With at least 11 confirmed suicides this year Fort Campbell Army Base in Kentucky is closing down for three days to allow commanders to identify at-risk soldiers and help them with their mental health issues.
Fort Campbell Puts Duties on Hold to Address Recent Suicides
By MARTHA RADDATZ, RICHARD COOLIDGE and KATE BARRETT
May 27, 2009—
Eleven suspected suicides this year at Fort Campbell, Ky. have prompted the military base to put its regular duties on hold today while officials pause for a program on suicide prevention.
The decision comes not long after a separate tragic shooting earlier this month at a Baghdad stress center, where a U.S. soldier was charged with killing five of his peers.
Both are devastating markers that reflect the stress of war -- and young men like Brendan Schnitzler, 21, and Cedric Brooks, 26, can directly relate.
"When I got back, I knew I felt that the Brendan that left the States had died," said Schnitzler, 21, who served in Iraq as a machine gunner before twice trying to kill himself.
"I turned to alcohol. I was drinking pretty heavy just to pass out at night so I could get some sleep, and I was just miserable. So one night I just said, you know, 'This is all I've got left. I don't want none of it. So it was Jan. 3, 2008. [I] climbed to the roof of my barracks, about a 60-foot fall, and I jumped off the roof."
1 comment:
Thank you for writing about this topic and drawing more awareness to Fort Campbell’s commendable steps to bring attention to this tragic situation. I work with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) to help raise awareness of the mental and physical challenges the two current military conflicts cause for the thousands of troops currently serving or returning to civilian life. To combat the sense of isolation at the heart of Ft. Campbell’s decision, the IAVA has launched two web-based initiatives. The first, www.Supportyourvet.org, provides resources and forums to empower the friends and family of veterans to help their loved ones combat these issues while serving or after returning home. The second, called Community of Veterans, is a closed online community where only veterans of these two current conflicts are allowed in and can discuss issues surrounding the reentry to civilian life with their peers. We appreciate what you’re doing to help bring this to your readers’ attention, and please let us know if you have any questions about these resources.
Vivek
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