Special Report: Combating veteran suicide

Special Report: Combating veteran suicide
WIAT CBS 42 News
Casey Walsh
Published: November 5, 2016

According to the United States Department of Veterans Affair report in 2014, an average of 20 veterans died from suicide each day, of those, 6 of the 20 utilized VA services.

Men, women and teenagers around our nation have put their lives at risk joining the United States Military for the purpose of protecting our country, in case one day the United States goes to war. Throughout the years, many soldiers have traveled overseas for war, seeing and experiencing the unimaginable, which has lead to suicide for many military members.

Jamie Baraibar of West Des Moines said it was a shock to everyone when her husband Scott Baraibar died from suicide in March.

“When he passed away, it was a big shock to everyone, all of his friends,” said Baraibar. “Like I said, he was working full time with the [National] Guard, interacting with his supervisors every day.”

Baraibar said she met Scott when he came back from Afghanistan in the summer of 2011 at the manufacturing facility they both worked at. She described her husband Scott as a happy person who served his country, but looking back she noticed difficult situations for him that he didn’t talk much about, such as his lack of sleep. “It was common for him to get maybe two or three hours of sleep a night, it’s like his mind would keep racing.”

Baraibar said she wished she pushed him to talk to someone about the problems. She said it was common for Scott if he was sick or not feeling well to avoid going to the doctors, risking getting discharged from the military.

“He [Scott] didn’t go to the VA or he didn’t see anybody for anything,” said Baraibar. “Looking back, I wish I would have gone with him. I would rather him be mad at me for going to the doctors than be gone.”
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