"The truth of the matter is if we can't take care of our veterans"

After Husband's Tragic Death, Widow Takes on PTSD
Associated Press
BURLINGTON, Vt.
May 14, 2014

Amy Miner says the last night of her husband's life got off to an amazing start.

Kryn Miner and his wife attended a wedding in April in Vermont with two of their four children, dancing and celebrating with good friends.

But then things went wrong.

The troubled 44-year-old Army veteran became verbally abusive toward his wife on the ride home and began to hit himself. Prosecutors say he threatened to kill his family, assaulted his wife, and then threw a loaded handgun to their teen child who came to her aid.

"Do you want to play the gun game?" the sniper-qualified Miner asked the teen, according to authorities. The teen fired six shots when Miner pulled another gun from a bag. Prosecutors ruled the April 26 shooting justified and the teen won't face charges.

Kryn Miner was a loving father and husband, his wife said. A dedicated career soldier. The guy who would walk into a room and make immediate friends. But after 11 deployments in seven years, he became troubled. He suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury after Amy Miner said he was thrown into a wall after a blast in Afghanistan in 2010 while serving with the Vermont National Guard.

Amy Miner, 39, said that his mental health became a constant struggle and that she agreed to an interview with The Associated Press a little more than two weeks after her husband's death to speak out about the need to provide better treatment for veterans.

"The truth of the matter is if we can't take care of our veterans we shouldn't be sending them off to war," she said. "It doesn't make sense. Because they're coming back and this is the result and it's happening more and more."
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