Chris Kyle was a former Navy Seal, a trained sniper with a much-heralded track record among those in the Pentagon who keep track of such things. He was also an accomplished author, penning "American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History", a book that made its way to the New York Times best-seller list. Chris Kyle took his civic duty seriously, and towards that end began the FITCO Cares Foundation, a foundation dedicated to helping combat veterans re-assimilate into civilian life following their tours of duty overseas. He knew what it was like to deal with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), a product of his own tours in Iraq. He recognized the difficulties many of his fellow veterans faced as they tried to adjust to their old lives back home. Chris Kyle was not just a hero in the field. He was a hero at home too.
In an ironic twist of fate, Chris was killed yesterday at a Texas shooting range, along with another man, Chad Littlefield, by a veteran with a troubled history of mental illness; the very kind of vet Chris dedicated his life to helping. This story is not about guns. It's not about mental illness either. It's about an American public who all too often fails to recognize that the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform are not always confined to the field of battle. Many of those sacrifices are made here at home, and all too often end in bloodshed.
Three hundred and forty-nine soldiers in the military committed suicide last year, a figure that continues a growing trend among active-duty servicemen and women. When the number of retired service personnel who committed suicide is added to that figure, the picture becomes even more alarming. Service personnel need America's help and the first step in providing that help is a collective commitment on the part of all Americans to do whatever it takes, to pay whatever it costs, to provide whatever is needed to return our vets to a healthy state of body and mind.
Our soldiers made their sacrifices. It's time we make ours!
No comments:
Post a Comment