National Guardsman's Dad Going to State of Union after son's suicide

Dad of Army suicide victim going to State of Union
WBNS 10 News
By BY SETH SLABAUGH
Sunday January 26, 2014

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly is entitled to invite one guest to the State of the Union address on Tuesday.

The person Donnelly chose to give the ticket to — Farmland resident Jeff Sexton — confirms that Indiana's junior senator is serious about preventing military suicide.

Saxton's son, Army Spc. Jacob Sexton, 21, shot himself to death in October 2009 at a Muncie movie theater, where he was watching a show with his two brothers and a friend. A veteran of combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sexton was home on a 15-day leave when he died.

"His parents are coming out for the State of the Union," Donnelly said during a visit to The Star Press on Thursday, the newspaper reported (http://tspne.ws/1e0E2pS ). "We asked them to come out and be with us for it. I think they're American heroes. His dad will watch it in the (House) chamber. I only get one ticket. His mom (Barbara) will watch it back in our offices."

Last year, Donnelly introduced the Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act of 2013.

"His parents contacted us saying they wanted to try to be of help," Donnelly said. "This is an issue I have been working on. It's so searing and important. In 2012, we lost 349 (active) service members to suicide and 295 in combat. So we've lost more to suicide than we did to combat."

The bill would require mental health assessments to enhance detection of behaviors indicating a risk of suicide in members of the Armed Forces.

"Jacob's story was heartbreaking," Donnelly said. "I have spoken time and again on this issue ... and his family wanted to try to solve this problem, too. We met with them at Bruner's (Family Restaurant) here in Muncie, and they also came out to Washington. They don't want anybody's son or daughter to have to end their life."
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This is the original report from 2009

October 14, 2009
Indiana National Guardsman committed suicide at movie theater
Spc. Jacob Sexton died because of war and because the military didn't make sure they were prepared to return home.

Guardsman home from war kills self in Ind. theater
Associated Press
7:12 p.m. CDT, October 13, 2009

MUNCIE, Ind. - The father of an Indiana National Guardsman who fatally shot himself inside a movie theater said Tuesday that the families of service members returning home from war need to closely watch them for signs of stress.

Spc. Jacob Sexton, 21, showed no signs of being suicidal before shooting himself in the head, the guardsman's father, Jeffrey Sexton of Farmland, said.

"We just need to watch these boys and the girls coming back home. Something's just not right. Too much is happening," Jeffrey Sexton told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Muncie police said Jacob Sexton had argued with theater employees on Monday night over having to show identification to see the R-rated horror comedy "Zombieland."

Twenty minutes into the film, a friend handed Sexton a 9 mm handgun, at the guardsman's request, and he then shot himself in the head, police said.