Fisher Houses ease financial burden, stress
By Clay Carey, USA TODAY
Carol Thomas had gotten used to sleeping on recliners and hospital couches every once in a while as her husband, Bobby, got treatment for kidney and heart problems at the Edward Hines Jr. Veterans Affairs Hospital near Chicago.
But when doctors discovered cancer and had to remove Bobby's kidneys, the Glenwood, Ill., couple learned they would be in for an extended stay.
Instead of hospital couches, Carol said she now has a real bed at a home made for families such as hers while doctors work on her husband, a 64-year-old Army veteran who served in Vietnam.
That's because an organization called Fisher House opened a facility near the Illinois hospital in March — the most recently opened of 45 houses across the country that offer free lodging to veterans who have to travel more than 50 miles to get treatment at government-run Veterans Affairs hospitals, said Cindy Campbell, community liaison with the national Fisher House Foundation. Their families can stay for free, too.
"It has really been a home away from home," said Carol Thomas, 56. She has been staying there since late April. "Without them, I don't know what we would do."
read more here
Fisher Houses ease financial burden stress
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Vietnam Vets of Winston-Salem to have own bike group
Veterans start biking group
by Meghann Evans
In June, local bikers helped the Winston-Salem chapter of Rolling Thunder lead the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall into Mount Airy. Soon, Surry County’s chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America will have a biking group of its own.
Dan Hilton, who helped organize the Veterans Reunion that took place in Mount Airy in early June, explained that each chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America has its own biking club. The Granite City Chapter 1021 of the Vietnam Veterans, located in Mount Airy, now is starting a biking group.
“It’s a good idea to do it,” said Hilton.
The group will be part of Rolling Thunder, the official motorcycle club of the VVA.
Read more: Mount Airy News
Veterans start biking group
by Meghann Evans
In June, local bikers helped the Winston-Salem chapter of Rolling Thunder lead the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall into Mount Airy. Soon, Surry County’s chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America will have a biking group of its own.
Dan Hilton, who helped organize the Veterans Reunion that took place in Mount Airy in early June, explained that each chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America has its own biking club. The Granite City Chapter 1021 of the Vietnam Veterans, located in Mount Airy, now is starting a biking group.
“It’s a good idea to do it,” said Hilton.
The group will be part of Rolling Thunder, the official motorcycle club of the VVA.
Read more: Mount Airy News
Veterans start biking group
The Strength Within
There are many stories on this blog about suicides but I felt it was time to take a look back to 2007 and see that when it comes to the programs the DOD and the VA have come up with, they are not doing the job.
It's time we stopped being military deserters and started to demand the men and women serving today along with the veterans are treated with the utmost respect, dignity and care they have earned. Nothing they need should be debated. Congress spends more time of trying to find ways for what they want when it comes to contractors but far too little time when it comes to the men and women who are the military!
Ask your member of congress why they are not demanding the best care for our troops and veterans! Tell them to stop being military deserters when the troops need them after doing what congress asked of them.
It's time we stopped being military deserters and started to demand the men and women serving today along with the veterans are treated with the utmost respect, dignity and care they have earned. Nothing they need should be debated. Congress spends more time of trying to find ways for what they want when it comes to contractors but far too little time when it comes to the men and women who are the military!
Ask your member of congress why they are not demanding the best care for our troops and veterans! Tell them to stop being military deserters when the troops need them after doing what congress asked of them.
The Strength Within: One NCO's Experience with Suicide and PTSD
Sep 12, 2007
BY Elizabeth M. Lorge
Related Links
Suicide Prevention Week Stories
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Sept. 12, 2007)
In the face of rising suicide rates among Soldiers, the Army is making a renewed effort to help Soldiers at risk and educate Soldiers and leaders about the signs to look for in their battle buddies and subordinates. That education is crucial in saving Soldiers' lives, said retired 1st Sgt. Cornell Swanier. He has first-hand experience with suicide - as a prevention-education coordinator, as a noncommissioned officer who lost a Soldier and as a combat veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder who has thought about killing himself.
On Thanksgiving Day, 2002, he got the call every leader dreads. One of the Soldiers he had brought safely through a deployment to Kuwait for Operation Enduring Freedom was dead by his own hand, an event 1st Sgt. Swanier is still trying to comprehend. "I really got close to my Soldiers," he said. "I really tried to know the Soldiers, know their families, from top to bottom. It was tough on me. It's still tough on me to this day to walk in the barracks room and to see a dead Soldier. When Thanksgiving comes around, I think about that Soldier."
The specialist had been very intelligent, a model Soldier in a model section. He was a little quiet and prone to being picked on by his fellow Soldiers, but 1st Sgt. Swanier said he got along well with his section, one of the best in his company. 1st Sgt. Swanier said he felt responsible for a long time, but no one had any idea the Soldier wanted to kill himself. He even bought new speakers for his car shortly before he died. But he had planned the whole thing, bought a gun, even detailed where he wanted his ashes scattered in his suicide note.
After he died, 1st Sgt. Swanier went through all of the paperwork from the Soldier's monthly counseling sessions and couldn't find anything that would suggest suicide. 1st Sgt. Swanier had served as a prevention-education coordinator at Fort Benning, Ga., so he knew the signs to look for: Soldiers who start giving things away, whose job performance goes downhill, who isolate themselves and stop socializing and, of course, Soldiers who talk about killing themselves.
"You have to take that seriously. I'm sure that Soldier was exhibiting some signs around his roommate and fellow Soldiers, and they just didn't know it," he said. The suicide, he continued, touched everyone in the close-knit unit. "It really dragged us down, put a somber mood on the unit for some time. It took us time to move forward." The mission came first, however, and they were deployed for the initial ground war in Iraq in March 2003, a deployment that triggered 1st Sgt. Swanier's own battle with post-traumatic stress disorder and thoughts of suicide. Until a year after his return, when his father mentioned how angry he was, 1st Sgt. Swanier didn't realize how PTSD was affecting his life - he had cancelled several appointments with specialists and avoided group therapy.
"There were many sleepless nights. Depressed days. I would sit in one spot for most of the day. I would isolate and I wouldn't go out. I wouldn't talk to anybody. I wouldn't answer the telephone. I would get up in the middle of the night and make sure all my doors and windows were secured," he said. He never attempted it, but 1st Sgt. Swanier also thought about killing himself. He still does occasionally. He doesn't even like to wear neckties, although now he feels comfortable talking about it with his wife. If it hadn't been for the conversation with his father, 1st Sgt. Swanier believes he would have lost his family and ended up divorced. Instead, he joined an outpatient program at the local Department of Veterans Affairs post-traumatic stress clinic.
"When you mention the words mental health or behavioral health, there's a stigma," he said. "And I'm a first sergeant. We were coming back and that place was full of Soldiers, no leaders. And I just couldn't see myself going to behavioral health. I'm the type of person who was used to going up there and checking on Soldiers." 1st Sgt. Swanier said his wife and daughter didn't understand at first, but that their support has gotten him through his treatment. Talking to other veterans who know what he's going through also helps, he said. The Strength Within
Homeless Man Rescues Fallen American Flag
Homeless Man Rescues Fallen American Flag
Daniel Novick-KFOX News Weekend Anchor/Reporter
Posted: 3:56 pm MDT July 4, 2010
Updated: 2:04 pm MDT July 5, 2010
EL PASO, Texas -- There is typically an American flag that flies high in front of METI Inc., a federal contractor in East El Paso. But instead, the flag is lying flat inside and the flag pole is on the ground outside after a storm last Sunday.
"The wind and the rain knocked over the flag pole, causing the flag pole to lie on the parking lot overlooking Boeing Drive," said Rebecca Orozco with METI Inc.
But it is the condition in which employees found Old Glory that shocked everyone, until they checked their surveillance video.
"After watching the surveillance videos we noticed that it was a good Samaritan who we suspect was a homeless man that came to the rescue of the flag around 1:40 in the morning," Orozco told KFOX.
In the surveillance video you can see the homeless man in driving rain and wind carefully folding up the American flag military style and then placing the flag pole off to the side.
"It was an amazing experience to see that, it was very heartwarming to see that a homeless man or a good Samaritan who was walking around that area at that time of the day in the rain will come to the rescue of the U.S. flag," said Orozco.
Orozco said she wouldn't expect that kind of act in a late night storm from anyone, especially someone who has so little to give.
"Knowing that so many people have turned their back on him, he never turned his back on this country," she said.
KFOX found the man who didn't turn his back on the flag. His name is Gustus Bozarth.
"It's a small respect, folding the flag like that," said Bozarth.
He lives in the back of a warehouse just feet from the flag he saved.
go here for more
Homeless Man Rescues Fallen American Flag
Daniel Novick-KFOX News Weekend Anchor/Reporter
Posted: 3:56 pm MDT July 4, 2010
Updated: 2:04 pm MDT July 5, 2010
EL PASO, Texas -- There is typically an American flag that flies high in front of METI Inc., a federal contractor in East El Paso. But instead, the flag is lying flat inside and the flag pole is on the ground outside after a storm last Sunday.
"The wind and the rain knocked over the flag pole, causing the flag pole to lie on the parking lot overlooking Boeing Drive," said Rebecca Orozco with METI Inc.
But it is the condition in which employees found Old Glory that shocked everyone, until they checked their surveillance video.
"After watching the surveillance videos we noticed that it was a good Samaritan who we suspect was a homeless man that came to the rescue of the flag around 1:40 in the morning," Orozco told KFOX.
In the surveillance video you can see the homeless man in driving rain and wind carefully folding up the American flag military style and then placing the flag pole off to the side.
"It was an amazing experience to see that, it was very heartwarming to see that a homeless man or a good Samaritan who was walking around that area at that time of the day in the rain will come to the rescue of the U.S. flag," said Orozco.
Orozco said she wouldn't expect that kind of act in a late night storm from anyone, especially someone who has so little to give.
"Knowing that so many people have turned their back on him, he never turned his back on this country," she said.
KFOX found the man who didn't turn his back on the flag. His name is Gustus Bozarth.
"It's a small respect, folding the flag like that," said Bozarth.
He lives in the back of a warehouse just feet from the flag he saved.
go here for more
Homeless Man Rescues Fallen American Flag
Veterans struggle with life outside the military
Veterans struggle with life outside the military
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated 32 minutes ago
He had three square meals a day, a steady paycheck, solid benefits and a job with purpose. Life in the Army wasn’t perfect, of course, but Justin Youse was content with the path he had chosen.
Then he broke his back.
Today, the 29-year-old Iraq war veteran is in constant pain. He doesn’t sleep well. He considers the Veterans Affairs medical system, which he relies on for health care, to be a frustrating, impersonal, bureaucratic behemoth. He has battled addiction, gone through a divorce and been laid off from a job.
And he’s not alone in his struggles.
A new study by The Gallup Organization indicates that while military members are generally happier and healthier than other American workers, military veterans fare worse than the general work force when it comes to their emotional and physical health, work environment and access to basic necessities.
That came as no surprise to Youse, who injured his back when he dove from the back of a troop truck under fire in 2003 and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder related to other combat experiences in Iraq.
“Once you become a veteran, you’re still dealing with everything you were dealing with when you were active duty, but all the security and camaraderie is gone,” Youse said.
If he was sick or injured in the Army, Youse said, he would simply walk into the base clinic for treatment. “Now,” he said. “It’s all about jumping through hoops. It’s like being guilty until being proven innocent. You have to prove you’ve got medical issues before they’ll give you a second glance.”
go here for more
Veterans struggle with life outside the military
By Matthew D. LaPlante
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated 32 minutes ago
He had three square meals a day, a steady paycheck, solid benefits and a job with purpose. Life in the Army wasn’t perfect, of course, but Justin Youse was content with the path he had chosen.
Then he broke his back.
Today, the 29-year-old Iraq war veteran is in constant pain. He doesn’t sleep well. He considers the Veterans Affairs medical system, which he relies on for health care, to be a frustrating, impersonal, bureaucratic behemoth. He has battled addiction, gone through a divorce and been laid off from a job.
And he’s not alone in his struggles.
A new study by The Gallup Organization indicates that while military members are generally happier and healthier than other American workers, military veterans fare worse than the general work force when it comes to their emotional and physical health, work environment and access to basic necessities.
That came as no surprise to Youse, who injured his back when he dove from the back of a troop truck under fire in 2003 and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder related to other combat experiences in Iraq.
“Once you become a veteran, you’re still dealing with everything you were dealing with when you were active duty, but all the security and camaraderie is gone,” Youse said.
If he was sick or injured in the Army, Youse said, he would simply walk into the base clinic for treatment. “Now,” he said. “It’s all about jumping through hoops. It’s like being guilty until being proven innocent. You have to prove you’ve got medical issues before they’ll give you a second glance.”
go here for more
Veterans struggle with life outside the military
$1 million for each solider per year in Afghanistan?
Congress needs to start doing some heavy soul searching before more troops they claim to support become veterans trying to deal with what no one thought of, them.
We spend a fortune on waging war no matter if you agree with it or not. We've heard all the debates and know how easily they seem to find the money for contractors but we've also heard how they have a much harder time taking care of the men and women when they come home. Now, while it costs $1 million a year to pay for them risking their lives in Afghanistan, some members of congress are saying when they come home, they are just not worth paying for. Without mentioning any names of party they happen to belong to, some members end up proving they are not supporting the troops but are in fact supporting the contractors instead.
We owe the troops of today just as much as we owe the troops of yesterday we call veterans. How can they go from being worth $1 million a year while they risk their lives and then end up being a pawn in a political game?
We need to start watching them because if any of them say they support the troops, they better be prepared to fight for them and what they need. If they don't fight for the troops and our veterans, don't bother fighting for them come election time. They have already proven what they say does not lead to what they end up really doing.
Is anyone putting a lid on spending in Afghanistan or even talking about it the same way they say any bills for the veterans needs to be paid for?
We spend a fortune on waging war no matter if you agree with it or not. We've heard all the debates and know how easily they seem to find the money for contractors but we've also heard how they have a much harder time taking care of the men and women when they come home. Now, while it costs $1 million a year to pay for them risking their lives in Afghanistan, some members of congress are saying when they come home, they are just not worth paying for. Without mentioning any names of party they happen to belong to, some members end up proving they are not supporting the troops but are in fact supporting the contractors instead.
We owe the troops of today just as much as we owe the troops of yesterday we call veterans. How can they go from being worth $1 million a year while they risk their lives and then end up being a pawn in a political game?
We need to start watching them because if any of them say they support the troops, they better be prepared to fight for them and what they need. If they don't fight for the troops and our veterans, don't bother fighting for them come election time. They have already proven what they say does not lead to what they end up really doing.
US taxpayers’ Afghan aid money buys rich Afghans’ Dubai villas
By John Byrne
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
You already might have heard that it costs the United States $1 million for each solider per year in Afghanistan, to cover the cost of the soldiers' benefits, troop transports and other material. What you might not have heard is that your hard earned taxpayer dollars are also being used to buy well-connected Afghans posh villas in Dubai.US taxpayers are also footing an enormous bill for the Pentagon's use of fuel in the landlocked nation. In 2008, the price of gasoline in the United States topped the $4 per gallon mark.
This year in Afghanistan, the price has topped $400.
read more here
US taxpayers Afghan aid money buys rich Afghans Dubai villas
Is anyone putting a lid on spending in Afghanistan or even talking about it the same way they say any bills for the veterans needs to be paid for?
Suicide reflects troubling trend among veterans
Local veteran's suicide reflects troubling trend
Orrin Gorman McClellan is among the war casualties that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has just begun to track — young men and women who served in the post-9/11 military, and killed themselves after struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and other war wounds.
LANGLEY, Island County —
Orrin Gorman McClellan grew up among the alder and cedar that cover his family's 11-acre homestead on Whidbey Island. He relished painting, music and acting, playing the star role of Toad in a local production of "The Wind in the Willows."
McClellan seemed an unlikely Army recruit. But in the post-9/11 world, he responded to talk of honor, service and camaraderie. After graduating from high school, without informing his parents, McClellan signed up for three years of active duty.
He served in Afghanistan, where he lost friends to enemy bullets, picked up the body parts of blown-up soldiers and wrestled with the emotions unleashed by combat missions.
"Have you ever felt that each word you say brings you further away from explaining yourself," he wrote in an April 30, 2005, poem in a computer journal. "Everything you create puts a sour taste in your mouth and every action you take burns you with shame."
In the fall of 2006, McClellan left the Army and came back to his Western Washington island and a strong support network eager to help him rebuild his life. But family and friends were not enough to save him.
This year, on May 18, McClellan took his life with a handgun.
go here for more
Local veterans suicide reflects troubling trend
Orrin Gorman McClellan is among the war casualties that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has just begun to track — young men and women who served in the post-9/11 military, and killed themselves after struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and other war wounds.
LANGLEY, Island County —
Orrin Gorman McClellan grew up among the alder and cedar that cover his family's 11-acre homestead on Whidbey Island. He relished painting, music and acting, playing the star role of Toad in a local production of "The Wind in the Willows."
McClellan seemed an unlikely Army recruit. But in the post-9/11 world, he responded to talk of honor, service and camaraderie. After graduating from high school, without informing his parents, McClellan signed up for three years of active duty.
He served in Afghanistan, where he lost friends to enemy bullets, picked up the body parts of blown-up soldiers and wrestled with the emotions unleashed by combat missions.
"Have you ever felt that each word you say brings you further away from explaining yourself," he wrote in an April 30, 2005, poem in a computer journal. "Everything you create puts a sour taste in your mouth and every action you take burns you with shame."
In the fall of 2006, McClellan left the Army and came back to his Western Washington island and a strong support network eager to help him rebuild his life. But family and friends were not enough to save him.
This year, on May 18, McClellan took his life with a handgun.
go here for more
Local veterans suicide reflects troubling trend
Help Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association
Many Americans do not realize that not all veterans of the Vietnam War receive benefits related to dioxins and other toxins to which they (the veterans) were exposed from roughly 1963 to 1975. These service personnel served aboard ships along the coast of Vietnam. These veterans were exposed to toxins and dioxins when they drank contaminated water that was aboard ship. They also showered in that water, ate food prepared in it and breathed air from the ventilation system that spewed toxic air. These are the same contaminates for which the armed forces who served on land are being compensated.
I am proud to report that Congressman, Bob Filner, Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, is moving ahead with promises he has made on behalf of veterans of the Vietnam War. Representative Filner's bill, HR-2254, has an overwhelming support of 256 fellow Representatives, and he is working on issues regarding the funding of this legislation. It deals with military victims of Agent Orange poisoning.
Congressman Filner has stepped up to the plate boldly on this issue, an action that many members of this 111th Congress have not yet done. His recent release of a Video to Veterans at shows him as a staunch proponent for all veteran issues, and he spent some time detailing the problems that HR-2254 is going to solve as well as his approach to how he plans to get this bill through the House. Like everything else these days, his biggest hurdle is financial. But Congressman Filner indicates he will work through those funding issues in order to get this legislation passed.
As Executive Director of the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association, I stand and salute him for his past valiant efforts to pass this legislation and have great faith that he will come through for us in the end.
John Paul Rossie, Executive Director
Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association
PO Box 1035
Littleton, CO 80160-1035
I am proud to report that Congressman, Bob Filner, Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, is moving ahead with promises he has made on behalf of veterans of the Vietnam War. Representative Filner's bill, HR-2254, has an overwhelming support of 256 fellow Representatives, and he is working on issues regarding the funding of this legislation. It deals with military victims of Agent Orange poisoning.
Congressman Filner has stepped up to the plate boldly on this issue, an action that many members of this 111th Congress have not yet done. His recent release of a Video to Veterans at
As Executive Director of the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association, I stand and salute him for his past valiant efforts to pass this legislation and have great faith that he will come through for us in the end.
John Paul Rossie, Executive Director
Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association
PO Box 1035
Littleton, CO 80160-1035
Good Samaritan Helps Wounded Soldier
Good Samaritan Helps Wounded Soldier
Posted: July 5, 2010 11:26 PM EDT
A roadside bombing in Afghanistan last month left Specialist Devon Pitz with serious injuries. His stepmother Vikki, who recently visited him at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D.C., says he is making progress.
"He had made four steps while I was there," said Vikki Pitz. "They've got him a special wheel-chair and use the little remote and he can wheel himself around."
To help keep his spirits up, family members have been taking turns staying with the young soldier at the hospital. After his stepmother's last trip to D.C., she returned home to Lawrence County to find a heart-felt card from a stranger.
"I've never met the woman, I just know that she saw the ad in the paper where they we're talking about him and her son was in combat. Also, she said the story touched her and she wanted to do what she could the help my family," said Pitz.
read more here
Good Samaritan Helps Wounded Soldier
Posted: July 5, 2010 11:26 PM EDT
A roadside bombing in Afghanistan last month left Specialist Devon Pitz with serious injuries. His stepmother Vikki, who recently visited him at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D.C., says he is making progress.
"He had made four steps while I was there," said Vikki Pitz. "They've got him a special wheel-chair and use the little remote and he can wheel himself around."
To help keep his spirits up, family members have been taking turns staying with the young soldier at the hospital. After his stepmother's last trip to D.C., she returned home to Lawrence County to find a heart-felt card from a stranger.
"I've never met the woman, I just know that she saw the ad in the paper where they we're talking about him and her son was in combat. Also, she said the story touched her and she wanted to do what she could the help my family," said Pitz.
read more here
Good Samaritan Helps Wounded Soldier
Veteran suicides: Families haunted
I don't know if I cry more for the dead after suicide or for the families left behind to wonder what they could have done to save the life before it was too late. I understand a sense of hopelessness so deep that one more day of pain seems to be more about letting in more pain than it offers a day of hope. I understand what it's like to lose someone after suicide and ask the thousand unanswerable questions wondering what else could have been done.
My husband's nephew, another Vietnam vet with PTSD, committed suicide. He knew what I did, what I knew, but he didn't want to listen any more than he wanted to talk except for a few tidbits of what happened. He blamed himself for two of his friends being blown up and then he blamed himself for everything else that came after. It all became evil to him. To this day, I still wonder what buzz word I could have used to get him forgive himself for what he thought was his fault. None of it was but he believed it so deeply, he needed to begin there and then figure out that it really wasn't his fault at all. I just didn't get the chance.
His whole family wondered what could have been done and they were angry he decided to do it instead of open up to them. Then again, they didn't know what to say or how to understand him, but they did the best they could with what they knew at the time. That's what we all need to find some comfort in. If we loved them, tried our best with what we knew based on that love, then we should find some comfort in that. We should not let that be the end of it. From that point onward, we need to learn everything we can and become devoted to making sure there will be one life saved for the one we lost, one family restored for the family we saw shattered and one more family finding they are not alone the way we thought we were.
The following is about two families left behind after suicide and it is a picture of the families across this country of the 18 families of veterans we lose to suicide everyday.
My husband's nephew, another Vietnam vet with PTSD, committed suicide. He knew what I did, what I knew, but he didn't want to listen any more than he wanted to talk except for a few tidbits of what happened. He blamed himself for two of his friends being blown up and then he blamed himself for everything else that came after. It all became evil to him. To this day, I still wonder what buzz word I could have used to get him forgive himself for what he thought was his fault. None of it was but he believed it so deeply, he needed to begin there and then figure out that it really wasn't his fault at all. I just didn't get the chance.
His whole family wondered what could have been done and they were angry he decided to do it instead of open up to them. Then again, they didn't know what to say or how to understand him, but they did the best they could with what they knew at the time. That's what we all need to find some comfort in. If we loved them, tried our best with what we knew based on that love, then we should find some comfort in that. We should not let that be the end of it. From that point onward, we need to learn everything we can and become devoted to making sure there will be one life saved for the one we lost, one family restored for the family we saw shattered and one more family finding they are not alone the way we thought we were.
The following is about two families left behind after suicide and it is a picture of the families across this country of the 18 families of veterans we lose to suicide everyday.
Veteran suicides: Families haunted
Depression follows tragedy
By Karen Nugent TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
LEOMINSTER — Kevin P. Lucey made no bones about telling a group of clergy about his loss of faith.
“God and I have not been on good terms for six years. He turned his back on my son, and I will never forgive him for that,” Mr. Lucey told the group gathered recently at the Leominster Veterans Center for a workshop on helping war veterans and their families re-adjust to daily life.
Mr. Lucey’s son, Jeff Lucey, a Marine reservist who served in the first Iraq invasion in 2003, hanged himself in the family’s basement a year after he returned to his Belchertown home. He was 23. The tragedy occurred after his family tried for months to get Jeff, a popular class clown in his high school days, treatment for what seemed an obvious case of post-traumatic stress disorder.
“People other than us should have cared,” an angry Mr. Lucey told the group. “I’m faulting the VA (Northampton VA Medical Center), I’m faulting the church, and I’m faulting God.”
Another parent took a different route.
The Rev. Cynthia Crosson-Harrington of Petersham finished seminary school, became a minister, and is a founder of the NEADS Canines for Combat Veterans program, which provides assistance dogs to veterans.
But all that followed a long period of depression after her son, James Tower, who served in Bosnia and in Iraq, died in 2003 at age 22 in what she now accepts as a suicidal gesture attributed to post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Veteran suicides Families haunted
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