Jackson Free Press

A soldier survives active duty in Iraq only to discover that when he becomes suicidal, he can't get treatment at the VA Center because he's number 26 on the waiting list. Well, since he did end up taking his own life, numbers don't matter any more, right?

He died earlier this month at the age of 25 -- not in Iraq, but back home, in Minnesota.

He died of wounds received during his seven-month tour of duty in Iraq, wounds different from the ones that earned Schulze two purple hearts. This young man died of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, of wounds to the soul and not the flesh. He died because the government that was there to send him far away to fight in 2004 wasn't there for him when he got home.

Schulze had a harrowing time in Iraq, spending time in the heated battles of Ramadi in April, 2004. While he was there, 35 Marines in his unit were killed, including 17 of them in just 48 hours of combat.

The young Marine was wounded twice in battle but returned home to rebuild his life and to cope with the things he had seen, things he had done and friends he had lost. But, by the time he was discharged from the Marines in late 2005, he was deeply troubled with images of combat and violence that he could not get out of his mind...Schulze went to the Veterans Administration (VA) center in Minneapolis on December 14, 2006, met with a psychiatrist and was told that he could only be admitted for treatment four months later, in March.

On January 11, 2007, accompanied by his parents, he went to the VA hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota and told people at that VA facility that he was thinking of killing himself. They told Schulze that they could not admit him as a patient and sent him on his way.

The next day, January 12, Schulze called the VA, reiterating that he was feeling suicidal. He was told that he was number 26 on the waiting list..."Jonathan wanted help so bad," said Marianne Schulze, Jonathan's stepmother. "At the end of the conversation, Jonathan got off the phone so distressed."

On January 16, Schulze called his family and told them that he was going to do it -- he was going to kill himself. His family called the local police, who raced to his house, kicked in his door and found him hanging from an electrical cord.

Attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful....

"I am going to ask the inspector general to investigate what happened in this case," said [North Dakota Sen. Byron] Dorgan on the Senate floor. "What happened that a young man who was a marine veteran with two Purple Hearts turns up at a VA center and says: I am thinking of committing suicide, can you help me, can you admit me, and he is told: No, the list is 26 long in front of you?"

"Are there others who show up at a VA center and say: I need help, only to be told no help is available? I hope that is not the case. It is the unbelievable cost of war."

Because of gross neglect by the VA, a pregnant fianceé and six-month-old daughter are left behind to wonder what life would have been like for them if Schulze was not put on the backburner. Apparently Schulze was not taken seriously because his PTSD was not taken seriously. How could this happen? PTSD is common among soldiers who experienced combat, and I can't see how the people at that particular VA Center could ignore his cries for help, especially if he wants to kill himself. They should have never let him go back home until he was mentally stable, period.

You can show your support by leaving a message for Schulze's family here. In the meantime, I hope that there will be an investigation into this matter and that improvements are made so that no other soldier will be lost to PTSD.

Previous Comments

ID

110523

Comment

So much for supporting the troops, huh? We send them over to fight a war that was unjustified from the start and when they get home, we forget about them until it's time to redeploy them. When you couple this with the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital, there is no excuse for our servicemen and women to receive anything less than superb health care, especially when they put their lives on the line during times of war.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-02-27T09:58:39-06:00

ID

110524

Comment

The VA is a joke. Ask any of us who have had experience with them.

Author

Lady Havoc

Date

2007-02-27T11:22:00-06:00

ID

110525

Comment

This is so sad. Having worked with so many Veterans of war with PTSD, I know that the disorder can be treated and in many cases, cured. For many people in the field of psychiatry, if you can't see the disordered part, or if you can't deliver scientific evidence secondary to some type of lab test, it doesn't exist. I had men tell me that they wished they had been a bilateral amputee or a quadriplegic. "People don't believe me because they can't see my inner pain and suffering." I have heard this so many times. Walter Reed Hospital has been exposed. This is a good thing. I am just so sorry that so many men and women have suffered/died because of neglect and mismanagement.

Author

justjess

Date

2007-02-28T15:52:35-06:00

ID

110526

Comment

Yes, it is sad. Hopefully things will change for the better as a result of the neglect being exposed.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-02-28T17:55:40-06:00

ID

110527

Comment

Please read this.

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-03-20T12:33:08-06:00