Marine Clay Hunt another after combat casualty

Marine Clay Hunt became another after combat casualty when he took his own life. By all accounts, Hunt did everything experts say he needed to do. He went to the VA and got help. He talked about having PTSD openly, meaning the stigma induced silence was not a factor. Hunt went even beyond that and got involved trying to save the lives of others with PTSD. Even with all of this including an informed, supportive family, Hunt lost his battle after battle.

Family photo

Clay Hunt, 28, a Houston native, joined the Marines in 2005.

War casualty on the home front
A poster boy for suicide prevention, Houstonian becomes another statistic
By LINDSAY WISE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
April 8, 2011, 6:43PM

"He thought the world was supposed to be a better place than it is, and he lived every day of his life thinking, perhaps naively, that his efforts could make the world be what he thought it should be."

Marine veteran Clay Hunt had a tattoo on his arm that quoted Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien: "Not all those who wander are lost."

"I think he was a lot more philosophical about life than a lot of us are, but trying to search for some inner peace and the meaning of life, what was the most important thing," said his father, Stacy Hunt.

His son's quest ended last week when he took his own life at his Sugar Land apartment.

The 28-year-old had narrowly escaped death in Iraq four years ago, when a sniper's bullet missed his head by inches. But he wrestled with post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor's guilt over the deaths of four friends in his platoon who weren't so lucky.

"Two were lost in Iraq, and the other two were killed in Afghanistan," said his mother, Susan Selke. "When that last one in Afghanistan went down, it just undid him."

In many ways, Hunt's death is all too familiar: the haunted veteran consumed by a war he can't stop fighting.

Suicides among Texans younger than 35 who served in the military jumped from 47 in 2006 to 66 in 2009 - an increase of 40 percent, according to state records.

The problem seems increasingly intractable. Efforts by the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs to stop the alarming rise in military suicides nationwide through training and screening have had limited success.
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War casualty on the home front

When they come home with PTSD and the family was very involved in their healing, it should stun every expert. What is still missing in what we're trying to do? Why are they still reaching the point where hope has vanished to the point they do not want to survive one more day?

When they come home, deny they need help, we've pointed to that as a factor in their suicide. We say, help is available, PTSD came at them and was not caused by them. We keep talking until they get to that place within where they understand there is nothing to be ashamed of at all. Most of the time it works to the point where they want to get into treatment to heal. Then we think, ok, our job is done but we never seem to be able to wonder why so many are still calling the suicide prevention hotlines. We stop wondering why it still reaches that level of desperation they feel the need to call.

When they come home and their family turns them away, kicks them out, we say it is because their family is not supportive, didn't understand what was going on so they couldn't cope. So we end up pushing for more awareness, more understanding and more support for the families. Well aware that this is the number one cause of veterans becoming homeless we believe if we can help the families, we can prevent the homeless veteran population from growing. Yet here is a family with everything in place and still they are left to grieve for a death that did not have to happen.

Is it because of some medications being given with warnings of causing suicidal thoughts? Is it because a lot of them mix alcohol with their medications or have drug interactions? Are they not hearing what they need to know in therapy? Is it the clergy not getting involved to help them heal spiritually? Is it the lack of knowledge the general public has about where we sent them? What do we keep missing or is it all so complicated that we need to understand that sometimes everything is just not enough?

All of their deaths break my heart but when I read a story like this, it is very hard because he is one more reminder that no matter how far we've come since the early 80's, we are still not where we need to be to stop losing more after combat than during it.