Gathering gives military families support through grief

Gathering gives military families support through grief
May 2, 2009 - 4:39 PM
R. SCOTT RAPPOLD
THE GAZETTE
Robert Pirelli's pain was like a cancer, eating away at him, sapping his will to live.

Through a national nonprofit, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, he has found the answers he needed about the death of his son, Staff Sgt. Robert R. Pirelli, 29, a Fort Carson Green Beret killed in Iraq in August 2007.

He's also found the comfort of knowing he is not the only one hurting.

"When you come to TAPS, people say, ‘I know what you're going through,' and they really do know what you're going through," Pirelli said.

He came to Fort Carson from Boston this weekend for a TAPS grief seminar, one of 150 widows and mothers, fathers and brothers, fellow soldiers and friends, who gathered to remember loved ones lost to war and to find support in each others' stories.

"It lets the families know their loved ones' sacrifice is remembered and their life made a difference," said Bonnie Carroll, who founded TAPS two years after the death of her husband, Brig. Gen. Tom Carroll, in a 1992 plane crash.

At the time, there was no support system in place for survivors to keep in touch with other military families and people who served with their lost loved ones. She and the families of other people lost in the crash got together on their own.

Ronnie Barrett came from Johnson City, Tenn, for the seminar. His son, Sgt. Chad Barrett, with Fort Carson's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, committed suicide in Iraq in February 2008.

For the father, coming here has been cathartic.

"I didn't realize until I got here there would be so many people with the same story I've got," he said.

go here for more

http://www.gazette.com/articles/pirelli-52877-through-robert.html

Despite PTSD, Fallen Soldier Was Determined to Return to Iraq

Despite PTSD, Fallen Soldier Was Determined to Return to Iraq

Michael de Yoanna


Rocky Mountain News

Apr 22, 2008

April 21, 2008 - Staff Sgt. Chad A. Barrett was determined to muddle through a third tour of duty in Iraq.

Though his medical records show he suffered from acute post- traumatic stress disorder, had difficulty sleeping and was struggling with a traumatic brain injury, he assured his commanders and doctors that he could again serve his nation.

Yet, only weeks after arriving in Mosul in northern Iraq, Barrett, 35, a member of Fort Carson's 4th Infantry Division, was struggling.

"I am not getting any better, and really bad thoughts are running around my head," Barrett wrote in an e-mail to his father after five fellow soldiers were killed on Jan. 28 in an ambush by insurgents.

"Part of me wishes that one of those guys was me," he wrote. "I am goin(g) to try to talk to someone about sending me back home, cause I feel like I am just going to cause harm out here."

But Barrett would never make it home. Just five weeks into his tour, on Feb. 2, he went to his room and swallowed a lethal combination of antidepressants and sleeping pills that were prescribed for him.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9900

As usual this morning brings more tears to my eyes. After over 1,600 post on this blog alone, I find myself with less and less to say. I keep wondering if it's doing any good. While I've already posted about this death before, so it comes as no surprise, my heart grieves because I am aware of too many more. While some will see numbers, I see names and lives and stories and families left behind. I see suffering where there should have already been healing. I see hopelessness where there should have been action taken so long ago. I see Vietnam being repeated over and over again and I see very little changed. There will be some posts encouraging but too many more are discouraging. When will this needless suffering end for them? When will they all get the care and treatment they deserve without having to fight for it? Today is one of those days when I just want to give up and find peace that I've done all I could over all these years, but I know until the day I die, I will have to keep doing this because there are even more families out there just like mine.

I know that if we give up on hoping changes will be made to help them all, it won't happen.

Today, I need some down time to deal with a sinus infection and work on a new video. I also need the time to spend in prayer for all those suffering when they could be healing. I'll be posting later but for now I'm signing off.