Families of Vets Call for Action on Suicide Prevention at Hearing

iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — In an emotional House Committee on Veterans Affairs hearing Thursday, a panel of parents decried failures in the VA and the Department of Defense as contributing to the mental pressures that led their sons to take their own lives.

“Perhaps none of these hearings have presented the all-too-human face of VA’s failures so much as today’s hearing will,” said committee chairman Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla.

Jean and Dr. Howard Somers, the parents of Army veteran Daniel Somers, spoke on their son’s experience navigating the VA system in Phoenix.

“He presented there in crisis, he said he needed to be admitted to the hospital,” Dr. Somers said, having to finish for his wife who had started the story but broke into tears. “He was told by their mental health department that they had no beds, and he was told there were no beds in the emergency department. The fact is that he went in to the corner. He lay down on the floor. He was crying. But he was told you can stay here and when you feel better you can drive yourself home.” 

Daniel Somers had largely condemned his experience with the system in his suicide letter published by Gawker just 12 days after his death.

“Thus, I am left with basically nothing,” Somers wrote. “Abandoned by those who would take the easy route, and a liability to those who stick it out — and thus deserve better.”

The panel cited a 2012 Suicide Data report that estimates 22 veterans commit suicide every day in the U.S.

The Somers were also joined by Peg Portwine, the mother of deceased Army veteran Brian Portwine. She blamed the VA and DOD for clearing her son for redeployment following multiple traumatic combat experiences.

“Upon returning from the second deployment in 2010, Brian was diagnosed with PTSD, TBI, depression and anxiety,” Peg Portwine said. “I never knew of his conditions.  He deteriorated quickly from December 2010 to May 2010 when he took his life. If the DOD and VA assessed Brian for high suicide risk it was their duty to treat him, but he received nothing.”

The parents held back tears along with retired Army Sgt. Josh Renschler as they took questions for nearly three hours and made several broad recommendations for comprehensive changes in mental health treatment in the VA.

At the end of the testimony, the members of the committee, several of whom also choked back tears during their inquiries, gave a long standing ovation.

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