The story didn’t linger on the airwaves, which was not a surprise. There was no sizzle to it, no drama, none of that you-won’t-believe-what-the president did aura about it.
What President Obama did last Tuesday was announce a change in a White House policy that has been in place through several administrations. From now on, the president will send a letter of condolence to the family of a soldier who takes his or her own life in a combat zone.
That was it. A letter conveying sadness that a life was lost, recognizing that on a battlefront somewhere, a soldier fought and lost a very lonely battle, convinced of the futility of his or her own existence.
“They didn’t die because they were weak,” the president said in his statement.
No, they didn’t. And yet for a long time, the policy of withholding official comfort maintained an untenable distinction. The absence of the simple, humane courtesy suggested that the death of a soldier by suicide virtually nullified his or her service in a way that death under enemy fire did not.
The policy change follows an extensive review and intense lobbying by military families and organizations including the American Psychiatric Association, Mental Health America and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. But even in reversing the policy, the White House did not go as far as it ought to. Last year, 295 active-duty personnel reportedly died by their own hand; 30 of them were in combat zones.
Under the new policy, 30 families will deserve presidential comfort. And the 265 others? Are they unmourned by the country they served? Should their families be left to bear the pain of their loss as well as the burden of official disapproval of the manner of their deaths?
That seems hardly reasonable. A letter of condolence certainly will not fill a void where a son or daughter, a spouse, a sibling, a father or a mother used to be. But it may offer wounded spirits a thread of comfort. There’s no reason to inflict any more emotional injury than families endure in coping with the shock of suicide.
Of all the things the White House — and the country — can do to acknowledge the sacrifices of military families, the least costly would be to extend to them the courtesy of a condolence letter, regardless where or when their soldiers’ anguished minds drive them to end their lives.
The steady rise in military suicides in the past decade is a matter of grave concern. In 2008, the suicide rate in the armed forces, typically lower than the national rate, surpassed the national average for the first time, the Army and the Marine Corps. reporting the heaviest casualties. Pentagon records indicate that nearly three-quarters of military suicides occur outside combat zones, mostly when servicemen and women are back home. As overdue as the reversal is, it applies the courtesy too narrowly, even as a symbolic balm for hurting families
A Defense Department task force reporting last year on the rising rate of suicides in the military noted that members of the armed forces have functioned under enormous strain since the wars began in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Among the primary stressors, a stretched military has relied on frequent deployments, with not enough time between missions for military personnel to reconnect with family and community life. The results are mental and emotional strains that, tragically, are overwhelming an increasing number of men and women in uniform and their families.
A McClatchy Newspapers account last August on the Pentagon’s suicide prevention efforts was in equal parts encouraging and disturbing. Like the rest of the general society, the military is confronting the stigma that attaches to mental illness and those who seek behavioral health treatments. In an environment where success and machismo are intricately woven, getting soldiers to admit they need that kind of help is no easy task. The department runs about 900 suicide prevention programs in some 400 military establishments worldwide. As a safety net, the programs, unfortunately, leave much to be desired. According to the news account, military personnel still encounter humiliating and discriminatory experiences when they seek psychiatric help. There are not enough behavioral specialists and suicide prevention officers and those on staff need more training.
In his brief statement, President Obama identified a critical shortcoming in protecting those who do the nation’s fighting. “The fact that they [the suicidal] didn’t get the help they needed must change,” he said. Saying so is one thing; making sure the mental and emotional support structures are available and effective is a different matter altogether.
Ofobike is the Beacon Journal chief editorial writer. She can be reached at 330-996-3513 or by email at lofobike@thebeaconjournal.com
