The Keesling family, like many other American families, has suffered a great loss due to the war the U.S. is currently engaged in. In June of this year chancellor Keesling, serving in Iraq, shot and killed himself. His family has set up a shrine to him in their home and had left space on the shrine for a condolence letter from the president that never came. It is the U.S. government’s policy to not send condolence letters to families of soldiers who kill themselves in the field of duty. Not a lot of things shock me anymore about our government but this article definitely left a lasting impression. It boggles my mind to think that our government would stand to judge the value of a death. What this policy says to me is that any suicide victims that served in Iraq are not true soldiers and should not be afforded the same respect as other soldiers who died on the field of battle.
Coincidently, I read this article after having gone to see the movie “Brothers” last night. I won’t say anything about the movie that you can’t see in the trailer. The movie features a U.S. Marine that has sustained substantial mental damage due to his tour in Afghanistan. This relates to the news article as this damage is in direct relation to the war in which Chancellor Keesling took his own life, and the blood is in part, on U.S. government hands. To think that our president would not offer so much as a simple, “I’m sorry for your loss” to his family is gut-wrenchingly cold-hearted. Thankfully, we learn in this story that the President has taken notice of the policy and intends to change it.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/12/10/condolence.letters/index.html
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Yes, ignoring the mental health of the actual servicemen and women is a significant problem that I don't feel is well addressed due to the culture of machismo found within the armed forces. Mental illness is seen as a sign of "weakness" and therefore goes untreated.
ReplyDeleteWhat a horrible story. I can't imagine the stress and mental state that the troops are subjected to while in the battlefield. It has to fundamentally alter the way we view our worlds as they have to worry about things that everyone outside of the battlefield takes for granted (walking across the street, sleeping, relaxing, etc...).
ReplyDeleteAt least some steps are being taken to change this policy but the fact that it was ever implemented is a oversight beyond thought.
This is a very hard story to read, I have many friends serving in Iraq and Afghanistsn and i have see first hand how the experience of war can change a person completely, sometimes for the best and sometimes for the worst. I feel for any young man or young woman who goes over to fight for our country just to be forgotten about by the government once their tour is over. I understand the moral issues with the idea of suicide but suicide or not this Man fought for our country and was so heavily burdened by the life this requires, Policy or not this is an outrage and it truly upsets me. Why does'nt the President, the highest ranking official in the United States Armed Forces, do something about this policy and send a letter.
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