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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Jordan Riddle's family fought hard to prevent him from becoming a statistic

2 Marines committed suicide in September, 11 attempted it

Army suicides 15 and Citizen Soldiers 16 for September

Now read this. We can't say the family didn't know. They did and they also did all they could to make sure their son found reason to stay alive. So what failed? Jordan Riddle was a combat medic. He risked his life to save lives. Why didn't anyone save his?

Congress is holding no one accountable for any of this.

North Texas Army medic commits suicide
KDFW
Oct 23, 2012 By: Lari Barager
Adapted for Web by: Tracy Delatte
ARLINGTON, Texas


Medic Commits Suicide Video
An Army medic from Arlington committed suicide this week, adding to the number of troops coming home from war who take their own lives.

According to the Pentagon, the number of military suicides had leveled off in the past two years. But 2012 has brought an upswing.

In the first half of the year, 154 active-duty troops committed suicide. That's compared to 130 in the same period last year, an 18 percent increase.

Jordan Riddle's family fought hard to prevent him from becoming a statistic. They said he left for Iraq five years ago and never really came home.

"He was angry. He was hurt," said Shannon Murphy, his sister.

"It was so seldom we saw him smile," added Tommy Riddle, his dad.

His family said he suffered from a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. It got so bad his dad quit his job to try to manage his mental health care.

"The VA just, they dropped the ball," Tommy Riddle said.
read more here

2 comments:

  1. That is my dad so called as my mother said and it really is sad that he is dead and I grew up without him I still have his pants and a picture and use too have some other thing of his like an award I do miss him a lot

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  2. I am very sorry for you and you family. It is really hard when they do not get the help they need, as soon as they need it, and worse when the family doesn't get help too. My husband, a Vietnam veteran could have ended up a sad statistic too. It was almost impossible to get him to go for help for a long time but eventually he did and is still healing. Try to learn what you can about PTSD and find some comfort through understanding him. I know it helped me get through the hard years and we've been together for 40 years.

    ReplyDelete

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