 2008
Penny Coleman wishes people would stop thinking of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in combat veterans as a mental disorder. “It’s not a disorder, it’s an injury,” says Coleman flatly.

Coleman led a workshop on PTSD and suicide prevention at the Veterans For Peace national convention held in Minneapolis the last week of August. About 20 Vietnam veterans, an Iraq war veteran, and two family members who each lost a sibling (one to suicide following her service in Vietnam and one in combat) shared what works and what doesn’t in treating PTSD in soldiers. What’s clear is that from Minnesota to Alabama to Colorado and Maine, VFP members devote time to helping their fellow veterans cope with combat-related trauma. “Working with other vets is the most healing thing you can do,” said one.


Coleman was introduced to PTSD through Daniel, whom she married shortly after he returned from Vietnam in 1969. PTSD often appears some years after exposure to trauma and may not manifest until 10 or more years have passed. Coleman said she didn’t know how to help him as she watched him disintegrate from the injury to his soul during his tour in Vietnam. His injury would not heal, in fact, it morphed and divided into new illnesses including depression, anger and addictions. After several attempts, Daniel killed himself.

A writer and photographer who lives in New York, Coleman said it took her a couple decades to realize that she, too, was injured by the experience.

“I couldn’t get him to be present with me,” she said, and she blamed herself at the time for not being able to “fix” him. She found healing by immersing herself in researching “combat fatigue,” “shell shock, ” “post-Vietnam disorder,” and other terms used in other wars and by interviewing vets and family members. While documenting the impact of PTSD she became an advocate for veterans and family members suffering the effects of combat-related trauma. In her 2006 book Flashback: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide, and the Lessons of War, she describes the history of PTSD and its psychological and physical toll.
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