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Love and Loss
in an Era By Yochi Dreasen
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by NPR
Staff Over 5,000 Americans have died fighting in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, over the past 12 years, more than 2,000 soldiers have committed suicide
One military family experienced both of those horrors — losing one
son in combat and one to suicide. Journalist Yochi Dreazen's new
book,
The Invisible Front: Love And Loss In An Era of Endless
War, tells the true story of the Graham family and two events
that would forever change the very fabric of their world
Before the tragedies, the Grahams would've fit right in a Norman
Rockwell painting. Mark and Carol Graham were college sweethearts.
Their three children — Jeff, Kevin, and Melanie — were inseparable.
Mark was a decorated officer and his sons were following his
military path.
But within the span of one year, the Grahams would lose both of
their sons to very different battles. In the decade since their sons
died, Carol and Mark — now a retired major general — have fought to
prevent military suicides.
Dreazen tells NPR's Arun Rath that the Grahams, who were involved
throughout the book-writing process, were nervous that people "would
read it and think of them as having failed their sons in some way." "But their reaction was, ultimately, if a few people read this and it may change them, then they're willing to have that risk out there," he says. |
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Joint Base Lewis-McChord recorded a small decline in soldier suicides in 2013, marking its first drop in self-inflicted deaths since 2007. As many as 12 soldiers at the base took their own lives last year, down from 13 in each of the two previous years, according to the I Corps. Two of the deaths are confirmed as suicides and 10 remain under investigation. While the numbers appear to have held fairly steady, Lewis-McChord’s stateside population grew dramatically between 2012 and 2013. In 2012, all three of the base’s Stryker brigades deployed to
Afghanistan at different times. Each took between 3,500 soldiers and
4,500 soldiers. By contrast, the base was full for most of 2013 with
about 34,000 active-duty troops at home. “We had one fewer (suicide) this year. You might say that’s not much progress,” I Corps Commander and Lewis-McChord senior Army officer Lt. Gen. Robert Brown said. “But we had 15,000 more people here.” The slight decline is consistent with an Armywide trend. In
November, the Defense Department reported suicides declined by 22
percent compared with the same period in 2012, when a record 349
soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines took their own lives. Self-inflicted deaths among active-duty soldiers began climbing
steadily about 2005 and continued to rise despite an intense
prevention campaign that steered tens of millions of dollars to
research, outreach and training programs. The causes for the suicide increase defy easy explanation and
don’t necessarily connect to a stepped-up pace of combat. Army
reports showed that about half of the deaths involved new soldiers
who had never deployed to a warzone. “It breaks your heart,” Brown said. “The Army spends millions of
dollars in programs to help individuals, and if we know (someone is
in trouble), we can help.” Lewis-McChord hosted several high-profile suicide prevention
programs in the past two years. In late 2012, it halted normal
business for a week and directed soldiers to visit suicide
prevention programs around the base. Last March, retired Maj. Gen. Mark Graham and his wife Carol visited Lewis-McChord to talk with soldiers about the two sons they lost, one to suicide and the other to war.Their experiences set the tone for emotional forums in which Lewis-McChord soldiers opened up about times they’ve thought about ending their own lives. Afterward, Brown said, Lewis-McChord did not see a suicide for
five months. “I was like ‘Oh my gosh. We’ve broken through. We’ve made it.
We’ve figured this out.’ I was very excited,” he said. “And then we
had a string from all different units; no pattern.” Nonetheless, Brown said the different suicide prevention
campaigns have saved lives. He pointed to changes such as behavioral
health providers “embedded” inside combat units, and he said command
teams are more responsive when they hear of a soldier considering
suicide. Plus, since the Grahams visited, Brown said more soldiers are speaking up when they notice a friend making comments that suggest a self-destructive thought. “They felt like they were dropping the dime on somebody,” Brown said. Now, “the No. 1 way we (find) out about a suicidal ideation is from a friend, a peer.”
Adam Ashton: 253-597-8646
>>>>>>>Much more in "Legacy Part 2" |
And the good news is.............a difference is being made.
This was just released January 17, 2014: