Staff Sgt. Charles Edward Dane another life gone waiting for help

Staff Sgt. Charles Edward Dane, 15 years serving this country in the Marines. Think about that for a second. He gave this country 15 years of his life and what did he ask in return? Did he ask to be made rich? Did he ask for millions of dollars the way defense contractors get paid? Did he even ask for the thousands more civilians working for the contractors got paid? No. He asked nothing of us except that if he gave up his life in service to this nation, we would honor his life and take care of his family. He would have expected that should he become wounded, well then, we would at least take care of his wound and make sure he had enough money coming in to pay his bills. That's just about it really. That's really all any of them expect from us. So how is it those simple requests never seem to be provided to them?

Is PTSD so new we didn't know what to do to help him heal? Is it so rare the VA and the DOD had no way of knowing what they would have to take care of? Hell no! This was all known well before Staff Sgt. Dane even thought of entering into the military. Long before Afghanistan was invaded and long before the first set of boots ever set foot in Iraq. I've been working on it since 1982 to give you some idea of how long PTSD was known about. Others worked on it longer than I did or I wouldn't have had a clue when I met my husband. I learned from them. They were working on it since the late 70's and by 1978 they found 500,000 Vietnam veterans with PTSD. So there are no excuses for any of this.

What is even more sad is that his death will not be counted as a casualty of war. It will be listed as a non-combat death stateside. The DOD and the VA ran out of excuses a very long time ago. 6 combat tours!

Full Military Honors Planned For Marine
Family Questions Whether He Should Have Been Given More Help
POSTED: 11:19 pm EDT July 2, 2009


AUBURN, N.H. -- New Hampshire is preparing to lay a Marine to rest with full military honors.

Staff Sgt. Charles Edward Dane, known as Eddie to family and friends, served six combat tours, dedicating 15 years in service to the country.

Last week, 37-year-old Dane took his life in California where he was stationed. His family in Auburn questions if more could have been done to prevent his death.
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