Benny G

It’s very sad to see such a talented person take their life and for those around him struggle with understanding what happened. In this case it was even more tragic because a family was lost, a beautiful wife and daughter. Please stop with all the conspiracy theories and move past denial. This tragic loss is the result of another Veteran taking his life! We have a national problem that kills so many Americans every day. On average 124 Americans died by suicide each day which is staggering. I retired from the Army and find it even more amazing that so many Veterans are in those numbers yet the average person is really clueless to the deaths. The VA reported that in 2005 the total number of Veteran suicides was 5,787 and average of 15.9 and that number grew over the next 12 years. In 2017 the reported number was 6,139 deaths bringing the daily average to 16.8 which should shock everyone. We need to break the stigma of mental health and recognize that our brain is like any other organ in the body. As I watched the first portion of the film and David’s deployment to Iraq I though, ok you are getting a wake-up call. The world is ugly and a lot of this innocent people are hurt. War is nasty! However, I think what really broke David was the second deployment to Afghanistan and that mentally he expected to leave the Army, but was caught up in the surge policy. He was involuntary extended and sent back to Afghanistan for 15 months! Everything shifted, his own father mentioned his fears and new perspective. What we didn’t see was the building anger although I recognized the depression. I’ve experienced an involuntary extension for the needs of the service and it was only for 1 month but that was enough and required daily refocusing of a positive attitude. I cannot imagine 15 months. We as a nation have failed to care for this population. A lot is being done but it’s not enough. Some of our troops have been deployed into combat zones for half of their career’s, 10 years or more. They become broken, their families struggle, and people finally give up. They are the walking wounded and eventually some take their life. There is no conspiracy, no cover up, only the fact that we have a problem. I’m very sorry for all those who were impacted by this loss, their family and friends. It’s very sad and should never have happened. I hope they can finish grieving and ultimately find peace without people creating more conspiracy. Do something about the suicide rates – that’s a real problem.