Marines battle homefront 'epidemic'

Service and Sacrifice: Marines battle homefront 'epidemic' 
WBIR.com
John Becker
November 5, 2014

"I've been there, I've had a gun in my mouth, that is what Pieces is all about," said Mr. Cochran who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and says he was perilously close to taking his own life back home.

Two Marines who met after their service say they're in a new fight together on the homefront centered on a rash of military suicides.

"One in particular was a staff sergeant and probably one of the toughest Marines I ever knew," said Daniel Dean, recalling the shocking suicide of a fellow Marine, husband, and father he long admired. 

"It shocks me and infuriates me because it is something we can heal, but each case is different," said Mr. Dean.

Earlier this fall, the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs issued a press released titled, Veteran Suicides on the Rise in Tennessee. It cites this spike in military suicides; 197 in 2012 to 214 in 2013.

The most recent data at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs every day in the country 22 veterans take their own lives. As a part of the campaign to tackle the problem and push prevention efforts, the state enlisted the help of Daniel Dean and fellow singer songwriter Stephen Cochran.

The two combat veterans have become spokesmen for the cause. "I've been there, I've had a gun in my mouth, that is what Pieces is all about," said Mr. Cochran who served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and says he was perilously close to taking his own life back home.

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