When a soldier kills himself, no letter from any President

This has been one more heartache for the families who stood by as their family member was laid to rest as if they should have anything to be ashamed of. The practice of not sending letters of condolences to servicemen and women has been around about as long as the military itself. The presidents just don't do it. It's almost as if the sacrifice of a man or woman serving this nation somehow suddenly becomes less than something to honor if their life ends by their own hands. This last resort of humans in crisis so busily eating away at them should never be something to be ashamed of unless that shame is directed at all of us.

It's really that simple. We ask so much of them. We train them and then expect them to put their training to use following orders, facing dangers and witnessing events few others will ever know, yet then we expect them to just get over it with little or no help when they need it.

Even now as the Obama Administrations tries to play catch up, they are dealing with high flood waters with a tsunami getting ready to wipe it all out. Yes, what is coming is that catastrophic and many, too many more will end up taking their own life because the help that is there for them is too little, too late and most times, too inadequate. Believe it or not, there are many practicing mental health professionals with absolutely no training in PTSD, just as there are many Chaplains without a single clue what it is. Given the fact there are still misdiagnosis due to this, is it really any wonder why so many of them lose any hope they had of recovering?

More and more will be seeking help as the awareness rises and the stigma evaporates. What will they do then? Will the military still think the lives are not worthy of every effort to help them heal? Will they ever come to terms with PTSD the way the rest of the population has when crisis teams rush in for any traumatic event yet they are not sent in when soldiers face them? Will they ever get a clue that what they've been doing has been doing more harm than good? Will the President finally change this policy and honor the life of the fallen no matter how they passed away as if that life was just as worthy as the day they decided to dedicate it to serving the nation? See, we do a great job sending them away, but do are really lousy job of getting them back home. It's time for all leadership to get out of the box they've been operating in or at least cut a few windows so they can finally see what the hell they've been getting wrong for so very long.

When a soldier kills himself, no letter from President Obama
By Adam Levine, CNN
November 27, 2009 8:27 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Family of Spc. Chancellor Keesling, 25, wants condolence letter from President Obama
Parents believe his suicide brought on by stress of war, distance from loved ones
White House: "Inherited" policy only lets president write families of fallen soldiers
Family hopes President Obama would want to thank them for their sacrifice

Spc. Chancellor Keesling was given almost all the honors afforded a fallen service member after killing himself in June.

Washington (CNN) -- Gregg Keesling chooses his words carefully when he talks about the death of his son, Spc. Chancellor Keesling.

As far as he's concerned, the soldier didn't "take his own life" or "commit suicide."

His son "died by suicide," Keesling insists -- and he has his reasons why.

When 25-year old Chancellor Keesling shot himself in Iraq on June 19, his family received much support from the military and local officials. Gregg Keesling's son was given the honor afforded to a fallen service member.

The Keesling family went to Dover Air Force Base to watch as his body was flown back to Indiana six days later. At his burial, seven rifles fired three times each in true military tradition.

Later, the soldier's aunt created a memorial wall in the family's Indianapolis living room. On the wall hangs Spc. Keesling's uniform, the U.S. flag that was handed to his mother, Jannett, after the service, and the Indianapolis state flag that flew over the state capital in his honor.

Yet, there's an empty spot on the wall for an honor that never arrived -- a letter from the president.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/27/soldier.suicide/index.html