General Pittard, was Marine Clay Hunt selfish too?

UPDATE May 27, 2012
A friend of Clay Hunt has been nominated for CNN HERO and he talks about TEAM RUBICON along with the loss of Clay. I thought it was an important story to point out considering what Pittard said. While Pittard has issued a retraction he came up with "while working out in the gym" five months after he wrote that troops committing suicide were selfish, there were many people thinking the same way.

In the worst calamities, these veterans rush to the rescue
By Kathleen Toner
CNN
March 29, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Jake Wood started Team Rubicon to help those in need after natural disasters
Most of the group's 1,400 volunteers are military veterans who still want to serve
The nonprofit also gives veterans a chance to connect and feel part of a team

Los Angeles (CNN) -- When Haiti suffered a massive earthquake two years ago, many people responded by donating money.

Jake Wood responded with a Facebook post.

"I'm going to Haiti. Who's in?" wrote the former U.S. Marine.

The images Wood was seeing on the news reminded him of his tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He realized that the skills he had acquired in the service, including the ability to adapt to difficult conditions, work with limited resources and maintain security in a dangerous environment, were sorely needed.

"Those are just lessons that you work at every single day in Falluja," said Wood, 28. "To a veteran, it's second nature."

Wood wanted to help, and he persuaded his college roommate, a firefighter, to join him. Within minutes of seeing Wood's Facebook post, another friend and former Marine, William McNulty, signed on. Interest quickly snowballed, and soon donations poured into Wood's PayPal account. Three days later, he and seven others were in the Dominican Republic, heading into neighboring Haiti with medicine and equipment.

Wood realized the importance of this after a personal loss in April 2011. His best friend, Clay Hunt -- a fellow veteran and Team Rubicon volunteer -- committed suicide. Hunt had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor's guilt. It was a shock to Wood, as Hunt seemed to be adjusting well. He was literally a poster boy for returning veterans, appearing in a public-service announcement for a veterans advocacy group.

"It was tremendously difficult to feel like I had let him down, knowing that we had survived two wars together but that when things were easy and it had come to peace, that I wasn't there enough for him," Wood said. "That has been a very tough battle for me, dealing with that."

Brothers in arms refocusing efforts

Hunt's death made Wood realize how critically important the connections are that Team Rubicon enables veterans to build with each other. It also made the group refocus its own mission: Instead of being a disaster relief organization that uses veterans, Team Rubicon is now a veterans support organization that uses disasters as opportunities for continued service.

"We're giving them a reason to come together ... and that community lasts long after the mission," Wood said. "Right now, Team Rubicon is focused on how we can ... get them involved in as many ways as possible."
read more here

General Pittard, was Marine Clay Hunt selfish too?
by Chaplain Kathie

When Major General Dana Pittard decided to blame the troops for committing suicide, calling them selfish, it got to me so much that I had to walk away from the computer.

The more I thought about how sickening his statement was, it made me wonder if he felt that way all along and this is not simply about his sudden frustration.

Was Clay Hunt selfish?

Marine Clay Hunt's suicide causes group to take action
Group Aims To Help Young Vets With Civilian Life
Rick Collins Says 'Unseen Wounds' Aims To Guide Young Vet Away From Alcohol, Drugs, Isolation, Suicide

March 27, 2012

SAN DIEGO -- A local group is planning to give struggling young veterans entering civilian life some free help.

After fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Clay Hunt – who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder – left the Marines and became an advocate for veterans. A year ago – at the age of 28 – the Texas veteran committed suicide.

Rick Collins called him a friend.

"His death is an example of person who gave his life for service to his country," said Collins.

"When he left the service, the support wasn't there for him."

Hunt's death was one motivating factor in Collins' bid to heal the "unseen wounds."

Collins, who served with the British Royal Marines, is starting a free local program called "Unseen Wounds" to guide struggling young veterans away from the path of alcohol, drugs, isolation and suicide.

Was Jacob Manning selfish too?

A suicidal veteran and a call for help, unanswered
By LEO SHANE III
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 24, 2012
WASHINGTON

Jacob Manning waited until his wife and teenage son had left the house, then walked into his garage to kill himself.

The former soldier had been distraught for weeks, frustrated by family problems, unemployment and his lingering service injuries. He was long ago diagnosed with traumatic brain injury, caused by a military training accident, and post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from the aftermath. He had battled depression before, but never an episode this bad.

He tossed one end of an extension cord over the rafters above and then fashioned a noose.

The cord snapped. It couldn’t handle his weight.

He called Christina Roof, a friend and national veterans policy adviser who helped him years before, and rambled about trying again with a bigger cord or a gun. She urged him to calm down. She sent a message to Manning’s wife, Charity, telling her to rush home. The two of them tried for more than a day to persuade him to get professional help.

He eventually agreed to call the veterans hospital in Columbia, Mo., near his home.

When a staffer at the mental health clinic answered the phone, Manning explained what he had done, and asked if he could be taken into care.

The staffer asked if Manning was still suicidal. He wavered, saying he wasn’t trying to kill himself right then. The hospital employee told him the office was closing in an hour, and asked if Manning could wait until the next day to deal with the problem.

Was Jonathan Bartlett selfish?

Wounded Iraq vet commits suicide
Local wounded Iraq vet commits suicide
by Mike Gooding
WVEC.com
Posted on April 20, 2012

NORFOLK -- A local former Army soldier whose grit and determination were an inspiration to many people in Hampton Roads has died at his own hand.

Jonathan Bartlett was just 19 when he lost both of his legs following an improvised explosive device attack in Iraq, back in 2004.

Bartlett never wanted anybody to feel sorry for him.

"Being shot at sucks, but I mean, it was a job I chose to do," he had said. "If the enemy had waited until my cabin was over the bomb instead of the engine, everyone would have died. Instead, no one died. I lost a few pounds. I'll be fine."

That is something General Pittard didn't think about. 18 veterans a day commit suicide along with one active duty serviceman/woman every 36 hours. There are 529 posts on this blog alone connected to military suicides. There are many more stories of them doing their duty, their jobs, risking their lives until everyone they were with were out of danger before they let their own pain "get to them" because they were thinking of others. How many committed suicide because they were not taken care of in return for what they were willing to sacrifice? How many tried to commit suicide for the same reason? Did Pittard ever think about them?

What good does it do to be "devoted" to suicide prevention when he has this kind of attitude?

Pittard, for his part, is far more devoted to suicide prevention than his comments might suggest. Fort Bliss -- which houses roughly 40,000 troops, 40,000 military family members, and 13,000 other civilians in Texas and New Mexico -- has an unusually large staff of 160 psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental-health professionals.

At Pittard’s direction, the base has also constructed a “Wellness Fusion Campus” designed to provide education on resilience, suicide prevention, and spotting signs of depression or other mood disorders in one’s self or fellow troops.