Healing the ‘Invisible Wound’

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Dar Place was two feet away when his friend and fellow soldier took his own life during the Gulf War. Two decades later, like so many other veterans, Place is still haunted by the plague of suicide in the military.

“I personally saw my driver after Desert Storm in his tank put a gun underneath his mouth and pull the trigger, while I was no further away from him than I am from you right now,” Place told the Washington Free Beacon at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. He was one of the dozens of activists with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) who planted thousands of flags to honor veterans who had killed themselves.

By noon, 1,892 American flags graced the Mall, representing the number of veterans who have taken their life this year alone since January 1st—an average of 22 per day.

Former soldiers and survivors gathered to raise awareness about the epidemic, and lobby Capitol Hill to pass a bill addressing gaps in mental health.

The message of the campaign is “We’ve Got Your Back,” and for Place, serving in the Army is a “family business.”

“My son is still in active duty, he’s been an infantryman,” he said. “I was in the 101st Airborne Division, he was in the 82nd Airborne Division, and just like his old man was when I was a young enlisted man, he kind of followed in my footsteps.”

“I served in the 82nd in Desert Storm,” Place said. “So twice, I was on the initial invasion into Iraq, and then later on he came in to Iraq as I was coming out. And then he went on to the 82nd Airborne, and he went into Afghanistan...

Not exactly on topic, but I'm reminded of Lew Puller, who took his own life 11 May 1994, after a quarter century of suffering from the wounds he had sustained in Vietnam. I've always thought that he, and others like him, should be carried on the rolls as "Died of Wounds" and should have their names placed on the Wall with their Fallen Brothers-in Arms.

Lew's grave in Arlington is about 30 feet from that of my parents. Every time I visit them, I visit him as well, and pray in gratitude for his sacrifice and for the Eternal Salvation of his gallant soul.

America demands Justice for the Fallen of Benghazi!

O stranger, tell the Lacedaemonians that we lie here, obedient to their command.

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. (Isaiah 49:1 KJV)

There is something mentioned in the article that is then not explored.

The article said that suicides started spiking in 2009.

That’s when the rules of engagement changed.
That’s when the politicians announced big cuts to the military.
That’s when morale plummeted.
That’s when casualties spiked.
That’s when the mission went to hell.
That’s when the new CIC took over.

I was there....

Today in the U-T San Diego:

Marine battled back, yet fell to suicide
Infantryman who lost legs in combat seemed to be triumphing, but invisible wounds proved fatal

He rarely spoke of it. Not to his family or best buddies, fellow Marines or medical staff watching over him.

But Cpl. Farrell Gilliam had endured far more by the time he died this year at age 25 than most people could comprehend.

The Camp Pendleton infantryman survived three months of combat in 2010 with the “Darkhorse” 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment in Sangin, Afghanistan — one of the deadliest battlegrounds of the war.

Psychologically, he was suffering from invisible wounds he hid behind smiles and upbeat banter.

Or so his family discovered on Jan. 9, when Gilliam committed suicide...

Gilliam finally succumbed to his battle wounds, said Sgt. James Finney, his former squad leader in Afghanistan. It doesn’t matter who pulled the trigger — to him Gilliam was killed in action just like the other 25 from their battalion.

“It was an 8,000-mile sniper shot,” said Finney, 27, now an infantry instructor. “His passing was directly due to a situation because of his wounds received in Afghanistan. I don’t care what anyone else thinks.”

************
Last year, 45 Marines committed suicide and 234 tried to. It was by far the highest number of suicide attempts for the service since at least 2003.

Among veterans of all the armed forces, at least 22 commit suicide daily, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/Mar/28/farrell-gilliam-marine-suicide-amputee/?#article-copy

Rest in peace, son of ours.

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