RP Members don't really care for the way LinkedIn links are displayed, but here is another service member lost to suicide and his story. I've posted it down below as well, so those who can't access LinkedIn can see the article. Rest in Peace Marine Corporal Tyler Schagel of Longmont, Colorado!

A Warrior Returns from Battle Only to Silently Fall;

Prey The Demons Within -- PTSD
By Col. Donald Anderson, USMC Rt’d

It seems barely a month goes by that I do not read about the death of another proud warrior, one that has fought and survived the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Survived one, two, or more deployments in the “Suck.” Survived the IED’s, snipers, suicide bombers, the heat and sand. Survived when many of their friends did not.

These brave warriors survived to come home to wives, husbands, children, family, and friends—only to return to face a battle that unfortunately far too many are forced to face alone—the battle or the demon that dwells within; PTSD!

Recently I read of the suicide of former Marine Corporal Tyler Schagel of Longmont, Colorado. Cpl. Schlagel, according to reports, had slipped out of his parents’ house while they were asleep, drove to his favorite fishing spot at a lake in the Rockies, and there in the cold, unfriendly winter night, after building a small fire and tossing the eight journals that he had composed during his tours of Iraq and Afghanistan into the roaring flames, took a .40 caliber pistol, placed it to his head, and shot himself.

Unfortunately for Cpl. Schagel, the demons within had managed to get the upper hand, to win, and another brave warrior, one that had survived the untold horrors of the battlefield returned home to die, and die at his own hands.

Corporal Schagel was the 14th Marine to commit suicide from his unit, a unit the news would say was battered by loss. At his funeral, approximately a quarter of the marines from his platoon stood shoulder to shoulder in the deep snow as the sound of taps from a solitary bugle wafted through the winters chill. Marines that would tell how he would be the one that they least expected to fall prey to the demon, a Marine that would dismiss suicides within the battalion, deaths that included two friends—acts he considered as acts of cowardice.

It was reported that several other members of his unit had attempted suicide, one only three days following his death.

According to reports, the suicide rate for the 1,200 Marines that deployed together, the majority of whom have now left the military is almost 4x’s higher than young male veterans, and unfortunately 14 higher than as that of all Americans.

A report by the New York Times in September regarding the suicides pointed to the governments shortcomings in its ability to monitor and treat mental health problems facing veterans. It pointed out how members of congress had called for the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs to address the issue. Unfortunately, these efforts have remained “halting and incomplete,” according to critics.

So where does the problem lie? A major part of the problem for the veterans of his unit, as is the problem with hundreds of thousands of other young veterans—they fall between the cracks of these two mammoth organizations. Unfortunately, military authority ceases when members leave active duty, and the Veterans Admiration will step in only if a veteran comes in for benefits or care, and many, far too many do not.

Some out there believe the responsibility falls upon the veteran themselves. We often hear the old adage of “Doctor Heal Thyself” tossed around at various times in our lives. In fact I can recall using it myself numerous times over the years. It almost seems many in positions of responsibility within the US Government believe it should be “Veteran Heal Thyself”, as if it were possible, or even within the individual veteran’s control. No one in the veterans’ community is laughing at the anecdote or the comparative application. It’s difficult to find time to stop for anything when you are trying to outrun your demons. For many to stop for even the briefest time, it is this brief moment in time that the "Demons" can overtake one.

Survivors of suicide often look back after the fact, critique or criticize what they could have done differently. They, as do the majority of us have no idea of the telltale signs. It is almost impossible to pinpoint when they are so varied and personally specific. Our sons and daughters leave home to become Marines. While we are most proud of their accomplishments we always remember the people they were before leaving for boot camp. The transformational change is significant and in many ways we may not see or understand all of them; they are very different people; better, stronger. Then they deploy to a war zone and if we, let alone our child is fortunate enough they return home. They are once again transformed, in ways we either do not, nor want to recognize. Nor do we understand the change that has overtaken them, as in many ways it is silent, hidden. It is this sense, this feeling that they are better and stronger than before which becomes their greatest enemy and deepest internal challenge.

I will return to an article I wrote and posted on November 8th of 2014, an article titled; CNN's “The War Comes Home,” Awareness Campaign.

In this article I wrote that there are many individuals in the world that have embarked upon one social campaign or another, and for one reason or another. Many having to do with the saving of animals, feeding starving children, helping to ease the suffering of those affected by war, and reaching out to refugees persecuted for numerous reasons. Equally we find many of the world’s private corporations championing these heroic efforts to facilitate change and ease the suffering of the afflicted.

I wanted to take a moment to thank our friends at CNN who have been a significant champion and vanguard of veterans, and veterans’ causes. At this time, I now have over 400 members of the CNN organization in my personal LinkedIn network, and collectively my team is over one thousand. It is becoming fairly common for members of an organization to individually leverage their support behind a just cause. It is commonplace for corporate organizations to task an individual, team, or a department to render such support or outreach to create a measure of change to foster a stronger public image. It is clearly an indication of one’s corporate culture for so many, from senior executives to the lowly receptionist, to be connected, personally involved and physically active in such endeavors. It is a reflection of their desire and commitment as a company to affect change within their communities.

While CNN has reached out and done much for the military and veterans community, I thought it only appropriate to pause for a moment to recognize this extraordinary organization for their effort to assist those in need within the nations veteran’s community’s.

What is important to focus upon here is the timing. Neither is it Veterans, or Memorial Day, nor is it a sweeps week. It is a legitimate effort to raise awareness of the issue for the benefit of the community as a whole, specifically their efforts rallying behind mental illness, suicide, and the impact this has on the military and veteran communities as a whole. My only wish is that more in the media industry were as active and as involved as CNN, and for the same reasons. If anyone in American society has any concept of the true impact and effects of war on an individual--it is those in the media, especially those in having spent time in, or involved in foreign assignments. Many of the foreign press corps have spent significant time in war torn countries and have thus observed the trauma of war through the eyes of the troops in the field.

Those of us that currently serve, or have served, are much the same. We are driven by a set of principles which center on our willingness to sacrifice ourselves for the greater good, on behalf of others. From our earliest days of boot camp catchphrases and mottos motivate us to press forward regardless the pain our bodies are forced to endure, or the level of difficulty or inexperience in self-actualization. “Buck Up, No Pain No Gain, Pain Is Weakness leaving Your Body, Embrace the Suck, Pain is temporary, Pride is forever, Mind Over Matter, Failure is not an Option! Death before dishonor, The Few, The Proud, The Marines, Army Strong, Army of One” are but a few of the motivational sayings that are pumped into our vulnerable minds day in and day out.

As inflammatory or comedic as many appear, they strengthened and embolden us to press forth and achieve what is often thought impossible. We have reused many while deployed, as well as on the battlefield to get us through some of the worst of our experiences. They remind us of our not too distant roots, when at a time in our lives we thought we might not endure the challenges set before us. They are as enriching to us as gospel hymns are to the Christian brotherhood. They strengthened our resolve to endure our individual challenges, independently and privately because in the military, especially when deployed, we all endure our own individual battle simultaneously.

Calling upon this individual strength and pride to achieve victory over challenge is our greatest strength on the modern battlefield—yet, it is in many ways our greatest weakness upon our return home. Many service members return home still struggling with the effect of deployment and combat. Unlike military units, family members have a personal, and vested stake in the well-being of returning veterans. Unlike their previous military units, family members do not expect a solitary, individual response to the conditions which affect the larger family unit. The inclusive aspect of nuclear family structure is in direct and proportional contradiction to military unit structure and life. Understanding, embracing, and bridging the gap between the two completely separate worlds in which a service member exist is the first step in a successfully reintegration to family life. I believe the largest deterrent to success of this integration lies not in the military’s effort to facilitate the change but the timing of this change.

People are in a constant progression of change both collectively and independently. In the military the independent development exists on an exponentially faster and more diverse manner than does social and environmental influences. The inability of integrating these stressors into the ones relationship in a manner more in keeping with the rate and time they are experienced greatly increases the sense of distance between family members upon ones return.

I am sure that there are many of you out there that will remember images of Mr. Beaver returning home and Mrs. Beaver asking about his day. Now, with this imagine in your mind, imagine a year or more of loneliness, frustration, disappointment, loss, regret, remorse, and fear all being expressed in a very short period of time. Now consider a spouse wanting to know how she or he can help, so they might be there for their returning service member, while the service member themselves just wants to forget, and at the same time feels they should keep such things onto themselves. Why? Because their spouse is not the one who placed pen to paper and signed the contract . . . they were the ones trained to ‘Embrace the Suck’.

Months, even years may go by and a service member now has the had the time to process, and put into context what happened during deployment, the experiences of combat along with the horrors of war now reaches a point in time where they feel they are more prepared to speak of their experiences, but to who? The family has integrated and in the absence of any significant outward shows of any turmoil has put behind them all that which their former service member is just really beginning to deal with. It is the awkward paradigm of the civilian versus military lifestyles; they are rarely in sync and family cohesion suffers. This is the lighter side of the retuning dynamics. I promise you, if anyone ever tells you they were not affected by their experiences when deployed, it’s a polite social lie.

Soledad O’Brien’s production, “The War Comes Home”, will bring to light the compounded effects of deployment and combat. It will bring to wider social conscience that more than just our soldiers suffer from isolation, frustration, disappointment, loss, regret, remorse and fear. Soledad’s broadcast will acknowledge that not only do our veteran’s spouses, children and extended family members suffer, they do so much in the same manner, and bring some of the same misguided perceptions, while attempting to cope alone, as the solutions. Soledad will identify, while the military is beginning change in the manner it copes with the family as a whole, at the moment that attempt is woefully inadequate.

Heroes are not just the ones who lay sleeping deep within battlefields of foreign lands, or those fortunate enough to return home who quietly bare the scars of war. No, many of our heroes are those who waited patiently at home for their spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend, father, son, or daughter to return; many of our heroes are those who have not forgotten our veteran’s sacrifices, and who will not allow others to forget those sacrifices on our behalf. To the good people of CNN, and Turner Broadcasting; Thank you—Thank you for remembering us and doing your part to not only raise awareness, but to educate and facilitate change for those who struggle in silence upon their return. Thank you for sharing our vision for a better life for all of those veterans in need, no matter the conflict, no matter the age.

In February of 2015, President Obama put pen to paper and signed the “Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act”. This act is designed to provide $22 million to pump up programs designed to reduce the veteran suicide that has reached a staggering 22 veterans daily, an astonishing number by all means.

The act is named for a former Marine that had took his own life in 2011 after losing his battle with mental illness, a condition brought on by his service in Afghanistan. Hunt was only 28 years old at the time of his death. The smile belies the pain.

President Obama, in his speech prior to signing the bill stated, and I quote; “Hunt did everything he could to fight against the post-traumatic stress symptoms that plagued him. He sought help from the VA, got involved in helping other veterans, and even volunteered with a relief organization assisting people in Haiti. He also made a public service announcement encouraging other veterans with mental health issues to get help.”

However, despite all that was done to assist this young Marine, it was too little, too late. Unfortunately, it was too late for Corporal Tyler Schagel as well. I can only pray that our veterans can, and will understand that there are others out there ready to help, to listen and guide them in their hour of need. For even the loss of one more veteran is not only a tragedy, it is a blow to our great nation, one that the government, veteran’s organizations, and individual veterans need to do all they can to reach out to, to let our veterans know, “We understand—we care.”

In closing let me say that we at DTN, and Veterans for Tomorrow are there for you, reach out—we care.

May God Bless those who serve in silence and pain, and those that remember them.

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