One twin lost leg in combat, other twin lost life to suicide

Soldier Advocates Suicide Prevention
Dec 11, 2012
Army.mil/News
by Sgt. Ashley Curtis

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Twin brothers Earl and Joseph Granville were brothers by blood as well as brothers in arms. They were bunkmates in basic training and deployed twice together overseas. But everything changed after retired Army Staff Sgt. Earl Granville's third deployment with the Pennsylvania National Guard.

"This time I cut the cord and went by myself," Earl said.

He deployed to Afghanistan with the 1/109th Infantry Regiment in December 2007 and lost his left leg to a roadside bomb.

"Of everyone in my family, my twin brother took it pretty hard," said Earl. "After I got hurt, he was told he couldn't go to Iraq on a deployment he already had orders for.

They sent his wife instead and it was just a downward spiral from there."

On Dec. 18th, 2010, Joseph, staff sergeant, took his own life.

"The signs were there. I just didn't realize there were signs until he left," said Earl.

Suicide rates across the military have been on the rise for the past decade with the Army reporting the highest rates, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The foundation also noted that deployed and previously deployed soldiers have the highest suicide rate of all active duty servicemembers.

Earl recently took a trip to Afghanistan as part of Operation Proper Exit. The operation allows wounded soldiers to go back to the combat theater they were medically evacuated from to check progress in the region and leave on their own terms.
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