Saturday night was our “family dinner” at our suicide-survivors’ conference in San Diego.TAPS provided us with fried chicken (I was one happy Texan!) and several other comfort foods.
Army
Through a Child’s Eyes
Shannon, Tim and John.
These names, prior to our trip to the TAPS National Military Survivors Seminar in Washington, D.C., in May were not names I heard spoken in our home. Now, they receive nearly daily mentions and are …
The Army’s Grim Calendar
The Army recently embraced National Suicide Prevention Month in one of its daily Stand-To memos. Thursday’s Stand-To reminded troops that October is National Depression Awareness Month. Friday’s Stand-To told them that October does double duty as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
Will Stand-To please stand down on such bleak …
My New Family…
Thursday morning I bounced out of bed early and yelled “Oh my gosh!”
I never get up on time and certainly never bounce. But this morning I knew that I would be headed to California for the TAPS seminar.
I went to work — my …
No Longer Alone…
As I lay out the clothes and review the checklist for our trip Friday, I can’t help but reflect on what TAPS — Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors — means to me and my children.
Not everyone finds TAPS right …
The Survivors Gather
This weekend, relatives of many of the U.S. troops who have killed themselves in the suicide epidemic gripping the American military are gathering in San Diego. They’re coming together to support one another and figure out how to move on with life. It’s the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors’ National Military Suicide Survivor …
$8.5 Billion
“My Daughter Was Scared of Me”
Army Major Andrew March has pulled three combat tours – a pair in Iraq and his most recent, in 2010 and 2011, in Afghanistan. In this recently-posted June interview with the Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, March details his role keeping aircraft flying – and spying – as part of Task Force Odin.
The MRAP: Brilliant Buy, or Billions Wasted?
A Visit With General Dana Pittard
I just returned home from my third trip to Fort Bliss in two months. I made the first two trips so that I could learn about the installation and the leadership’s approach to preventing soldier suicide. On this most recent visit …
Return to Pur Chaman
The Trust Deficit
COMBAT OUTPOST GARDA, WARDAK PROVINCE — Increasingly, coalition troops feel they cannot trust the Afghan soldiers and police with whom they live and serve. The increasing toll of “green-on-blue” killings drives a wedge of …
The Lariam Mystery Continues
In March 2012, Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales allegedly massacred 16 Afghan villagers. I posted a blog then, wondering if he could have been on mefloquine (Lariam), an anti-malarial agent.
The silence from the Defense …
