Yes, this is my life

Next week I am off to the Annual TAPS suicide Survivor seminar. I just learned today that several members from the VA and DOD will be present and meeting with the head of TAPS and survivors to gain more insight to the causes and effect of veteran suicide. I was told that I may be able to share my thoughts and also ask questions personally. I'm excited and nervous. I want to give them all that I've learned from survivors and military families at risk.  Some of my questions are about the suicide reports published by the DOD. They cite several commonalities in suicides they've studied. Some of them really bother me. Most of them are fairly generic and barely scratch the surface of the real core issues facing suicidal service members. The first one I can recall off the top of my head is marital issues. All marriages, civilian and military go through periods of strife. The difference I believe is coping skills. If you were to ask 100 couples in which one spouse was dealing with ...

On Mar 19, 2014, at 12:34 PM, "Brown, Chris" <ChrisBrown@mail.house.gov> wrote: Mrs. Blum,   Thank you for contacting Congressman Luetkemeyer to relay your story and ask important questions regarding suicide in the military and related benefits.  We greatly appreciate your willingness to take the time to contact our office.  I have reached out to the House Armed Services Committee staff to raise these issues.  At this time it does not appear that there is a legislative initiative that would change the military benefit structure.  However, I will also reach out to the Pentagon to make sure they understand that this is an issue that causes Congressman Luetkemeyer great concern.  I believe DOD has some internal administrative authority to change certain elements of benefit programs.  I would be more than happy to discuss with you further if you are interested.  At the very least I wanted to reach out to thank you for raising this issue and shar...