After Suicide Marine's Wife Guest for State of the Union

While this is yet one more heartbreaking story of a widow left behind, it is even more so knowing all the other bills before this repeated "effort" failed. Had Congress taken the time to review what was done, failed and repeated, maybe, just maybe Justin Eldridge would be healing, instead of leaving a grieving widow.

Widow continues Marine veteran’s fight
Publication: The Day
By Deborah Straszheim
Published January 19. 2015

Joanna and Justin Eldridge are shown at a Marine Corps ball in Connecticut. Joanna Eldridge will be Sen. Richard Blumenthal's guest at Tuesday's State of the Union address in Washington. Justin Eldridge, who suffered from PTSD and took his own life in 2013 in Waterford, served in Afghanistan.
Photo courtesy of Joanna Eldridge

The widow of a U.S. Marine who took his own life after a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder, will travel to Washington, D.C., as Sen. Richard Blumenthal's guest at Tuesday's State of the Union address.

Joanna Eldridge had four young children and was caring for her 31-year-old husband, Justin Eldridge, at the time of his death in Waterford. He also had a traumatic brain injury that initially went undiagnosed. "Justin Eldridge is one of thousands of veterans who have lost their battle to invisible wounds of war," Blumenthal said in a news release issued last week. "Even as we lose another 22 veterans each day to suicide, we must not forget the spouses, children and community they leave behind."

Blumenthal is pushing for passage of the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, a bill aimed at improving mental health care and suicide prevention programs for servicemen and women.

The bill, which passed the House of Representatives last week, would evaluate suicide prevention programs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, improve coordination among veterans organizations and the VA and provide loan repayments for psychiatrists and mental health workers at the VA. The legislation would also boost community outreach and support services.
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